Visionary leadership needed in Zimbabwe

By Madibeng Kgwete: posted on 18 April 2007

As the situation in our immediate northern neighbour, Zimbabwe, further deteriorates due to economic and political turbulences, we curious observes down here in South Africa and elsewhere in the world continue to point fingers the wrong way.

In analysing the situation in Zimbabwe , we continue to propagate several wishes and hope that, by amplifying them repeatedly, they will become the rules and regulations by which Zimbabwe should be governed.

One of those wishes is that the end of Mugabe’s rule heralds a new era of freedom, opportunity and progress in Zimbabwe in particular and southern Africa in general. We refuse to learn from history, and, as they say, we may be doomed to repeat it.

Many repressive regimes here in Africa and elsewhere in the world have come and gone, but their countries still face serious leadership problems to this day. Such countries include the Democratic Republic of Congo (where Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba has recently fled the country after a warrant was issued for his arrest), Sudan (divided by two because of a long civil war) and many more others.

With regard to the DRC, successive military coups there have failed to rid the central African country of tyranny, corruption and lawlessness.

Since the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in 1960, it took the DRC more than fifty years to experience a democratic transition. Such a transition is now hanging in the balance following disagreements between Bemba and his president, Joseph Kabila.

Why, even in the face of overwhelming historical evidence, are we still refusing to accept that the removal of one repressive leader does not guarantee freedom and democracy? Why do we seem to think that pushing Mugabe out of office is the magic formula to turn Zimbabwe around? The problems in Zimbabwe are bigger than Mugabe.

The problem in Zimbabwe is lack of visionary leadership in all the political, economic and civil sectors. Generally, the people of Zimbabwe lack a sense of solidarity, firmness and the daring attitude needed in standing up to concentrated political power.

What we have seen so far is a nation led by a weak opposition movement. The top echelon of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), including leader Morgan Tsvangarai his many spokespersons, have failed to provide leadership to the desperate masses of Zimbabweans.

The MDC has partially contributed in creating a monster out of Mugabe, firstly by refusing to acknowledge him as their legitimate president. Mugabe’s previous two elections may have been controversial, but the MDC has done more harm than good by rejecting Mugabe. They created a climate of paranoia and conspiracy theories.

Now that Zimbabwe is in ruins, much attention is on South Africa , the economic and political powerhouse of the African continent and one of Zimbabwe ’s neighbours. But there is little South Africa can do if both warring parties in Zimbabwe continue to question one another’s legitimacy.

Many have argued that South Africa should abandon its widely criticised “quite diplomacy” and take a tougher stance against Mugabe. Such calls ignore the fact that a tougher action against Mugabe will not automatically be followed by a better Zimbabwe .

What is needed in Zimbabwe is the emergence of several strong leaders with impeccable credentials to succeed Mugabe. Up to this far, such leaders have not been forthcoming, if ever they are there. As for Tsvangarai, his megaphone diplomacy, coupled with lack of visionary leadership, make him one of the worst possible successors of Mugabe.

At this dark hour in the history of their country, the people of Zimbabwe should remember the words of United States civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once said: ““The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood”.

If the MDC is truly committed to a better Zimbabwe , it should reassure Mugabe that it would not heed the repeated line that, may he quit office, Mugabe may be prosecuted for war crimes. Punishment should be the very last of MDC’s goals.

A good example of what happens when you revive old wounds is the West African country of Sierra Leone , where the prosecution of those who are suspected of having committed war crimes, together with former Liberian President Charles Taylor, has divided the country.

The MDC must stop listening too much to the West and start acting independently and innovatively. They must become the "disciplined noncomformits" that they seem not to have been all along.

An edited copy of this article appeared in The Star (http://www.thestar.co.za/) on Monday 16 April 2007 under the headline, “ousting tyrants is no guarantee for oppressed people”.