Opinion / Columnist
If Zimbabwe is to make any meaningful progress then we must end our politics of greed.
28 Oct 2015 at 19:03hrs | Views
Whilst we live in the age when man has set foot on the Moon and returned alive; when man has split the smallest body, the atom, into its constituent parts; man has operated on the most delicate human organ, the brain; etc. All these human achievements are a measure of how far mankind have come as a species, a measure of human civilization.
At the very heart of this human sojourn of civilization and progress, is peace, justice, freedom and human dignity and human decency for without peace, justice, etc. progress has been painfully slow or none at all. Societies that have developed the political systems to secure peace and justice have made progress, great progress; those that have failed to do so have lagged behind.
Zimbabwe has lagged behind, indeed these last 35 years we have moved backwards, because instead of securing peace and justice our politics have been of greed; greed for not just political power but absolute power and wealth all the egotistic pleasures and luxuries they bring. Leaders like Mugabe have prophesied to no end about peace, justice, freedom and human dignity and decency and yet these all went straight out of the window the day they tasted power.
Mugabe condemned white colonial exploitation and oppression of the blacks in the name of freedom and justice. He had led the armed struggle to end colonial oppression; many people suffered and tens of thousands lost their very lives in the struggle. But even before the country had attained her independence Mugabe was already plotting how he will secure political power for himself and executing his devilish plots.
It is no secret that both Zanu PF and PF Zapu both wanted a one-party state in post independent Zimbabwe. Each party was seeking absolute power and was prepared to deny the opposing party and the people at large their basic and fundamental freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful and free vote and even the right to life. So even before they had defeated the common enemy - the white colonialists –; Zanu PF and PF Zapu leaders and members alike were already at each other's throat, fighting for absolute power.
Ever since Mugabe got into power, he has pursued his dream of securing absolute political power with the zeal of a maniac; nothing, absolutely nothing, was allowed to get in his way. He has destroyed the nation's democratic institutions such as the Police, Judiciary and CIO by appointing party loyalists there to serve his selfish greed for power instead of the common good. By brutally stifling all meaningful political debate and competition; Mugabe has established a de facto one-party dictatorship.
Mugabe has appointed loyalists in every sector of the economy for the same selfish reason he had loyalists in the Police with disastrous consequences. Three and half decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have destroyed the nation's economy. Before independence the nation produced enough food to feed the nation and sold the surplus; that has since changed. Mugabe has seized all white owned farms and gave them to party loyalists who have failed to put them into productive use. Since the farm seizures in 2000 the nation has been forced to import food. This year, 1.3 million Zimbabweans are facing starvation.
We are starving in the Garden of Eden!
The country is rich with mineral resources and other riches and yet its people are amongst some of the poorest in the world. Our mineral wealth has become a curse and not a blessing!
The tyrannical autocracy has served Mugabe and his cronies well in that it secured for them absolute power. Sadly the autocracy has been a total disaster for the nation; even when it was self-evident Zanu PF was dragging the nation deeper and deeper into political and economic disasters, there was nothing the nation could do to stop this madness.
Mugabe usurped the people's political power to determine the nation's destiny by denying them the freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote. 35 years of absolute power has deadened Mugabe and his cronies to reason, sense of propriety and they are now totally indifferent to the tragic suffering of millions of our people and unnecessary deaths of thousands of others. They are, for all intent and purpose, quiet mad.
"If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the state of his mind; but our primary consideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should knock him down first, and pity him afterwards," wrote Boswell in Life of Johnson.
The self-preservation challenge before us is take away the absolute power Mugabe usurped from the people and restore their power and right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country.
We must demand the full implementation of all the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 GPA designed to end Zanu PF's undemocratic and tyrannical control of the country's state institutions such as the Police and ZEC. As long as Mugabe and Zanu PF continue to wield the tyrannical stick of absolute political power they will continue to abuse us just as a madman wielding a stick would because, after 35 years of enjoying absolute power, they are mad.
At the very heart of this human sojourn of civilization and progress, is peace, justice, freedom and human dignity and human decency for without peace, justice, etc. progress has been painfully slow or none at all. Societies that have developed the political systems to secure peace and justice have made progress, great progress; those that have failed to do so have lagged behind.
Zimbabwe has lagged behind, indeed these last 35 years we have moved backwards, because instead of securing peace and justice our politics have been of greed; greed for not just political power but absolute power and wealth all the egotistic pleasures and luxuries they bring. Leaders like Mugabe have prophesied to no end about peace, justice, freedom and human dignity and decency and yet these all went straight out of the window the day they tasted power.
Mugabe condemned white colonial exploitation and oppression of the blacks in the name of freedom and justice. He had led the armed struggle to end colonial oppression; many people suffered and tens of thousands lost their very lives in the struggle. But even before the country had attained her independence Mugabe was already plotting how he will secure political power for himself and executing his devilish plots.
It is no secret that both Zanu PF and PF Zapu both wanted a one-party state in post independent Zimbabwe. Each party was seeking absolute power and was prepared to deny the opposing party and the people at large their basic and fundamental freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful and free vote and even the right to life. So even before they had defeated the common enemy - the white colonialists –; Zanu PF and PF Zapu leaders and members alike were already at each other's throat, fighting for absolute power.
Ever since Mugabe got into power, he has pursued his dream of securing absolute political power with the zeal of a maniac; nothing, absolutely nothing, was allowed to get in his way. He has destroyed the nation's democratic institutions such as the Police, Judiciary and CIO by appointing party loyalists there to serve his selfish greed for power instead of the common good. By brutally stifling all meaningful political debate and competition; Mugabe has established a de facto one-party dictatorship.
Mugabe has appointed loyalists in every sector of the economy for the same selfish reason he had loyalists in the Police with disastrous consequences. Three and half decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have destroyed the nation's economy. Before independence the nation produced enough food to feed the nation and sold the surplus; that has since changed. Mugabe has seized all white owned farms and gave them to party loyalists who have failed to put them into productive use. Since the farm seizures in 2000 the nation has been forced to import food. This year, 1.3 million Zimbabweans are facing starvation.
We are starving in the Garden of Eden!
The country is rich with mineral resources and other riches and yet its people are amongst some of the poorest in the world. Our mineral wealth has become a curse and not a blessing!
The tyrannical autocracy has served Mugabe and his cronies well in that it secured for them absolute power. Sadly the autocracy has been a total disaster for the nation; even when it was self-evident Zanu PF was dragging the nation deeper and deeper into political and economic disasters, there was nothing the nation could do to stop this madness.
Mugabe usurped the people's political power to determine the nation's destiny by denying them the freedoms and rights including the right to a meaningful vote. 35 years of absolute power has deadened Mugabe and his cronies to reason, sense of propriety and they are now totally indifferent to the tragic suffering of millions of our people and unnecessary deaths of thousands of others. They are, for all intent and purpose, quiet mad.
"If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the state of his mind; but our primary consideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should knock him down first, and pity him afterwards," wrote Boswell in Life of Johnson.
The self-preservation challenge before us is take away the absolute power Mugabe usurped from the people and restore their power and right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country.
We must demand the full implementation of all the democratic reforms agreed in the 2008 GPA designed to end Zanu PF's undemocratic and tyrannical control of the country's state institutions such as the Police and ZEC. As long as Mugabe and Zanu PF continue to wield the tyrannical stick of absolute political power they will continue to abuse us just as a madman wielding a stick would because, after 35 years of enjoying absolute power, they are mad.
Source - Wilbert Mukori
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