Opinion / Columnist
Given the sorry state of Zimbabwe, yes Zanu PF must not just go but go to hell!
19 Dec 2014 at 20:47hrs | Views
Comrade Rugare Gumbo is not being honest to say he and the other Zanu PF leaders did not question President Mugabe "for too long". They never ever dared to challenge him for all these years, period. All the senior party leaders treated Mugabe as if he was a God who could do or say no wrong and, worse still, they insisted those below them must treat them as if they too were Gods!
Of course neither President Mugabe nor any of the senior leaders are infallible let alone God but we were all corralled into accepting this as part and parcel of military disciple during the war of independence. Sadly the culture of not questioning one's seniors has continued after the war and has trickled down to village level. Even village chairperson rules like little tyrant dictating orders to those below with the authority of one who alone knows what is best.
This "I alone know what is best!" mentality of the leaders is fine as long as everything is going well. When the wheels start falling off the wagon, then it is imperative that the leader is questioned. The wheels have been falling off the Zanu PF train for the last 34 years and leaders like Mr Gumbo have never seen it fit to question Mugabe's decisions. And today the train service the nation inherited from the whites in 1980 has all but collapsed with most of the track and plant is rusting away beyond use and repair after decades of neglect.
What has happened with the train services has happened in all the other sectors of the economy.
I have always rejected the white colonialists' claim that blacks are incapable of self-governing. If we do not have the courage to admit it to ourselves that things are going wrong, even when the wheels have fallen off the wagon, then we are indeed incapable of self-governing.
Of course it is unforgivable that national leaders like Mr Gumbo were in government for all these years and yet they failed to tell President Mugabe that he was not infallible and the wheels were falling off the wagon. Given the sorry state the nation is in, I not only agree with Wilbert Mukori that this Zanu PF government must go but go to hell!
Of course neither President Mugabe nor any of the senior leaders are infallible let alone God but we were all corralled into accepting this as part and parcel of military disciple during the war of independence. Sadly the culture of not questioning one's seniors has continued after the war and has trickled down to village level. Even village chairperson rules like little tyrant dictating orders to those below with the authority of one who alone knows what is best.
This "I alone know what is best!" mentality of the leaders is fine as long as everything is going well. When the wheels start falling off the wagon, then it is imperative that the leader is questioned. The wheels have been falling off the Zanu PF train for the last 34 years and leaders like Mr Gumbo have never seen it fit to question Mugabe's decisions. And today the train service the nation inherited from the whites in 1980 has all but collapsed with most of the track and plant is rusting away beyond use and repair after decades of neglect.
I have always rejected the white colonialists' claim that blacks are incapable of self-governing. If we do not have the courage to admit it to ourselves that things are going wrong, even when the wheels have fallen off the wagon, then we are indeed incapable of self-governing.
Of course it is unforgivable that national leaders like Mr Gumbo were in government for all these years and yet they failed to tell President Mugabe that he was not infallible and the wheels were falling off the wagon. Given the sorry state the nation is in, I not only agree with Wilbert Mukori that this Zanu PF government must go but go to hell!
Source - Patrick
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