Mugabe’s letter of praise to the British Queen – Is he a political turncoat?

Two days ago the UK’s Sunday Times published a story about a letter Robert Mugabe wrote to the British Government, thanking them for their support in helping him secure victory in 1980. Now Mugabe wants to blame everything on the UK and the question we have to ask him is: Should Zimbabweans put their trust and hope in a political turncoat like him?

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday on the same day that Robert Mugabe turned 88 (I am not ready to confess my own age!). While I had a relaxing day with my family, Mugabe celebrated in style, spending US$1 million on the celebrations in a country where the majority of people live on less than US$3 a day.

Mugabe’s day may have been tinged with sadness as the news that his son, Robert Mugabe Junior, failed his A-levels dismally, bringing home a list of Us (of course being one set of results that his father cannot change using violence and intimidation). But apart from that, no doubt he will have been celebrating some of the things he calls successes of his rule and policies. Chief amongst those will be the fact that as a master of politics he has in the past and continues to manage to outmanoeuvre his enemies. The fact that Morgan Tsvangirai claims he is satisfied about the mining developments in the bloody Marange fields means he has scored a point. Since the discovery of

..blowing off steam,

diamonds in Marange, there have been multiple human rights reported, many residents there killed, and others who have suffered terrible torture. Mugabe must be celebrating the controversial land reforms, despite the failures that have left many people without jobs and the starvation generated by reduced production on those farms. He must be celebrating the fact that the Finance Minister has come around to sing the same tune with him on the sanctions issue. He must be happy because rumour has it that even the MDC T leader is bowing to his call to have elections this year, despite a GPA that requires elections to be held under an environment in which agreed reforms have been implemented. The congratulations he has received for turning 88 will have been boosted by the prayers for him and so Mugabe must be happy.  Finally, Mugabe is celebrating because his controversial indigenous laws are being taken seriously, with Blanket Mine in Gwanda –my former employer– the latest mining company to accept the government proposals. While the laws themselves are looking not that bad, the problem is the question of allocation of shares, which seems to be generating  favours for Mugabe’s cronies who will be the ultimate winners.

Hope for Zanu PF after Mugabe?

As Mugabe completes yet another year, our thoughts inevitably turn to the possibility of life after Mugabe. It could be time, too, for people in Zanu PF think about the future of the country and realise that their hopes for life after Mugabe will depend on them disowning and getting rid of him before more damage is done. This way they stand a chance of rehabilitating themselves to serve again as a political force in the country. The removal from the targeted sanctions list of some of their party members demonstrates that this option is a possibility; although it is not clear on what criteria the decision to choose these particular members was based. In Mexico, the Institutional Revolutionary Party ruled for over 70 years but read the political writing on the wall, accepted defeat and a new role in opposition to preserve its existence, and began the task of reinventing itself politically. It is sad though, to see the military getting involved in the mercenary-like dealings of our political environment. Zimbabwe deserves a second chance, it is up to us as Zimbabweans to decide what kind of future we want and we should bear in mind that change has never been brought on a silver plate in scenarios like ours. Sacrifices have to be made and while some politicians in the former opposition want to use a reconciliatory move, they must be reminded that many have lost their lives and history will judge them harshly even though they are currently riding on the popular mood change.