Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe
leads exit march!
 |
| Robert and Grace Mugabe |
By F. Ekongang Nzante Lenjo
The dramatic twists of events in Zimbabwe which
began on Wednesday November 15 with the military practically keeping President
Robert Mugabe and family under house arrest and taking complete control over
state run media has been viewed by political analysts as the first crack in an
unavoidable avalanche that will sweep in its passage senile and sit tight
African Dictators. The unprecedented seeming collaboration between the military
and the marching thousands of Zimbabweans in the streets of Harare has provided
a curious eye opener on the far reaching effects of such collaboration between
the people and the military. This, it is believed could be the formula to
unseat Dictators who have been glued to power for ages and protected by the
military.
This chain of events was triggered in Zimbabwe
when 93 year old Robert Mugabe relieved the Vice President of his services and
attempted to bring in wife Grace Mugabe in his place. This single handedness
which went a shade too far received a swift response from the military which has
insisted that it is not a Coup D’état but simply an attempt to prevent power
from getting into the wrong hands.
With the President under house arrest, marching
throngs of thousands of Zimbabweans from all segments of society and from a
cross section of political opinions have marched the streets of Harare and
other parts of the country requesting just one thing; “the departure of Mugabe
today not tomorrow.” These demonstrations have gone on under the watchful eyes
of the military which has always in the past dispersed with tear gas and any
other available means, any attempt to carry out anti-Mugabe protests.
Mugabe progressively found himself in the eye of
the storm as the ruling Zanu PF party asked him to resign from his position as
President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. He was called to resign latest Monday
November 20th or face impeachment from the party. Meantime Grace
Mugabe was also relieved of her functions within the ruling Zanu PF Party.
Within the party, Mugabe lost his position as President. This was followed by his being called to quit
by the War Veterans Association, a body that constitutes a very strong force in
Politics in Zimbabwe. Against all expectations, Robert Mugabe took to the rostrum
Sunday night and declared his intentions to preside over the congress of the
party billed for December 16. Just like Dictators that had gone before him
Mugabe had decided to stick to power to the end. His refusal to resign
disappointed not only the people but also those of his party, the military and
the War Veteran Association all of whom expected him to resign. However, as
time drew on it was disclosed that President Robert Mugabe had in principle
agreed to conditions of his resignation.
While this drama rolled on, Mugabe was having
discussions with the military that was keeping him under house arrest. Coupled
with this drama was the fear of the military falling in love with power
especially considering the fact that they had become very popular among the
people. It was accepted among political cycles that the military factor was
indeed a challenge to the political process in the country.
Meantime Emerson Mnangwagwa former Vice
President returned to the country from South Africa after President Robert
Mugabe tendered his resignation. He has stated that the country is now poised
to embrace a new era in its Political History.
The vulnerability of Dictatorial regimes in
Africa presently looks more precarious due to realities on the ground. The
modus Operandi of the Dictators doesn’t seem to change despite rapidly changing
socio cultural realities. The quick pace of information flow and the receding
sickening illiteracy that was a strong characteristic of African populations
some twenty or thirty years back doesn’t seem to be playing in favour of seat
tight rulers. The average African now is fairly educated and completely
different from the one who was there a few decades ago. Dictators on the other
hand remain unchanging using the military to clamp down on people who generally
know exactly what they want. The methods are getting obsolete and since
dictators dominantly do not have a complete knowledge of the people they govern,
they continuously take unpopular decisions and animosity deepens. This is the
reason why the exit of African dictators always looks so dramatic. Examples
abound; Idi Amin of Uganda, Mombutu Sese Seko of Zaire now Democratic Republic
of Congo, Samuel Doe of Liberia, Hosni Bubarak in Egypt, the Eyadema’s Dynasty
in Togo, Yaya Djame in Guinea Bissau among many others.
Perhaps the bleakest development is the
gradually changing attitude of the Military. The military is much better
trained than it was a few decades ago and as demonstrated in Zimbabwe an
educated military conscious of its responsibility to the nation as a whole and
not to individual dictators especially when they behave in ways deemed to be
unpatriotic is certainly not good news to seat tight dictators. Touches of this
quality in the military have been increasingly seen in political crisis
situations on the continent like in Egypt a few years back and now in Zimbabwe.
Another quality of the ruling environment of
Dictators is the entourage which always creates a smoke screen around the ruler
creating an atmosphere of the absence of any problem. An added quality here is
the continuous support by cronies of the Dictator because his continuous stay
in power will keep them comfortable. The Dictator constantly receives motions
of support which creates an atmosphere of artificial popularity. This explains
why the same people who supported the candidacy for 93 years old Mugabe for
next year’s election are presently prepared to impeach him since his military
shield is no longer there.
Considering that these facts are universal
truths in all dictatorships in Africa, the present drama in Zimbabwe will
surely have a spill-over effect on the rest of the continent. The situation in
Zimbabwe and that which is presently being experienced in Togo are products of
similar circumstances albeit with minute differences.
EDEV Web News / Email: edevnewspaper@gmail.com/ Tel:+237696896001/+237678401408
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