Indefatigable President Robert Mugabe left for Tanzania at the weekend to attend the Africa-China Young Leaders’ Forum conference in Arusha in yet another questionable trip draining the fiscus.
NewsDay Editorial
The irony of it all actually escaped our ruler, who at 91 saw it fit to accept the invitation to give closing remarks at the young leaders’ conference.
The conference — organised by the Communist Party of China and the liberation movements on the continent — is held to create a platform for regular interaction and co-operation between young people of the African continent and China.
Other than the host President Jakaya Kikwete, Mugabe was the only Head of State present at the young leaders’ junket.
We have not heard much about the participation Zimbabwean youths at the Arusha event, but it is the presence there of our nonagenarian leader that was not only contemptible, but also embarrassing to say the least.
In Arusha, he accused young people of negating the critical role of solving great question of the continent, extricating the “children from the clutches of resource imperialism”.
The irony of this statement also escaped Mugabe. A key partner in the Africa-China Young Leaders’ Forum has become the new resource imperialist on the continent, moreso here in Zimbabwe.
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The great question for Africa today is around leadership that cares for its people. Africa is looking for leaders who enter into partnerships with big powers for the development of economies and not enrichment of ruling elites. There are a few countries that have employed natural resources for discernible national development and many that have nothing to show for vast mineral wealth. The story of Marange Diamonds is emblematic!
Mugabe is wanted here to solve our great question of deindustrialisation, unemployment and urban poverty instead of flying off to every small excursion.
But Mugabe now appears to have found fresh justification for the numerous trips that he has undertaken since the beginning of the year. He has to travel because he is the chairman of the African Union and the Southern Africa Development Community.
So when the invitation to travel Tanzania came, Mugabe could not turn it down. He was fulfilling the grand task of being a continental leader.
But he could have sent Youth minister to attend this event. Having already travelled out of the country eight times since the beginning of the year, it is vital for the President to choose his trips carefully; knowing when to delegate and when to show up.
The continental role that he is playing is not a personal project, but one entrusted to the nation as a whole. Sending representatives to events is not dereliction of duty. It is leadership.
