Opinion / Columnist
If (when) Mugabe loses the election to Tsvangirai
30 Jul 2013 at 01:07hrs | Views
By 7 PM on July 31 2013 the people of Zimbabwe would have decided who must rule this rich nation for the next five years.
And as I am writing some of my political friends have already stocked their refrigerators with beer to celebrate a New Zimbabwe. And if the March 2008 election results are anything to go by, President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party will be thrown into the political dustbin. Which brings me to a sad question: "What will happen if (or is it when) President Mugabe loses the crunch election to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai?"
Will Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga resigns? After all he had the temerity to call Tsvangirai a puppet of the west, a "sellout" and a "psychiatric patient who badly needed treatment by a competent psychiatrist.
Will the ZBC and various newspapers under the Zimpapers stable be now addressing Tsvangirai as the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence forces? Will the journalists in the public media who have been calling Tsvangirai a traitor and a puppet of the West quit their jobs? Will senior army and police officers who have made known their allegiance to Zanu PF resign enmasse? Will Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and his Local Government counterpart Ignatius Chombo continue to hold onto their ill-gotten wealth? Will Mugabe be dragged to The Hague for the Gukurahundi atrocities and other various human rights abuses or he will retire at his rural home in Zvimba? What will happen to Jonathan Moyo, Tafataona Mahoso et al?
All the above questions are chilling to answer particularly if one supports Mugabe and Zanu PF. While some Zanu PF zealots, even church leaders have foretold a Zanu PF and Mugabe win in the next general elections, events on the ground suggests otherwise. I am reliably informed that some senior Zanu PF officials and security chiefs are already approaching senior MDC with plans for a post Mugabe era.
Those who are calling Tsvangirai a traitor must remember that that he might preside over the Heroes and Defence forces celebrations as Commander-in-Chief of the defence forces in the next two weeks.
How then are the people who are calling him a traitor going to relate to him? What people must remember is that many white people had to leave Zimbabwe at independence in 1980-not because they were forced to do so but-because they were ashamed to live in a Zimbabwe under Mugabe whom they viewed as and called a terrorist.
As Zimbabweans we should be mature politically and be able to tolerate each other people's political views. If all Zimbabweans accept that participating in an election is not an illegal regime change agenda then we might able to tolerate each other. From my understanding the Movement for Democratic Change formations whether lead by Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube, Arthur Mutambara or Job Sikhala are all properly registered political parties in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe and their members and leaders must be free to air their views without fear. They are not traitors but simply they have political views different from those held by the former ruling party Zanu PF. They are not planning a coup de tat in Zimbabwe so where is the illegal regime change mantra coming from?
It is high time for journalists to interrogate some of these claims by politicians not regurgitating the outlandish claims because they were said by Mugabe or other senior Zanu PF members. Doesn't it foment civil strife if journalists carelessly write that Tsvangirai wants to return the country to British rule or by simply labelling him as a traitor? And is it possible that a country like Britain or any other developed nation can embarks on re-colonisation of Africa in this millennium? It is not possible?
There is nothing like re-colonisation and those who spreading that propaganda are not only ill-informed but also needs serious political orientation in a New Zimbabwe. It was really disturbing to hear some Zanu PF officials like Webster Shamu and others saying Zanu PF will not accept an electoral defeat because the independence of the country was won through the barrel of the gun. But surely those who liberated the country fought for our rights to vote for the party of our choice.
In my recent talk with MDC national organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa, he declared: "This time Mugabe is going".
Need I say more?
------------------
Andrew Mambondiyani is a journalist based in Zimbabwe he can be contacted at amambondiyani@gmail.com
And as I am writing some of my political friends have already stocked their refrigerators with beer to celebrate a New Zimbabwe. And if the March 2008 election results are anything to go by, President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party will be thrown into the political dustbin. Which brings me to a sad question: "What will happen if (or is it when) President Mugabe loses the crunch election to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai?"
Will Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga resigns? After all he had the temerity to call Tsvangirai a puppet of the west, a "sellout" and a "psychiatric patient who badly needed treatment by a competent psychiatrist.
Will the ZBC and various newspapers under the Zimpapers stable be now addressing Tsvangirai as the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence forces? Will the journalists in the public media who have been calling Tsvangirai a traitor and a puppet of the West quit their jobs? Will senior army and police officers who have made known their allegiance to Zanu PF resign enmasse? Will Mines Minister Obert Mpofu and his Local Government counterpart Ignatius Chombo continue to hold onto their ill-gotten wealth? Will Mugabe be dragged to The Hague for the Gukurahundi atrocities and other various human rights abuses or he will retire at his rural home in Zvimba? What will happen to Jonathan Moyo, Tafataona Mahoso et al?
All the above questions are chilling to answer particularly if one supports Mugabe and Zanu PF. While some Zanu PF zealots, even church leaders have foretold a Zanu PF and Mugabe win in the next general elections, events on the ground suggests otherwise. I am reliably informed that some senior Zanu PF officials and security chiefs are already approaching senior MDC with plans for a post Mugabe era.
Those who are calling Tsvangirai a traitor must remember that that he might preside over the Heroes and Defence forces celebrations as Commander-in-Chief of the defence forces in the next two weeks.
As Zimbabweans we should be mature politically and be able to tolerate each other people's political views. If all Zimbabweans accept that participating in an election is not an illegal regime change agenda then we might able to tolerate each other. From my understanding the Movement for Democratic Change formations whether lead by Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube, Arthur Mutambara or Job Sikhala are all properly registered political parties in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe and their members and leaders must be free to air their views without fear. They are not traitors but simply they have political views different from those held by the former ruling party Zanu PF. They are not planning a coup de tat in Zimbabwe so where is the illegal regime change mantra coming from?
It is high time for journalists to interrogate some of these claims by politicians not regurgitating the outlandish claims because they were said by Mugabe or other senior Zanu PF members. Doesn't it foment civil strife if journalists carelessly write that Tsvangirai wants to return the country to British rule or by simply labelling him as a traitor? And is it possible that a country like Britain or any other developed nation can embarks on re-colonisation of Africa in this millennium? It is not possible?
There is nothing like re-colonisation and those who spreading that propaganda are not only ill-informed but also needs serious political orientation in a New Zimbabwe. It was really disturbing to hear some Zanu PF officials like Webster Shamu and others saying Zanu PF will not accept an electoral defeat because the independence of the country was won through the barrel of the gun. But surely those who liberated the country fought for our rights to vote for the party of our choice.
In my recent talk with MDC national organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa, he declared: "This time Mugabe is going".
Need I say more?
------------------
Andrew Mambondiyani is a journalist based in Zimbabwe he can be contacted at amambondiyani@gmail.com
Source - Andrew Mambondiyani
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