BOTSWANA President Ian Khama could not have said it better when he urged President Robert Mugabe to step down for the good of the country and its people.
Comment: NewsDay Editor
In fact, what Khama said confirmed what millions of Zimbabweans have always been saying that at 92, Mugabe had become a costly liability to the country, an albatross around the necks of this great nation.
What makes Khama’s call for Mugabe to step down more palatable is that this is coming from a leader whose second five-year term in office ends in 2018, when he will hand over to Vice-President Mokgweetsi Masisi in a clearly defined succession matrix that makes instability almost impossible.
Yet, there are some among us who claim to support him simply for political expediency and to facilitate stripping of national assets!
It is true that there are many Zimbabweans and other nations that admired Mugabe for his role in the fight against colonialism, but when a leader fails to read the minds of his followers he becomes just as bad as the old system that he was fighting.
Instead of being a liberation fighter he has morphed into a political demagogue, loathed by the impoverished millions as worse than the oppressive regime of Ian Smith.
Is this what Mugabe fought for? Is this what he wants —that even his family will never know peace after he’s gone simply because of his unreasonableness.
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As a leader, Mugabe should have known when to go. Right now it is clear that he has now outlived his usefulness, straining relations with all the regional countries as millions of Zimbabweans flood their countries in search of jobs to provide for their families.
Besides, Mugabe’s continued rule has done more harm than good. The Zanu PF administration has created more enemies than friends even among his African counterparts.
We believe Khama is speaking on behalf of other African leaders who do not have the spine to speak their mind for fear of antagonising the nonagenarian leader.
Is it not ironic that at the United Nations General Assembly in New York Mugabe spoke about good leadership and treatment of refugees, yet he’s pushing millions of Zimbabweans to other countries through his brutal rulership?
With huge numbers of undocumented Zimbabweans in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia there is no doubt that most regional countries have to cater for them — something not budgeted for.
Clearly, Mugabe’s bad leadership is putting a strain on the regional countries. An estimated 100 000 Zimbabweans migrated to Botswana in the wake of Zimbabwe’s economic and political crises. The same applies to other regional countries and the West.
We believe Khama is right after all — the situation in Zimbabwe is a cause for concern, and that if it is not tamed the country can easily gravitate towards anarchy. We have no doubt that the situation in the country is beyond Mugabe’s ability given his vegetative state due to his advanced age.
Someone must stop Mugabe urgently otherwise Zimbabweans should brace themselves for more hardships ahead as Zanu PF has failed to rescue the country from the economic predicament it finds itself in.
It is an abomination for Mugabe to seek a fresh mandate in two years’ time when he would be 94. Given the unemployment rate is 90% of mostly youth, Zanu PF league must urge their leader to stand aside in the interest of the country.
