Thank God there is, and will ever be, only one RGM

I write here what I think is an exciting piece for Zimbabweans, especially the young ones.

Tendai Muzadzi

The issue concerns the future of this country in regard to governance and leadership. Many people are worried that we are going to continue to suffer bad governance and misrule in this country because Zanu PF is going to continue ruling.

While it is quite possible that Zanu PF will continue to rule for the foreseeable future, that rule will not necessarily be as bad as it is now. That is because no one, and I repeat, no one can govern a country as badly as Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM) has done and continues to do. First consider how RGM has failed as a leader:

Instead of the State agencies helping citizens, they are, sometimes, used as agents for causing disharmony and violence in the country.

It is the duty of government to protect its citizens from harm caused by external forces or from fellow citizens. That is why we have the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services (ZPCS) and the army. But so often have we seen members of these State agencies beating up people or harassing them in one way or the other or many.

Instead of citizens trusting the State agencies and therefore going to them for relief when need arises, we see the opposite.

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When relief is sought many citizens try as much as possible to get away from State agencies, lest they be treated like the offenders themselves.

Many choose to suffer silently instead. A leader would strive to correct such a situation. RGM seems to be happy that the situation is like that.

That is a clear failure if we consider that all people crave freedom. People are truly happy only when they have the essential freedoms. These include freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom after speech, etc.

The people of Zimbabwe do not have the freedom of association. This is reflected by the beatings and hate speech people associated with certain organisations are subjected to.

We also do not have freedom of speech if one considers that people speak in hushed tones about certain subjects which are supposed to be in the public domain, like developments in a certain political party or leadership. And when they speak, they are not free as they anticipate to be visited for interrogation or arrest.

An effective leader would have overcome the so-called sanctions or been willing to soften stances if by so doing, the country thrived.

Compromise is not such a bad thing. But now RGM has an excuse for everything that goes or has gone wrong, but no solutions. A leader is supposed to come up with effective solutions and he/she should not bring solutions that help only a minority of the concerned population.

The solutions must be at the national level. RGM does not seem to mind the suffering of the people. It seems he would be happy to have us continue live miserably so long as there are sanctions.

One wonders if he would actually take responsibility and leave office voluntarily if the economy was not performing well for a long time without sanctions. It seems he would not.

It is many times when we hear RGM spitting hate language at public gatherings. It would perhaps be better if he did this at the gatherings of his party only.

The unfortunate thing is that he uses hate speech even at State and other apolitical gatherings. If the leader can stoop that low, how can anyone fault those below him, especially the masses, if they were to make hate speech an everyday experience?

RGM has failed to lead by good example most of the time. There are only a few instances when he shows some restraint and acts the good leader. But it should be the rule rather than the exception for him to do that.

The overriding notion in Zimbabwe now is of “us and you” never of “us together”.

A good leader would have tried at least to bring about real unity. The so-called unity being talked about is unity between Zapu and Zanu, unity between organisations, not people, and organisations that were and are not inclusive of all Zimbabweans after all.

Though it was a good development, it was not nearly as inclusive as it should have been during the time it was agreed on, and is now very far from inclusive.

A good leader would seek the total unity of his/her people. Even if it takes long to achieve this, he/she would always try to foster the spirit of togetherness.

RGM seems to eternally believe that there are some among us more Zimbabwean than others especially depending on their views, associations, political party or colour.

This view has consequently found itself resident in many people who would otherwise truly know that we are all equal and one as Zimbabweans.

We did not have to resort to violence to get what was ours (the land) when it was Zanu PF in leadership of the country. A good leader would have managed to equitably redistribute the land without resorting to a high degree of violence, if any, to reach the same ends.

It was not like an invasion from a foreign force that we were repelling. They used force on people that our security services would have adequately contained without much bloodshed, if any.

It was the most telling form of leadership failure. If we agree that RGM was powerless against his people, we should also make it clear that he failed dismally because of that powerlessness.

In other words, he was no leader. But most likely, RGM chose to let the people take the law into their own hands just to safeguard his position as President of the country, not necessarily because he agreed with them. That sounds selfish and far removed from leadership material.

For the above reasons, one would hope that the RGM successors would turn out to be much better than him.

Thank God possibilities for such eventualities are not far-fetched at all. Consider the worst-case scenario. If “junta power” continues to rule, we would likely see Zanu PF remaining in power even after RGM.

In that case, the leader of the country would surely be from Zanu PF.

I think most people in Zimbabwe are revolted at the idea of the RGM dynasty continuing after RGM. While it is not the ideal scenario for a country with so much potential like Zimbabwe, it is not such a bad idea after all! If you consider that no one can ever be as bad as RGM, you will see that not even his wife, not even his offspring, or his vazukuru (grandchildren)can govern this country as badly if any of them get a chance.

I will go on to posit that no one at all can rule this country as badly.

Not Vice-President Joice Mujuru, not Emmerson Mnangagwa, not Sydney Sekeramayi, not Gideon Gono, not Defence forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, not Saviour Kasukuwere, not Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, not Walter Mzembi, not Didymus Mutasa, not Patrick Chinamasa, not anyone that you can think of.

No. If it were so, then we would say we are cursed. But thank God we are not cursed. If you talk any deprivation or negativity, we have seen it all. The only direction after RGM will be up.

But one would not have done justice to the future prospects of the country without also considering one alternative scenario to the worst-case scenario, what I would say is the best-case scenario.

The best-case scenario would be if the people of Zimbabwe freely and fairly choose the party to govern them.

In that case, they would, of course, as any sober-minded person would guess, choose the MDC-T. And it is no secret who the majority of Zimbabweans would want as leader of the country. Well, to help those who may not be able to read the mood of the people, it would be Morgan Tsvangirai.

While the choice of the people may not be the wisest of choices, one gratifying thing would be that they would have freely and fairly made their choice. The other would be that their possibly unwise choice would still be better than RGM in terms of good and effective leadership. Mind you, we are here considering what could be worse than what we have gone through under the leadership of RGM.

It is highly unlikely we can have a worse leader. If we consider the time he has been at the helm here, we may struggle to find a comparable failure regionally, or even internationally.

And of course, in the long run the best-case scenario would include the possible election into positions of national leadership of such men and women like Thokozani Khupe, Arthur Mutambara, Morgan Komichi, Strive Masiyiwa, Jessie Majome, Paurina Mpariwa, Nelson Chamisa, Douglas Mwonzora and Lovemore Moyo.

I am a realist. So far I have presented the case for the men and women who I think have realistic chances of leading this nation at some point in future.

I would now like to mention others who I think have tiny chances of leading this nation in the future. The men and women in this group are Simba Makoni, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Dumiso Dabengwa, Oppah Muchinguri, Didymus Mutasa, Welshman Ncube, Jonathan Moyo, Lovemore Madhuku and Tendai Biti. Despite the remote chances these men and women have of leading this country, their common feature with the realistic ones is that in the event of them actually leading this country, they will still be better leaders than RGM.

• According to the 2012 census statistics, 77% of Zimbabweans are in the age bracket 1 – 34. What this means is that the majority of the population of Zimbabwe is going to enjoy the post-RGM era.  And fortunately or unfortunately for them, their good fortune will not be of their making at all. It will just come out of the fact that the RGM era will be over.
• The young today are going to judge their leaders in the post-RGM era by the RGM performance barometer and will likely want to have much better leaders than him. Since RGM has the artificial qualities that are normally associated with good leadership the world over, these Zimbabweans will be wiser than others. And they will certainly want to place balances and checks on any leader. They will enjoy it both ways.
• Whether they want to be happy or not, this generation will have no choice, but to be happy. A state of well-being will overwhelm the country because anything better than now would bring happiness. And they cannot be excluded from the happiness since the young of today, statistically speaking, are going to be the elders in the better times ahead.

My fervent hope is that RGM himself will live long enough to see the happy Zimbabwe and enjoy it as well. Remember all will be forgiven, though maybe not forgotten.

I rest my proposition.