Opinion / Letters
Does private media really hate Robert Mugabe?
13 Jan 2012 at 06:48hrs | Views
I found the indignation of the Information minister, Webster Shamu, over reports that President Robert Mugabe had flown to the Far East for medical treatment rather puzzling.
It is on public record that the president has travelled to the Far East a record eight times over the past year, and in almost all the instances, the trips were to seek medical attention.
Just because the President now happens to be on his annual leave does not preclude the fact that at 87 years old, and afflicted by numerous ailments, the man obviously needs constant medical care.
Then Shamu makes the astonishing allegation that by reporting the state of Mugabe's health, the private media wishes him dead. It is difficult to understand the basis of this preposterous assertion suffice to say Shamu seems to labour under the misapprehension that Mugabe needs to be protected even from public concern for his well-being.
It is a strange thing about dictators: you show concern for them, it is never genuine, and when you do not show any love at all, you're branded unpatriotic.
Shamu should know that much of the ineptitude in government over the past three decades can be traced to Mugabe's doorstep. Concern for a leader, whether positive or negative, has to do with that leader's standing and public image.
If Shamu thinks the private media hates Mugabe, perhaps he needs to do a little research to establish exactly why. Popularity, as a leader, must be earned, not exacted on the public by force. It is people like Shamu who mislead Mugabe to believe he is still a popular leader even when elections have shown otherwise.
The private media has nothing to gain by wishing Mugabe dead, but has a responsibility to inform the public about the state of health of their leader. Some day, even President Mugabe will succumb to the call of nature â€" because like all of us, he is just human.
Shamu and other sycophants that surround Mugabe must not pretend that such a old man remains in pristine health and does not seek medical attention as often as suggested by the private media.
This kind of delusional" is upheld as larger than life and beyond human frailities, is clearly disingenuous.
Citizen X
It is on public record that the president has travelled to the Far East a record eight times over the past year, and in almost all the instances, the trips were to seek medical attention.
Just because the President now happens to be on his annual leave does not preclude the fact that at 87 years old, and afflicted by numerous ailments, the man obviously needs constant medical care.
Then Shamu makes the astonishing allegation that by reporting the state of Mugabe's health, the private media wishes him dead. It is difficult to understand the basis of this preposterous assertion suffice to say Shamu seems to labour under the misapprehension that Mugabe needs to be protected even from public concern for his well-being.
It is a strange thing about dictators: you show concern for them, it is never genuine, and when you do not show any love at all, you're branded unpatriotic.
Shamu should know that much of the ineptitude in government over the past three decades can be traced to Mugabe's doorstep. Concern for a leader, whether positive or negative, has to do with that leader's standing and public image.
If Shamu thinks the private media hates Mugabe, perhaps he needs to do a little research to establish exactly why. Popularity, as a leader, must be earned, not exacted on the public by force. It is people like Shamu who mislead Mugabe to believe he is still a popular leader even when elections have shown otherwise.
The private media has nothing to gain by wishing Mugabe dead, but has a responsibility to inform the public about the state of health of their leader. Some day, even President Mugabe will succumb to the call of nature â€" because like all of us, he is just human.
Shamu and other sycophants that surround Mugabe must not pretend that such a old man remains in pristine health and does not seek medical attention as often as suggested by the private media.
This kind of delusional" is upheld as larger than life and beyond human frailities, is clearly disingenuous.
Citizen X
Source - Citizen X
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