Scene 1: the Ides of February; enter Hosni Mubarak, looking like a latter-day King Ramses II but dressed in Julius Caesar’s toga.
“I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true fix’d and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmamentI will not leave until elections in SeptemberI will remain dignified in this.”
With those words as he addresses the people in Tahrir (Freedom) Square, he seals his fate. Egypt erupts in a wave of anger. The crowd explodes and begins to throw boots in the air showing their contempt for the dictator.
A day later the last pharaoh is gone.
Mubarak had ruled Egypt for 30 years and had accumulated a personal fortune of US$70 billion; he had properties in all of the world’s big capitals: New York, London, Paris, Dubai, you name it.
He had anointed his son Gamal to take over when eventually nature took its course. (On that score he was okay; there was no debilitating factionalism in his party.) He was a pillar in the Arab world and counted the United States among his major allies.
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Unfortunately unemployment was high, so was poverty. Only those linked to his regime were doing well, the rest who did not constantly sing his jingles got nothing from the national cake. Corruption was rampant among the ruling elite; it was as if these privileged few were competing to loot the nation’s riches. His politics of patronage was driving the people crazy. The situation on the ground was revolutionary. The tipping point came when his neighbour in Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia after a popular revolt that triggered similar revolts across the Arab world.
Egyptians yearned for what every human being would yearn for. They wanted food on their table; they wanted basic civil liberties such as the freedom of the press, the freedom of association and periodic free and fair elections in which they could choose who they wanted to be ruled by.
They had been denied these for far too long – 30 years to be precise. Mubarak had elections rigged each time they were held, he had political opponents locked up or exiled and the police were at his beck and call doing his bidding in suppressing dissent.
The army was loyal to him because it was well fed with American money but as it turned out, it was never partisan — when the time came it stood with the people.
There is a superfluity of similarities between the Egyptian situation of a few days ago and the Zimbabwean status quo the most important of which is that Zimbabwe has also known only one leader for three decades.
As in Egypt, this situation has created a client state in which only those that pander to the whim of the ruling kleptocracy get a ride on the gravy train. All policies that have been put in place to indigenise and empower the people have benefited the ruler’s cronies. They got all the fertile farms and the productive companies. They get all the tenders and are benefiting from our precious minerals such as diamonds. It is now an open secret that the ruling elite have enriched itself beyond measure.
Recently, powerful Zanu PF politburo member and Women’s League chairwoman Oppah Muchinguri was livid when addressing Zanu PF members at a memorial.
“Zanu PF is now full of crooks. I will not hesitate to expose these crooks who are fattening their pockets and amassing a lot of wealth at the expense of true liberators of this country who have nothing to show for their sacrifice,” she was quoted as saying. “It is regrettable that the party is losing its grip because of these criminals who are dealing in diamonds and stealing people’s money.”
To cover up the open looting, the people are denied a voice on national radio and television. The public press is openly partisan giving the people only one side of the story — Zanu PF’s. Radio and TV flight openly partisan propaganda and sickening jingles that praise the head of state.
The police have abdicated their duty of protecting the people. Instead, victims of political violence are treated as the perpetrators while the perpetrators are let off the hook because they support the president’s party. As we speak hundreds of people have fled their homes and are living in safe houses because they have no one to protect them.
The violence has not spared the children; because they have been displaced, they are no longer attending school. Those who are able to are being forced to give money towards the president’s birthday.
People are herded to night meetings where attempts are made to indoctrinate them with party propaganda as elections loom. Farming inputs are distributed along party lines; those who support other parties are denied these inputs.
Suppressed anger is palpable among the populace; it goes without saying one day it will explode.
But the Egyptian fiasco can be avoided quite easily — give the people what they want. Zimbabweans want a free press; they want different voices to be heard on the airwaves. They want more radio and television stations. They want freedom of association; they want like-minded people to be able to gather where they wish and openly share ideas.
They want a new people-driven constitution; the current constitution-making process has been subverted to reflect narrow political interests. They want free and fair elections which are internationally supervised and are without violence. Where it becomes necessary they wish for a smooth transfer of power.
Importantly, they wish for a functional government that guarantees them safety and uses their money to uplift their wellbeing. They want to see a non-partisan police force that protects them rather than victimises them.
They want a government that punishes those who steal from the people. Corruption has become so open that it has become a sub-culture in our society. The perpetrators get away with it.
It is not beyond those who rule us today to return our beautiful country to normality. We have yearned for this for more than a decade now.
