Why Mugabe is now a liability

Obituaries
President Robert Mugabe’s reaction last week to rising discontent over his failed leadership was shocking, even by his very low standards.

President Robert Mugabe’s reaction last week to rising discontent over his failed leadership was shocking, even by his very low standards.

THE STANDARD COMMENT

Addressing mourners at the burial of former Cabinet secretary Charles Utete at the Heroes Acre, Mugabe told #ThisFlag movement founder pastor Evan Mawarire to leave the country if he was not happy about the dire situation at home.

Mawarire’s peaceful movement has been using social media and other channels such as petitions to Mugabe to demand action against high level corruption and mismanagement of the economy.

Some of the government officials that have been targeted by the movement include Energy minister Samuel Undenge, who has been linked to several scandals at Zesa since the beginning of the year.

Mugabe has not taken action against the top government officials linked to corruption cases, but reacted with venom to cries by citizens that have used democratic channels to voice their displeasure at the manner they are being (mis)governed.

Mawarire, just like any other critic of the government, has been falsely labelled an agent of the West to delegitimise his well-intentioned crusade to bring the authorities to account.

Attack dogs have been unleashed to soil the pastor’s image for daring to criticise the government.

Mugabe is not known for accepting constructive criticism as he often responds with brute force against those that oppose his government or raise dissenting voices.

Too many Zimbabweans have disappeared, were tortured or killed for standing up to the ruinous government.

A day after Mugabe’s inflammatory speech, Zanu PF youths took to the streets of Harare protesting against Mawarire and other movements like #Tajamuka as well as Occupy Africa Unity Square.

The youths, who marched unhindered by police, contrary to what other Zimbabweans have to go through during similar protests, claimed they were marching in solidarity with Mugabe before they issued threats against Mawarire. Police watched helplessly as the youths made the unlawful threats.

There was also an announcement that Mugabe had given hundreds of hectares of State land to the Zanu PF youths in a brazen attempt to buy their loyalty and reward them for suppressing the voices of fellow Zimbabweans.

Through the speech at the Heroes Acre and his role in the march by the Zanu PF youths, the president demonstrated once again why he is the major source of Zimbabwe’s problems today.

He has become the biggest liability to a country that is desperately trying to resurrect from the grave after 36 years of misrule. Zimbabwe’s biggest undoing today is a lack of democracy, which has a far-reaching impact on the state of the economy.

Mugabe demonstrated beyond doubt that the rights accorded to Zanu PF members are not accorded to other Zimbabweans and those are hardly any marks of a democratic State.

That war veterans came out during the same week to condemn the 92-year-old leader’s government for condoning corruption, presiding over the monumental collapse of the economy and human rights violations was telling. They accused Mugabe of being a dictator and it needs no rocket science to know why the statement found resonance with many Zimbabweans.

The former fighters in their strongly-worded statement on Thursday said they will not campaign for Mugabe again before laying a number of serious charges against their patron that included the alleged killing of thousands of civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands in the early years of independence.

Predictably, the government responded by accusing the authors of the statement of committing treason and demanding that they should be held accountable.

But as the regime’s enforcers will soon realise, the tide has changed and Zimbabweans are now in agreement that Mugabe is the source of their problems, not the West or regime change agents.