Opinion / Columnist
The tragic end of Robert Mugabe
10 Oct 2011 at 04:44hrs | Views
The political obituary of Robert Mugabe is a long and very sad narrative that is impatiently waiting to be scripted as the historical and political demise of one of Africa's dangerous genocidal dictators progresses. The telling signs are clear that political things are falling apart around Mugabe who has become a pariah personality and a political loner who is feared by all, trusted by none and loathed by even those who, by day sing his praises while by night they Necodemously visit Western envoys to whisper their anger and impatience with the genocidal tyrant. That the ailing and rapidly aging Mugabe is headed for a tragic political and historical downfall can now only be denied by those whose talents are in resisting the truth and denying reality.
So far the image of himself that Mugabe has managed to sell to the world is that of a bullet dodging political macavity and a slippery like a fish in the water political schemer who has escaped all plots and stratagems to dethrone him. All that now belongs to the past. Mugabe and his sad political career are now fat food for the hungry and very angry political and historical vultures that have been hovering above for some time now. Even the once alert and efficient Central Intelligence Organisation have had to learn from the press like all of us that most of those who advise Mugabe have been holding clandestine meetings with Western diplomats to express their tiredness of Mugabe's rule.
In publicly confirming his fears that after the unceremonious fall of Gaddaffy in Libya, NATO backed mass protests might be coming to Zimbabwe, Mugabe is being, though too late, honest with himself. Over years Mugabe has developed his many handed octopal grip on political power through violence and terror. He took the Machiavellian wisdom that "it is better to be feared than loved" way too far. By crushing his ZAPU opponents with genocide of Biblical proportions, Mugabe created enemies that would come for his throat at his dying days.
The dissenting voices like Dzikamayi Mavhaire in ZANU PF were isolated and criminalised to silence, while civil unrest and peaceful protests including students demonstrations have been met with severe police brutality and the torture off activists. In pursuing the Machiavellian art of being feared, Mugabe forgot the wisdom of being understood. An astute Machiavellian, while being publicly feared would at least allow his close advisors and some trusted loyalists to give him frank wise counsel. Not so Mugabe. He has had to learn from Wiki Leaks cables that even members of his presidium are fed up with him and are willing to conspire with the West for his ouster.
All the political power that Mugabe has built through victimising his opponents and brutally silencing critics has turned out to be his fatal weakness to the extent that even those who could have given Mugabe frank advice have become so afraid of him that they would rather flatter him than tell him the honest truth.
In the hands of the unwise and the misguided, it is very easy for power and strength to turn into a fatal weakness. I have observed before that America's formidable military might, prodigious economic strength and colossal political stamina are ironically what have made her a vulnerable target to kamikaze terrorist strikes like the spectacular bombings of September 11, 2003.For that reason Americans are some of the most terrified people in the world who live in permanent fear of the unknown that can befall them anytime anywhere.
All the nuclear muscle and well trained Marines cannot protect mighty America from angry, long bearded and suicidal jihadists bearing bleeding grievances from America's many crimes against other peoples under the sun.
What is so strong that it cannot bend will eventually break under pressure. The feared political titan that Mugabe built himself into and the "degrees in violence" that he has boasted of have actually not only become his fatal flaw but have put him in danger of being betrayed by his own trusted hangers on who fear him so much and so are they dangerous to him. He has become the biblical guilty fellow who flees when he is not being pursued and is in the cowardly habit of fleeing his own shadow like a haunted lunatic who is dogged by a guilty conscience.
It is now knowledge in the public domain that political personalities as large as the late General Solomon Mujuru had to secretly work against Mugabe by backing his opponents while in central committee and politriburo meetings they gave a nod to Mugabe's every word and endorsed his every move to protect their business empires and avoid Mugabe's well known wrath. What Mugabe enjoys from the so called hardliners in Zanu-PF is now fear and not loyalty.
It is clear now to all who wish to see that the only reason why Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDCT have failed to crack ZANUPF and attract some of the hardliners to their side is Tsvangirai's poverty of thought and acute lack of strategic political vision. In believing his own slogan that "Morgan is more" Tsvangirai has developed a god complex that makes him think he is enough without any strategic alliance with anyone, which has reduced him to a text book case of how not to conduct opposition politics in Africa. Only Tsvangirai in Africa has tried to topple a genocidal dictator by challenging him electorally and publicly hero worshipping him at the same time, which amounts to no opposition at all.
What makes MDCT cadres like Thabitha Khumalo breakdown in trauma and shed tears in London and not in MDCT platforms is that MDCT is not a home for Mugabe's victims or is a solution to ZANUPF.The it comes to the Gukurahundi genocide, Tsvangirai has always been protective of Mugabe to the extent of publicly declaring that his party will not support the prosecution of Mugabe for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
It follows that Robert Mugabe cannot and will not be toppled by Tsvangirai and the MDCT who have been his comfortable opposition. The job of defeating Mugabe belongs to his many victims and survivors of ethnic cleansing and genocide who are in Zimbabwe and outside. In alliance with all the forces in the globe that now want Mugabe out of office and into the trial docks. The survivors have a duty to adopt all means necessary to extract justice from Mugabe and his ZANUPF.The world has recently provided graphic examples, in Tunisia and Egypt, of how you invite a dictator to his downfall in the streets and villages.
For traumatised victims Like Thabitha Khumalo who joined Tsvangirai in hope that he was an alternative and a solution to Mugabe, it is not too late to see the light and join forces with those that are not interested in massaging Mugabe but want him brought to book by all means necessary.
The force of gravity which commands that all that goes up must come down does not only work in physics but also in politics. The time for Mugabe to come tumbling down from grace to grass and to meet his just deserts for a cruel and genocidal political career is now. The world that we currently live in provides international legal, local popular and militant methods that can be employed and deployed to bring Mugabe to account. Mugabe's many traumatised victims and survivors have nothing to lose but their sorrow and bleeding wounds.
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Dinizulu Mbikokayise Macaphulana is a Zimbabwean writer who is based in Lesotho. You can contact him on dinizulumacaphulana@yahoo.com
So far the image of himself that Mugabe has managed to sell to the world is that of a bullet dodging political macavity and a slippery like a fish in the water political schemer who has escaped all plots and stratagems to dethrone him. All that now belongs to the past. Mugabe and his sad political career are now fat food for the hungry and very angry political and historical vultures that have been hovering above for some time now. Even the once alert and efficient Central Intelligence Organisation have had to learn from the press like all of us that most of those who advise Mugabe have been holding clandestine meetings with Western diplomats to express their tiredness of Mugabe's rule.
In publicly confirming his fears that after the unceremonious fall of Gaddaffy in Libya, NATO backed mass protests might be coming to Zimbabwe, Mugabe is being, though too late, honest with himself. Over years Mugabe has developed his many handed octopal grip on political power through violence and terror. He took the Machiavellian wisdom that "it is better to be feared than loved" way too far. By crushing his ZAPU opponents with genocide of Biblical proportions, Mugabe created enemies that would come for his throat at his dying days.
The dissenting voices like Dzikamayi Mavhaire in ZANU PF were isolated and criminalised to silence, while civil unrest and peaceful protests including students demonstrations have been met with severe police brutality and the torture off activists. In pursuing the Machiavellian art of being feared, Mugabe forgot the wisdom of being understood. An astute Machiavellian, while being publicly feared would at least allow his close advisors and some trusted loyalists to give him frank wise counsel. Not so Mugabe. He has had to learn from Wiki Leaks cables that even members of his presidium are fed up with him and are willing to conspire with the West for his ouster.
All the political power that Mugabe has built through victimising his opponents and brutally silencing critics has turned out to be his fatal weakness to the extent that even those who could have given Mugabe frank advice have become so afraid of him that they would rather flatter him than tell him the honest truth.
In the hands of the unwise and the misguided, it is very easy for power and strength to turn into a fatal weakness. I have observed before that America's formidable military might, prodigious economic strength and colossal political stamina are ironically what have made her a vulnerable target to kamikaze terrorist strikes like the spectacular bombings of September 11, 2003.For that reason Americans are some of the most terrified people in the world who live in permanent fear of the unknown that can befall them anytime anywhere.
All the nuclear muscle and well trained Marines cannot protect mighty America from angry, long bearded and suicidal jihadists bearing bleeding grievances from America's many crimes against other peoples under the sun.
What is so strong that it cannot bend will eventually break under pressure. The feared political titan that Mugabe built himself into and the "degrees in violence" that he has boasted of have actually not only become his fatal flaw but have put him in danger of being betrayed by his own trusted hangers on who fear him so much and so are they dangerous to him. He has become the biblical guilty fellow who flees when he is not being pursued and is in the cowardly habit of fleeing his own shadow like a haunted lunatic who is dogged by a guilty conscience.
It is now knowledge in the public domain that political personalities as large as the late General Solomon Mujuru had to secretly work against Mugabe by backing his opponents while in central committee and politriburo meetings they gave a nod to Mugabe's every word and endorsed his every move to protect their business empires and avoid Mugabe's well known wrath. What Mugabe enjoys from the so called hardliners in Zanu-PF is now fear and not loyalty.
It is clear now to all who wish to see that the only reason why Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDCT have failed to crack ZANUPF and attract some of the hardliners to their side is Tsvangirai's poverty of thought and acute lack of strategic political vision. In believing his own slogan that "Morgan is more" Tsvangirai has developed a god complex that makes him think he is enough without any strategic alliance with anyone, which has reduced him to a text book case of how not to conduct opposition politics in Africa. Only Tsvangirai in Africa has tried to topple a genocidal dictator by challenging him electorally and publicly hero worshipping him at the same time, which amounts to no opposition at all.
What makes MDCT cadres like Thabitha Khumalo breakdown in trauma and shed tears in London and not in MDCT platforms is that MDCT is not a home for Mugabe's victims or is a solution to ZANUPF.The it comes to the Gukurahundi genocide, Tsvangirai has always been protective of Mugabe to the extent of publicly declaring that his party will not support the prosecution of Mugabe for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
It follows that Robert Mugabe cannot and will not be toppled by Tsvangirai and the MDCT who have been his comfortable opposition. The job of defeating Mugabe belongs to his many victims and survivors of ethnic cleansing and genocide who are in Zimbabwe and outside. In alliance with all the forces in the globe that now want Mugabe out of office and into the trial docks. The survivors have a duty to adopt all means necessary to extract justice from Mugabe and his ZANUPF.The world has recently provided graphic examples, in Tunisia and Egypt, of how you invite a dictator to his downfall in the streets and villages.
For traumatised victims Like Thabitha Khumalo who joined Tsvangirai in hope that he was an alternative and a solution to Mugabe, it is not too late to see the light and join forces with those that are not interested in massaging Mugabe but want him brought to book by all means necessary.
The force of gravity which commands that all that goes up must come down does not only work in physics but also in politics. The time for Mugabe to come tumbling down from grace to grass and to meet his just deserts for a cruel and genocidal political career is now. The world that we currently live in provides international legal, local popular and militant methods that can be employed and deployed to bring Mugabe to account. Mugabe's many traumatised victims and survivors have nothing to lose but their sorrow and bleeding wounds.
-------------------
Dinizulu Mbikokayise Macaphulana is a Zimbabwean writer who is based in Lesotho. You can contact him on dinizulumacaphulana@yahoo.com
Source - Dinizulu Mbikokayise Macaphulana
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