Opinion / Columnist
If they're shooting at you, you know you're doing something right
27 Jun 2018 at 11:18hrs | Views
In a memorable episode of the hit US political drama, The West Wing, there is an assassination attempt on the (fictional) president by a white supremacist group. As his team tries to process the event, and why someone would want to kill the president, one of his advisors utters the classic line, "If they're shooting at you, you know you're doing something right".
I couldn't help thinking back to this scene when I heard the news of the attack on President Mnangagwa at White City Stadium on Saturday. For just like in the West Wing, the question here we must ask is why would someone want to kill the president? And the answer here is also the same - because the president poses a threat to their interests and values.
For the reality is that it is generally consequential leadersseeking to make major changes that are the victim of assassination attempts. In America, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in an attempt to prevent the end of slavery. In Israel, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing fanatic seeking to prevent the peace process he was championing. And in India, Mahatma Ghandi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist who wished to end his policy of tolerance towards Muslims.
These three leaders were targeted to prevent them from realising their political goals, which were seen as a danger to the interests of the assassins. Realising their inability to defeat these views in the court of public opinion, these warped individuals decided that the only way to stop the process of change was through murder.
The same appears to be true in the case of President Mnangagwa. Over the past seven months, he has set in motion a processes that are diametrically opposed to the interests of certain individuals and groups. He has promised - and is delivering - free and fair elections. He is committed to clamping down on corruption. He is opening up Zimbabwe to the world. He is building a progressive, open and tolerant country.
These are all things that threaten certain powerful individuals and groups. People that don't want change and don't want progress. People who are happy with things exactly how they are, or rather, how they were. Aware of popularity and unstoppable momentum of Mnangagwa, they have realised that a free and fair election – in which according to all polls he would comfortably win – would only empower his reform agenda further, and weaken their position. With success at the ballot box highly unlikely, they decided that the only way to stop Mnangagwa's reform agenda is to silence him permanently. Thankfully, they failed.
And so, my message to President Mnangagwa is to keep going. Don't let these murderers deter you. Keep reforming. Keep fighting corruption. Keep promoting democracy and free speech.
In fact, keep doing exactly what you were doing that threatened these people so much. Because as the West Wing says, "If they're shooting at you, you know you're doing something right."
Charles (student)
I couldn't help thinking back to this scene when I heard the news of the attack on President Mnangagwa at White City Stadium on Saturday. For just like in the West Wing, the question here we must ask is why would someone want to kill the president? And the answer here is also the same - because the president poses a threat to their interests and values.
For the reality is that it is generally consequential leadersseeking to make major changes that are the victim of assassination attempts. In America, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in an attempt to prevent the end of slavery. In Israel, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing fanatic seeking to prevent the peace process he was championing. And in India, Mahatma Ghandi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist who wished to end his policy of tolerance towards Muslims.
These three leaders were targeted to prevent them from realising their political goals, which were seen as a danger to the interests of the assassins. Realising their inability to defeat these views in the court of public opinion, these warped individuals decided that the only way to stop the process of change was through murder.
The same appears to be true in the case of President Mnangagwa. Over the past seven months, he has set in motion a processes that are diametrically opposed to the interests of certain individuals and groups. He has promised - and is delivering - free and fair elections. He is committed to clamping down on corruption. He is opening up Zimbabwe to the world. He is building a progressive, open and tolerant country.
These are all things that threaten certain powerful individuals and groups. People that don't want change and don't want progress. People who are happy with things exactly how they are, or rather, how they were. Aware of popularity and unstoppable momentum of Mnangagwa, they have realised that a free and fair election – in which according to all polls he would comfortably win – would only empower his reform agenda further, and weaken their position. With success at the ballot box highly unlikely, they decided that the only way to stop Mnangagwa's reform agenda is to silence him permanently. Thankfully, they failed.
In fact, keep doing exactly what you were doing that threatened these people so much. Because as the West Wing says, "If they're shooting at you, you know you're doing something right."
Charles (student)
Source - Charles Kanye
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