Zimpapers Logo

COMRADE Nathan Shamuyarira and Dr. Charles Utete in their introduction to “Our War of Liberation: Speeches, Articles, Interviews, 1976-1979” say, “The road to leadership is a long, cold and lonely one. The higher the path winds, the narrower it becomes, with many twists and turns. During the first surges amongst the uplands, one is swept along among the other comrades; later, the crowd thins out, and ultimately the mantle of leadership falls on the shoulders of one individual to climb the bleak track to the summit of power. For Robert Mugabe… the road to the top was stony, narrow and convoluted.”

These sentiments are echoed by journalists David Smith, Colin Simpson and Ian Davies in their 1981 biography called “Mugabe”, which “presents an in-depth profile of the man who is the most influential and articulate of Africa’s statesmen, the black leader who holds the key to the future of Southern Africa”.

The blurb also reads: “Mugabe was the last person the British, Americans, and even the Russians, either expected – or wanted – to be the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. His victory in that country’s first democratic elections came as a surprise to, and terrified his opponents. And yet Mugabe’s moderation, pragmatism and apparent sympathy for his opponents, have utterly mystified them”.

It’s that time of the year when we acknowledge President Mugabe’s birthday. Although legendary boxer Muhammad Ali says, “old age is just a record of one’s whole life”, it is more than that as intimated by Shamuyarira and Utete.

The cumulative elements in that record add value to old age.

This year, it is unique for we are celebrating the milestones of this towering figure that has been blessed with long life. Every small step in President Mugabe’s 90 years counts.

We might not admit it, but to reach 90 is a remarkable feat, and as the President has always pointed out, it is by God’s grace that he has gone this far.

And, how symbolic that as President Mugabe cuts his birthday today, it will be a shadow of another landmark cake-cutting event, for in March, his daughter Bona will also be cutting her wedding cake.

President Mugabe cuts his cake to cherish another milestone in his life, while she will cut her cake to mark her long marital journey.

However, this piece is not about Bona. He has on a number of occasions told his own story, demystifying the persona that is Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

This congratulatory piece is one of many, but one in which this writer focuses on some of the small steps in his life that we have taken for granted, small steps where I have had some unanswered questions.

He is a political being, a family man, and a cultural, social, economic and religious being as well.

I’ll start with the nomenclature in his family. His parents married in 1918, and their first born child Michael was born in 1919 and according to President Mugabe’s account while laying to rest his young brother Donato, Michael died of poisoning in 1934.

After Michael came Raphael, born in 1922, but who died 6 months later. In 1924, Robert Gabriel was born, and was given one of his father’s names. Then in 1926, came Donato followed by Sabina in 1934 and finally Bridget in 1936.

There were other siblings from his stepmother: David, Albert and Regina.

Now, there are just the two of them left: he and Dr. Regina Gata as the rest have passed on.

The family has an interesting array of names that speak very strongly of their parents’ Catholic faith. It’s as if there was a deliberate attempt to pick names with a biblical resonance (angelic beings) and/or elements of royalty.

This says a lot about the foundational principles the President was raised under.

What do the names mean and imply, then and now? According to <www.behindthename.com> and other websites, Michael is an Hebraic name meaning, “who is like God?”, a rhetorical question implying that no one is like Jehovah God. There are a number of Biblical references with the name: Daniel 10:13, 12:1; Revelation 12:7; Jude 1:9. Michael is also “one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible”.

Raphael is also a Hebrew name meaning, “God has healed”, and was also the name of one of the seven archangels.

Then there is Gabriel, a Hebrew name that means “strong man of God”. He was also one of the seven archangels referred to in the books of Daniel 8:16, 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26.

Donato is derived from Latin “donatus”, and means “given”, while Bridget means “exalted one”. Regina is Latin and means “queen” and in Catholic tradition, refers to the Virgin Mary. David and Albert are names of royalty biblically and in European history.

I linked this with Mugabe the man, his faith and the role his mother played in shaping that faith since he has shared his mother’s prayerful life.

It is noteworthy that both President Mugabe and late South African President Nelson Mandela had mothers who shaped them at a very early age in the absence of their fathers. Mourners at President Mandela’s funeral sang his late mother’s favourite hymns.

I refer to the Bible again when Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also”. (2 Timothy 1:5)

This lineage of faith does not come easily. There was an impartation that we will never understand save to say that if Mbuya Bona converted to Christianity in the early 1900s, it might not have been easy for her.

If you read Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa’s “Rudo Ibofu” (Love is blind), a “quasi-autobiography” about his calling to the Catholic priesthood, you realise that becoming a Christian then, maintaining your faith and raising your children thus was not easy during those years.

It says a lot about her conviction and how she wanted to raise God-fearing children, and the rosary which is the President’s way of life is part of that.

Another interesting aspect about Robert Mugabe the academic and politician is why he chose African academic institutions to study and work at when he could have easily gone overseas. Was this deliberate? South Africa, Zambia and Ghana are the African states that moulded him, but while in prison, he chose to obtain degrees from overseas universities through correspondence.

Finally, a lot has been said about relations between President Mugabe and Dr Joshua Nkomo.  However, the two pictures we reproduce here, courtesy of the National Archives of Zimbabwe give a different perspective.

Although he was the Publicity Secretary of the National Democratic Party before it was banned, while Dr. Nkomo was the president, in these pictures and others I saw at the National Archives of Zimbabwe, the relationship can best be described as that of Moses and Joshua.

In the first picture taken in 1960 with Dr Kenneth Kaunda, President Mugabe can best be described as “armour bearer”. I looked at a number of pictures, and President Mugabe was always close to Dr.

Cde Pesident, a person turns 90 once and it’s a blessing. We will sing and dance with you to Kool and the Gang’s 1980 hit song “Celebration”:

Celebrate good times, come on

(Let’s celebrate)

There’s a party goin’ on right here

A celebration to last throughout the years

So bring your good times

And your laughter too

We gonna celebrate your party with you

Come on now

(Celebration)

Happy birthday, Cde President!