Zimbabwe: mentors, proteges and morons

*TANONOKA JOSEPH WHANDE | Friday February 22, 2008 00:00

There is undeserved euphoria about Simba Makoni, a ZANU-PF prodigal son who clearly owes his political identity to Robert Mugabe, the dictator he seeks to replace today.

Makoni's challenging of Mugabe will not benefit the people of Zimbabwe in any way, if anything, it is retrogressive.

Die-hard ZANU-PF members and senior Mugabe loyalists, including once disgraced ones, are reportedly extending encouragement and support to Makoni and there is a reason for that.

Decidedly, this is Mugabe's swansong, his last hurray. Most of ZANU-PF's top brass now supporting Makoni are looking for protection in a post-Mugabe existence.

All these people have grave cases (pardon the expression) to answer and explanations to give, including Makoni himself, and they are trying to band together to shut out possibilities of trial.

Then there are people like Mutumwa Mawere who can't believe their luck on seeing Makoni on the ballot. Mugabe and ZANU-PF are sitting on Mawere's business empire and are slowly dismantling it regardless of what a British court ruled last week. Mawere would rightfully want to have his property back. Having been so ill-treated by his former ZANU-PF buddies, I think he believes he stands a better chance with a ZANU-PF Makoni government than with an MDC government who might want to delve into his empire a little too deeply.

Zimbabweans are being taken for morons on all levels. Even reporters like Peta Thorncroft cannot help to put their journalistic credibility on the line and write slanted views in favour of their favourite candidate Makoni. Alarm bells are already ringing.

Thorncroft's venture to promote Makoni for whatever reason is a dangerous undertaking, one that gives credence to Robert Mugabe's ridiculous rantings about 'white' people out to destroy his government and reporters working for certain interests.

Thorncroft apparently believes that in the absence of a truly free and vibrant independent press in Zimbabwe, she can mislead the world with her treacherous comments. That time is passe.

Who said Makoni is a people's choice? Who really is saying that Makoni is well respected across party lines and even outside? What poll was taken, where and when? Who is telling us that this failure is 'respected by the international financial community' and what is that based on?

It is only those people who want to use Makoni as a shield. These ZANU-PF people have been sidelined for very long and now want a go at the national cake too. But above all, they are really worried about their security since they are already ticking off Mugabe's numbered days.

And that is why only ZANU-PF people, who know their crimes, are looking for a hiding place by promoting Simba Makoni.

Makoni wants to be my president for the wrong reasons. He wants to use my faith in him to protect people who stole our nation's faith. Using my faith and my vote, Makoni wants to protect Mugabe, his mentor, and those who murdered Zimbabwe and its people.

I am a Zimbabwean and I care about who my president should be. Last time I checked, I was still looking.

I do not know what all the fuss about Simba Makoni is. The forthcoming elections are a contest between old warrior Morgan Tsvangirai and the seasoned despot Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabweans are being invited to take sides in a ZANU-PF domestic squabble. Makoni is to ZANU-PF what Arthur Mutambara and his shameless kittens are to the MDC.

Mutambara, like Makoni, can't tell people what they stand for and anyone who does not stand for something will end up falling for anything. And they have already fallen for Makoni. Yet only two weeks ago, they wanted a joint effort with Tsvangirai. They change positions more frequently than windshield wipers.

What Makoni and Mutambara have in common is that they are momentarily both newsworthy only because they left, at critical points, organisations they did not found. Big deal!

Yet I strongly believe that Zimbabweans from around the country should aspire to lead their nation. The country is crawling with presidential possibilities. But we seem to believe that party leaders and presidents should only come from Manicaland. Now the nation watches as a group of homeboys scratch each other's eyeballs out to lead the country.

I wonder what would really have happened had Edgar Tekere and Rekayi Tangwena not done us the disfavour of 'leading' Mugabe to Mozambique where he usurped party leadership with the help of Samora Machel.

Anyway, Matabeleland, both north and south, where are you? And is Masvingo now in ruins? Is Emerson Mnangagwa the only ambitious person in the Midlands? Mash Central must give us a better possibility.

Come on people, there are a lot of potential presidents everywhere in Zimbabwe. Surely, the Look East Policy is not meant for politics too, I thought it was just for bad business!

I must admit that our eastern province did produce brilliant and some not so brilliant leaders. From Ndabaningi Sithole to Herbert Chitepo through Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and Makoni himself.

But this look east policy is narrowing the field to our disadvantage and Zimbabweans from all our land must show an interest in the leadership of the nation. Run for the presidency, Zimbabweans, run! My quest is to extinguish the lack of interest on the part of citizens. We don't even take elections seriously anymore. And that is painful to me. A nation and its people can only take so much.

A nation and its people can only flee so far. However, I am appalled by Makoni's backers. The same old guard that presided over our demise and humiliation are now changing vehicles to deliver the same message.

What does our nation expect from Nkomo, Solomon Mujuru, Joseph Msika, Joyce Mujuru, Ibho Mandaza, and so on?

We are talking about the very top ZANU-PF brass. Makoni's arrival is actually more dangerous than the current situation where we are watching Mugabe's last hurray.

Makoni, surrounded by the ZANU-PF architects of our misery, wants to follow the same path and protect the same perpetrators.

Are we going to make ourselves pay the price? I have no intention of slipping on the same banana twice. Makoni's candidature does not offer, as Mutumwa Mawere claimed in a rumbling 3500- word article on ZimOnline, 'the only available option.'

Mugabe is cornered and the ZANU-PF vultures have started circling. Fair enough. But what choice do we have? Or is it none of the above?

We have a very simple choice here. We are being asked to vote for four quarters from two halves.

One half is the MDC whose little sister is looking for shelter from the other half of ZANU-PF. Shall we vote for ZANU-PF Mugabe or shall we vote for ZANU-PF Makoni?

Mugabe and Makoni? Why am I reminded of mentors and proteges? Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier. Fidel and Raul Castro. Then there is the perennial question: Why does the MDC always participate in flawed elections? This Zimbabwean election, like others before it, does not meet SADC or any international standards. What Mawere calls the 'MDC's strategy of participating in a race while openly acknowledging that the vote will be stolen' is real cause for concern.

Or, maybe, there is money to be made from chaos.

I need a break.

*Tanonoka Joseph Whande is a Botswana-based Zimbabwean journalist.