Reuters photo
By
Mbizo Chirasha
A revered revolutionary and a cruel despot
The Gushungo magic lost its mojo in the November political cyclone, our African God wiping the tear filled poverty shrunken eyelids of the masses. The two decade autocratic gangrene that gnawed our land is suddenly peeling off like treated eczema. The African Napoleon has agreed to sit down. Sure, time heals more than herbal roots, but at last Zimbabweans can now sniff the fresh political air.
The Mugabe legacy is two faced and will remain undeletable on African soil. For me, Mugabe is both a ruthless dictator and a revered African revolutionary. He is one of the iconic founders of the revolutionary struggle of Zimbabwe, an ideologue whose political wit was shaped by Marxist–Communist ideologies. He munched apples of such revolutionary doctrine and swigged that lemonade of ideological mojo alongside such African elders as Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba among others.
When former ZANU chairperson Chitepo died in 1975, Mugabe was elected to lead in the protracted Soviet–style guerrilla warfare, the young Mugabe leading the armed struggle with great resolve.
Mugabe succeeded to bring back the country through the barrel of the gun. In 1980, Zimbabweans celebrated with high hopes that the new country and the new leadership would bring joy for them.
Mugabe won some and lost many democratic tests during his time. In those sober years, his government introduced free education, free health care, housing and infrastructure development. His cabinet was lean, while his foreign trips were few. Many corrupt leaders were fired, some committing suicide avoiding Mugabe’s disciplinary spanner. Zimbabwe today enjoys the highest quality education and a revered literary status.
The new leader introduced political inclusivity, he discouraged racism and tribalism. The country grew in peace and harmony. His wife, Ghanaian born Sally Hayfron, the first African first lady of the country was a peace loving, mother of the nation. Sally automatically became an astute advisor of the overzealous Mugabe.
To correct his past blunders in wiping the Joshua Nkomo led PF ZAPU cadres soon after independence (Matebele 1980s mass killings). In 1987 Mugabe formed a government of national unity between ZANU and PF ZAPU that created ZANU-PF. The world praised him as a progressive leader. Joshua Nkomo (Father Zimbabwe) was later appointed as the Nation’s Vice President and his party members were awarded cabinet posts.
Time passed and Mugabe became possessed by demons of political power and greed. Symptoms of his despotic seizures were characterized by looting in the corridors of power. A dark cloud hung loosely above the once political correct Zimbabwe.
In a bid to cling on power, Mugabe rewarded veterans of the struggle with hefty amounts of cash in the 1997 Mugabe war time veterans debacle. In 1998 he participated in the unplanned, Congo civil war. From the year 2000 onwards, Mr Mugabe forcedly seized land from the agricultural productive white community, all of these actions driven by stupid dictatorial agendas. It shook the country politically, economically and diplomatically.
The opposition movements were subjected to violence and death. The media and human rights activists also suffered under his yoke of steel.
Due to that economic and political mess, the country experienced a mass exodus of the academia, industrial; technocrats and the business elite from Zimbabwe. The country was suddenly hit by bankruptcy, people suffering from disease, drought, poverty and hunger. Votes were rigged and those who tried to raise alarm were either arrested or exiled. Many young people ran from the country into neighbouring SADC countries. Many Zimbabweans today are victims of mass rape, economic slavery, xenophobia and racial discrimination in other countries.
Mugabe got medical treatment outside the country, while Zimbabwe reeked with the stench of disease and yawned with emptiness. The majority of Zimbabweans could not even access a pain killer in hospitals while the president and his fat cats enjoyed looted wealth.
Mugabe was quick to forget the masses. His wife Grace Marufu, whom he married after the death of Sally Hayfron, amassed vast tracks of land, and an empire of wealth and fortune in a short space of time. Zimbabweans toiled in torrents of penury. Instead of stopping his cyclone wife, he joined the bandwagon.
He even supported his bovine wife in her drug like seizures of bad mouthing her political opponents and the masses at large. He disrespected the constitution of the people and the national affairs. His wife became a de-facto president. Unfortunately the country plunged into serious political crisis, economic rot becoming syphilitic like phallic gangrene.
On the 21st of November 2017 Mugabe reluctantly resigned from political office.
Gushungo is a political paradox; he is both a Zimbabwean Lenin and the last Napoleon of Africa.
Mbizo Chirasha
Mbizo Chirasha is an Internationally published poet, writer, blog publisher and Citizen Justice Activist. Mbizo Chirasha is the Originator/Instigator of the Zimbabwe We Want Poetry Campaign (Brave Voices Poetry Journal-Tuck Magazine, Word Guerrillas Protest Poetry Journal – Zimbabwe Sphere, Poets Free Zimbabwe- MiomboPublishing). Mbizo is also the participant of the International Human Rights Arts Festival, Exiled in Africa Programin New York, United States.
His poetry, writing and blog journals are widely published across the globe. Mbizo Chirasha is also the founder /creative director of GirlchildCreativityProject. He is the Zimbabwe Resident Coordinator of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change – Global and the WomenScream International Poetry Festival. Mbizo has led a number of creative interventions and arts based projects. Mbizo Chirasha can be found at the following links:
https://tuckmagazine.com/?s=mbizo+chirasha&x=0&y=0
No Comments Yet!
You can be first to comment this post!