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Friday, 13 February 2015

Mugabe’s fall as a metaphor




By Kayode Ketefe
“Look at this useless old man, clinging tenaciously to power even when his body has succumbed to dysfunctionality and debilities of old age. This surely is a man who does not know when to call it quit and make room for fresher, younger and smarter Zimbabweans to get to the podium of power.”

This was my thinking when I watched online the video (which has since gone viral) of  the ageless president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, falling down in public while addressing and mingling with a group of  his party supporters at Harare International Airport.
Moments before, the nonagerian Mugabe was carrying himself with hubris, his shriveled monkey-face disintegrating into wrinkles of wolfish smiles as he exchanged handshakes with some of his supporters and then without warning,  as he was slowly descending the stairs, the old fox buckled and  went down, collapsing on himself like a building in a controlled demolition!

The disgraceful physical fall of this 90-year-old self-styled revolutionary leader, which was caught on camera, has once again revived the agitation for his resignation, retirement, withdrawal, stepping aside or whatever will just take him away from public office after his dictatorial stronghold on the country for a whopping 35 years.

Mugabe has used all sorts of political subterfuges to perpetuate himself in power and his government is notorious for gross human rights violations and sundry abuses. His government has bastardised Zimbabwean economy and spread acute poverty across the land. Yet the wily fox has refused to leave, as a matter of fact, the very idea is nauseating to him because he sees Zimbabwe as his personal estate.
 
Now that he is falling apart physically, question should be asked about his mental solidity and strength since, as it is said in Latin, “Men sana incorporeal sano” a sound mind dwells only in a sound body.

Mugabe is a quintessential African dictator, a stereotype African maximum ruler, who like his fellow bigoted dictators who had prowled (and still prowling) other parts of the continent, believes he is the only person wise enough to rule.

The initial efforts by Mugabe and his cohorts to suppress the news of his stumble failed woefully.

It is reported that the camera of newsmen were seized and the offending pictures of Mugabe crashing to the canvass were deleted by the security operatives, but some of the reporters managed to hide their pictures and the whole internet is agog with them!

Mugabe, who now holds the record of World Oldest Ruler, belongs to the last set of sit-tight rulers still holding to power. In this last set should be placed Paul Biya of Cameroon who still clings to the office after 40 years in the saddle. Most of Mugabe’s contemporaries have however been ignominiously removed from office after the iron-cast will of the people eventually preponderates over their stubbornness. 

It is highly regrettable that our continent has had long history with despotic rulers and the continued stay of Mugabe and Biya in power constitutes sad reminder of our inglorious political past.

Mugabe’s physical fall, which the state-controlled media euphemistically referred to as a “carpet mishap” should be a metaphorical precursor to his actual political fall. The fall is the gods’ overt demonstration of his rejection and constitutes the imprimatur of collapse stamped on his government by the divinities.

If he still retains any semblance of sanity he should just go and retire and allow the younger, talented Zimbabweans to take over the ship of the state. Or maybe he just wants to continue until he starts defecating on his own body in public! And then, he should stop the hellish scheme of putting his wife, Grace Mugabe, in power as his successor.

Zimbabwe should do way with the whole “Mugabe phenomenon” and not replace Mugabe with “DisGrace” Mugabe (no pun intended). Grace started life as Mugabe’s mistress  before she was elevated to the status of a full wife and the First Lady.  

But the drama did not stop there, Mugabe, with a view to put her in good stead for the anticipated post of the President, procured for her a “doctorate degree” in sociology from the University of Zimbabwe after she enrolled for just three months! The entire thing sounds farcical doesn’t it?

Zimbabwe henceforth deserves a true visionary leader, not a spent force; it deserves sincere, conscientious and patriotic leader and not an old fart like Mugabe or his stooge or concubine-turned wife! This writer completely agreed with the Spokesperson of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, Mr. Obert Gutu, who said “It (the fall)  is clearly indicative of the fact Robert Mugabe is no longer fit for purpose.

At 90 years of age he has clearly seen better days and, no matter what his spin doctors might think, he is already frail and not in the best of health.” One cannot agree less more so, as it is widely-reported that Mugabe does repeatedly dose off during the meetings of his ZANU-PF party. The last line here is that Mugabe must go!
 
Ketefe may be followed on twitter @Ketesco

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