Lovemore Madhuku and enemies of democracy

THE recent pronouncements by the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairman Lovemore Madhuku that he is not going now despite the expiry of his tenure is not surprising at all. It is a perpetuation of the undemocratic legacy that has become his political trademark.

While Madhuku has helped to highlight the problem of long-serving political and civil society leaders who hang onto power through authoritarian means, the issue is not about him. It is about leaders who cling to power well beyond their shelf life and against the will of the people. The Madhuku tragedy is just a microcosm of a wider problem, not just in Zimbabwe, but Africa as a whole.

Africa is reeling from multifaceted problems triggered by a variety of causes, including long-serving autocratic leaders. The roll call in Africa's Hall of Infamy includes Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Jos√ɬ© Eduardo Dos Santos, Yoweri Museveni, Dennis Sassou Nguesso, Paul Biya, Idriss Deby Itno, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, Muammar Gaddafi  and of course Robert Mugabe.

In recent years, there was Omar Bongo and Gnassingbe Eyadema. Lately there was Hosni Mubarak and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. This is the broader picture.

But back home, those who have followed the NCA will know that Madhuku's current self-serving manoeuvre to hang on to power despite the expiry of his term is not new. His pronouncements were made in the same week Mugabe declared that he would not quit soon because Zanu PF is in a state of "crisis" and would disintegrate if he goes. This makes the situation even more interesting.

Madhuku's remarks also come hard on the heels of renewed desperate attempts by Arthur Mutambara to hang onto his disputed position as Deputy Prime Minister. Mutambara's theatrical buffoonery is now the stuff of legend, considering that he initially accepted the popular ascendancy of Welshman Ncube to the MDC leadership and urged other leaders in Africa to emulate him and understand that leaders come and go.

In so doing, Mutambara had done himself a great favour and many people, including those who did not take him seriously from the start, were now prepared to treat him with a modicum of respect for his exemplary behaviour, but alas he was acting. Now he has shown everybody his true colours and joined the ranks of Madhuku and Mugabe to form a united front against democracy. If they were to form a party together, it must be called the United Front Against Democracy!

I know some would say Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is also suffering from the same "Handiende Syndrome", but he is not part of the subject matter. The common denominator in the behaviour of Mugabe, Madhuku and Mutambara -- a group of strange political bedfellows -- is that they are all power hungry.

Always displaying undisguised delusions of grandeur, the three are political megalomaniacs whose undemocratic dispositions betray psychopathological conditions of delusional fantasies of power and omnipotence, an obsession with things grandiose. Some used to call this narcissistic personality disorders and it applied to politics as in other areas of human endeavour as well.

While Mugabe has demonstrated by his words and deeds beyond reasonable doubt that he finds democracy confusing, and therefore intensely detests it despite his posturing, it is the double standards of Madhuku and Mutambara that are worrying many. This is particularly so because the two have, over the years, projected themselves as advocates for justice and democracy.

Although the two have been at the forefront of advocating for democratic reforms and change, it is now clear that they are hypocrites. Their democratic masks have now fallen irretrievably and they have been exposed for what they are: political impostors and charlatans.

By their very political nature and actions, Madhuku and Mutambara are more dangerous than Mugabe whose position as a proud autocrat is rather clear. Besides, the two professors are still relatively young and energetic, which means they may be still around for a long time on the political landscape and possibly will spread the lethal virus of dictatorship all over Zimbabwe's body politic.

It is ironic that Madhuku, who spearheads a lobby group for a new constitution and has been an advocate of limited terms for public officers, now finds it ethical to tenaciously cling to office when his time is up. Madhuku, who has been hysterically shouting 'Mugabe must go', is a two-faced advocate for democracy and term limits.

The personalisation and manipulation of membership-based civil society organisations like the NCA by the likes of Madhuku and those who think like him will not help Zimbabwe move forward. In fact, if we allow such hypocrisy to take root we can as well forget about real change and democracy in Zimbabwe.

Self-proclaimed fighters for democracy must lead by example and be the change that they advocate for. It is sad Madhuku, like Mugabe, thinks that in their absence institutions they lead cannot continue functioning. Mugabe wants to stay on because Zanu PF would collapse if he goes. Simply put, he is the party because if he goes there would be no party. However, the biological reality is that he is a mere mortal and no one can defy the laws of nature. What that means is that in thinking that his continued clinging to power assists his party to remain cohesive, he is simply postponing the unavoidable.

Mugabe has created a situation in which Zanu PF will inevitably die with him. This is a dangerous form of leadership and must be discouraged. It is, therefore, shocking that enlightened and younger people like Madhuku and Mutambara have become petty dictators and think like that.

Mugabe's miserable failure to put in place a succession mechanism or plan in Zanu PF shows that he is short-sighted and lacks vision. How can an individual endanger the survival of an institution just because he does not want to relinquish power? This is what Madhuku and Mutambara are now doing.

Still on Mugabe, it is true that if he goes, Zanu PF will crumble. No doubt about this. However, it must be said that this is a self-serving and myopic argument which misses the broader picture that the longer he stays the more endangered Zanu PF's survival becomes. As it is, Zanu PF is in danger of extinction, but Mugabe is making sure that this no longer remains a mere political possibility, but becomes a looming certainty.

Mugabe's argument only makes sense if his point is to confirm that he doesn't care about Zanu PF disintegrating like UNIP and KANU after his departure. Other than that, it is a limited and short-sighted view that does not help anyone, including Mugabe himself, all issues and variables considered.

Similarly, Madhuku is pushing his own personal agenda in the NCA and he doesn't seem to care about the damage he is inflicting on an organisation which has been a major player in the civil society movement.

Qhubani Moyo  is the organising secretary of the MDC led by Welshman Ncube. He is contactable on qmqmoyo2000@yahoo.co.uk