Age has nothing to do with competence - Mugabe was young once but just as corrupt

During the constitution writing process there was a lot of talk of introducing the upper age limit for president. The idea has grown on from there and now some Zanu PF idiots think it is a selling point with this generation 40 (G40) faction. How stupid is that!

The problem with Mugabe and his cronies is not so much that they are old but rather that they are corrupt and incompetent. And having tried to get rid of the tyrant and failed for the last three decades, the nation was now so desperate we wanted it written into the constitution just to block Mugabe from becoming president again.

Mugabe was not always a dotting 92 year old hair-dyeing egotistic tyrant; he was a spring chicken too once upon a time. Back in 1980, Mugabe was 56 years old and Joice Mujuru was a 24 year old. Even back then, they were incompetent and corrupt; the seeds of the gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and the murderous tyranny that have cripple the nation today were sown way back in 1980s.

If you are sick you seek a medical doctor. If the ailment is one requiring specialist knowledge you would inquire about the doctor's experience and expertise in the field be-cause that is more relevant to your needs than knowing their age, sex, race, etc.

Zimbabwe is in a serious political and economic mess after decades of misrule by Mugabe and his cronies. For years Mugabe has con the nation into electing him by promising us the moon on a silver platter but has delivered hell-on-earth. We must learn to elect our leaders with greater care and not to be so easily conned.

For Zimbabwe to get out of the hell-hole Mugabe landed us in we need far reaching political reforms to enable us to reform failed leaders as soon as we have found out they are corrupt and incompetent. We need to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship that has allowed Mugabe to rig elections and stay in power regardless of the wishes of the electorate.

Our failure to understand what the democratic changes we needed to end the Zanu PF dictatorship, for example, has resulted in us being conned by Tsvangirai and his MDC friends. Tsvangirai did not have a clue what the reforms required were and so no re-forms were implemented during the GNU. We are stuck with Zanu PF today because we missed the opportunity to end the dictatorship.

If we do not implement the democratic reforms necessary to ensure next elections are free, fair and credible then we will be stuck with the Mujuru faction, Mnangagwa faction or G40 faction; which faction wins the rigged elections will be a matter of indifference, to me they are all Zanu PF through and through, three variants of the same corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF. Still, if push came to shove, one will have to say the G40 faction is the worst of the bad lot.

G40 faction has Minister Kasukuwere and Minister Zhuwao, the two individuals who have done the most to promote the obnoxious indigenisation law. As for Grace Mugabe, the faction's leader, she has shown that she is a foul-mouthed individual with no common sense. President Grace Mugabe will be the nightmare scenario! Youth is on G40 faction's side but when it comes to competency they are the least competent because, as stated above, age has nothing to do with one's leadership qualities.

Those obsessed about age are just too lazy to think of what they want the leader to do and judge them on their ability to deliver and instead decide on the basis of something total abstract and irrelevant! We are in this hell-hole because for the last 36 years we have failed to elect competent leaders as long as we allow ourselves to be distracted by trivial matters like age, sex, race, tribe, etc., we will never get out of the hole!