Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe elected AU chairman 'against all odds', but will he last the year!
31 Jan 2015 at 17:45hrs | Views
The African Union (AU) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has confirmed Mugabe the new chairman for a year.
"Against all odds, President Mugabe yesterday bagged the African Union chairmanship. He did not waste time, immediately striking the tenor as to the nature of his year-long leadership of the continent," wrote Nathaniel Manheru (cum George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman).
Why should the election of Robert Mugabe to be chairman of the African Union (AU) be "against all odds"! Mugabe is an African leader and the AU is an African organisation and not an Asian or American Union or something so why should there be any reservation in Mugabe's candidature; useless there is something unpalatable about him.
What makes Mugabe an unpalatable chairman for the AU is that he is just a one of those rabble-rousers, full of foul-mouthed rhetoric and never delivers anything else but trouble. He is worse than proverbial frog who claimed he could put out the forest fire with his fart - Mugabe starts the fire and then, of course, fails to put out the fire with all his farting!
Africa has too many problems which the AU has shown again and again to be inapt to deal with and has relied on others, especially the West, for help. The last thing the continent wants is a rabble-rousing farting-frog starting fires and foul mouthing those helping to put out the fire!
"He (Mugabe) made sure the West got a jab, promising a focus on Africa and the control and utilisation of her resources, and of course the rebuilding of peace against mounting insecurity linked to terrorism. The run-up to the chairmanship saw many de-campaigning shenanigans, most of them amateurish," Manheru told us.
Mugabe "made sure the West got a jab .. focus on Africa …. control her resources! " What is the moron jabbering about?
The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown with unemployment a nauseating 90% plus; 16% or 2 million Zimbabweans are now living in abject poverty; 300 000 children who should have been in school last year were not because their parents are too poor to pay the fee; etc. Mugabe has stood up at every international forum to denounce "the British and their Western imperialists allies", giving them one verbal jab and then left and right hook combination. There only people who have taken a beating here are the Zimbabwean people who have been robbed of their hopes and dreams of freedom, human rights and a decent life. The people have been helpless to end this corrupt and tyrannical regime because Mugabe has repeatedly rigged elections and has used brute force to impose this de facto Zanu PF dictatorship.
Mugabe's anti-western rhetoric is but a smoke-screen behind which to hide his regime's brutal repression and denial of the people's basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections and even the right to life. Even the AU election observer team; known for its see-nothing, hear-nothing and say-nothing attitude; had no choice but to condemn Mugabe's 2008 presidential run-off elections. The intimidation, beatings, rapes and other acts of wanton violence including murder were just too blatant, too gruesome and too numerous for the team to sweep under the carpet.
The AU election observer team accepted Zimbabwe's 2013 elections results on the grounds that there was no wanton violence. They would have condemned it if they have considered the mountain of irregularities and other acts of blatant vote rigging. They did not consider irregularities and vote rigging because this was a mine field. Few, if any at all, African leaders could swear they have never, in their time, rigged elections; worse still they knew Mugabe would know of their past and will denounce their hypocrisy from the rooftop if they dare condemn his vote rigging.
Allowing the rabble-rousing farting-frog rig Zimbabwe's elections is one thing but allowing the same farting-frog to lead the continental body, even for a year, is another matter hence Mugabe, Manheru and Zimbabwean delegates' huge sigh of relief when Mugabe was endorsed AU chairman! Still, it is doubtful whether Mugabe will serve the full year as AU chairman; Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is now so serious his continued hold on political power is now tenuous. After rigging the 2013 elections it was clear that Mugabe's hold on power was weak and it would not last unless he rigged economic recovery too - that has turned out to be a bridge too far even for the seasoned rabble-rousing farting-frog!
"Against all odds, President Mugabe yesterday bagged the African Union chairmanship. He did not waste time, immediately striking the tenor as to the nature of his year-long leadership of the continent," wrote Nathaniel Manheru (cum George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman).
Why should the election of Robert Mugabe to be chairman of the African Union (AU) be "against all odds"! Mugabe is an African leader and the AU is an African organisation and not an Asian or American Union or something so why should there be any reservation in Mugabe's candidature; useless there is something unpalatable about him.
What makes Mugabe an unpalatable chairman for the AU is that he is just a one of those rabble-rousers, full of foul-mouthed rhetoric and never delivers anything else but trouble. He is worse than proverbial frog who claimed he could put out the forest fire with his fart - Mugabe starts the fire and then, of course, fails to put out the fire with all his farting!
Africa has too many problems which the AU has shown again and again to be inapt to deal with and has relied on others, especially the West, for help. The last thing the continent wants is a rabble-rousing farting-frog starting fires and foul mouthing those helping to put out the fire!
Mugabe "made sure the West got a jab .. focus on Africa …. control her resources! " What is the moron jabbering about?
The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown with unemployment a nauseating 90% plus; 16% or 2 million Zimbabweans are now living in abject poverty; 300 000 children who should have been in school last year were not because their parents are too poor to pay the fee; etc. Mugabe has stood up at every international forum to denounce "the British and their Western imperialists allies", giving them one verbal jab and then left and right hook combination. There only people who have taken a beating here are the Zimbabwean people who have been robbed of their hopes and dreams of freedom, human rights and a decent life. The people have been helpless to end this corrupt and tyrannical regime because Mugabe has repeatedly rigged elections and has used brute force to impose this de facto Zanu PF dictatorship.
Mugabe's anti-western rhetoric is but a smoke-screen behind which to hide his regime's brutal repression and denial of the people's basic human rights including the right to free and fair elections and even the right to life. Even the AU election observer team; known for its see-nothing, hear-nothing and say-nothing attitude; had no choice but to condemn Mugabe's 2008 presidential run-off elections. The intimidation, beatings, rapes and other acts of wanton violence including murder were just too blatant, too gruesome and too numerous for the team to sweep under the carpet.
The AU election observer team accepted Zimbabwe's 2013 elections results on the grounds that there was no wanton violence. They would have condemned it if they have considered the mountain of irregularities and other acts of blatant vote rigging. They did not consider irregularities and vote rigging because this was a mine field. Few, if any at all, African leaders could swear they have never, in their time, rigged elections; worse still they knew Mugabe would know of their past and will denounce their hypocrisy from the rooftop if they dare condemn his vote rigging.
Allowing the rabble-rousing farting-frog rig Zimbabwe's elections is one thing but allowing the same farting-frog to lead the continental body, even for a year, is another matter hence Mugabe, Manheru and Zimbabwean delegates' huge sigh of relief when Mugabe was endorsed AU chairman! Still, it is doubtful whether Mugabe will serve the full year as AU chairman; Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is now so serious his continued hold on political power is now tenuous. After rigging the 2013 elections it was clear that Mugabe's hold on power was weak and it would not last unless he rigged economic recovery too - that has turned out to be a bridge too far even for the seasoned rabble-rousing farting-frog!
Source - Wilbert Mukori
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