Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company – when marketing his all-black Model-T cars – had a penchant for saying to his customers, ‘You can choose any colour you like, as long as it is black!’
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s recent speech at the official opening of the Ezekiel Guti University, about ZANU PF’s ‘democracy’ reminded me of this anecdote, but this time it would be, ‘You can choose any leader you like, as long as it is Mugabe!’
I decided to call it ‘Fordism’!
In his very telling speech, Mugabe alluded to the fact that he was democratically chosen at a ZANU PF congress to represent his party in the 2013 Presidential elections.
How he was ‘democratically elected’ – only ZANU PF knows!
However, what I found particularly peculiar was the fact that the 2018 Presidential elections are already around the corner, and if ZANU PF knew any democracy at all, they would now be encouraging all those with presidential aspirations to come forward and start campaigning so that they may also have a chance to be chosen at a ZANU PF congress to represent the party.
On the contrary, what Zimbabweans are witnessing is a purge, arguably unprecedented in ZANU PF’s history – as anyone who dares to challenge (or appears to be challenging) Mugabe is expelled from the party.
Mugabe then uses the excuse that he was chosen by congress to be the party’s presidential candidate for the 2013 elections, so no one should be challenging him.
Need he be reminded that there are only two years to go before the next Presidential election, and as such, the mandate he keeps touting is coming to an end – therefore, no one is trying to oust him, but his lieutenants are merely positioning themselves to be chosen by the ZANU PF congress to represent the party.
So why are these people being expelled, and being accused of trying to topple Mugabe – when his current tenure is ending?
When the time for the next ZANU PF congress arrives, Mugabe will not have any competition, and he will again have the audacity to claim that he was ‘democratically elected’ at congress to be the ZANU PF Presidential candidate for 2018.
What a farce!
However, we have already noticed that Mugabe’s version of democracy is that, ‘You can choose any leader you like, as long as it is Mugabe’.
This is ZANU PF we are talking about – a party that knows no democracy.
Ordinarily, I would never lose any sleep over the goings on in ZANU PF, but such dictatorship transcends the party, as it clearly explains the oppression and lack of democratic space in the whole of Zimbabwe.
In his speech, Mugabe also made a comment to the effect that he was prepared to leave office – if the party told him to do so – ‘but to what end’, he asked.
It appears to me that it is either the man thinks that he is indispensable, and as such removing him would spell doom for the country – or it is a veiled threat to the whole nation that if we were to remove him from power, there would be turmoil.
Apparently, this lack of respect for simple democratic tenets of free and fair leadership renewal is the main reason the people of Zimbabwe are suffering today.
Democratic voices are being purged in the country simply because they are exercising their democratic rights to challenge the status quo.
Cases of political violence are reportedly on the increase, as ZANU PF continues to stifle democratic space.
Nowhere in the constitution does it say that Zimbabwe has a Life President or a monarchy, so why is challenging the President equated to trying to topple him?
That is the same reasoning behind the political violence and oppression against any opposition voices in the country.
It is totally unacceptable when a president believes that his mandate is eternal and that anyone who dares challenging him is committing some grave unforgivable sin.
The nation cannot continue to be held at ransom.
What Zimbabwe needs right now is for all of us to rally together to make this message abundantly clear.
A clarion call has be made for all Zimbabweans to stand together against such dictatorial tendencies.
The call is still the same, let us all go in our numbers to register to vote, and come 2018, we need to go out and vote out ZANU PF in our droves.
All constitutionally-enshrined rights should be exploited to the fullest in our never tiring bid to bring positive democratic change to Zimbabwe.
This also coming together – and solely leaving it to the political parties – to petition, peacefully demonstrate, and demand for a truly free and fair electoral plying field.
Let us spare no effort in making sure that all our demands as a nation are met.
The opposition should also get its house in order.
If there is any force that has pushed the drive towards democratic change backwards, it is the disjointed nature of the opposition in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans cannot afford to have a split vote, neither can the opposition appear to be so disorganised.
Personal ambitions have for long been the reason for our failure as a nation.
How can the country not act as if we have learnt nothing from the Mugabe debacle?
The country cannot be found going round and round in circles, as we battle with people who put their narrow personal political ambitions and grudges ahead of a burning nation.
Let us all rally behind one leader, whose leadership is impeccable and untainted by any corruption, dictatorship, and mismanagement.
A leader who will only guide us into a prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe, but without turning that leader into a demi-God.
Now is not the time to create another Mugabe by creating person fiefdoms around individuals, but it is a time for a united front, in which only one thing matters – Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans matter more than any individual, a fact apparently lost on Mugabe and ZANU PF.
Maybe it is time that anyone vying for the presidency to take some time and go down to the very grassroots of our society, where he/she has one-on-one talks with the ordinary people of this country.
These leaders should spend days sleeping and eating at various homes of the very poor, where they should experience what the rest of us are going through in this country.
After such an experience, I am sure any prospective President will fully appreciate that his/her own personal ambitions pale into insignificance as compared to the more urgent need to address the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.
Such a leader would readily swallow their selfish pride and rally behind someone who would genuinely better serve the interests of Zimbabweans.
The political landscape in Zimbabwe cannot remain the same – the people’s power and interests should take precedence over everything else.
