First things first.
We join the world in congratulating the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe, on the occasion of his birthday.
We wish him many more years of good health and wisdom.
His has been a remarkable journey that began at some little place called Zvimba and today, 91 years later, he has traversed long and far; literally and symbolically.
He has seen it all: more than many of us mortals may ever dream.
He has seen life and death.
He has seen the barrenness of prison and the vivacity of freedom.
He gave us freedom, he that stands for our collective liberation spirit in Zimbabwe and beyond.
He inspires millions across the world and his name will outlive him.
Many will identify with him.
We identify with him, the idea.
We are Mugabe.
Congratulations are in order, Gushungo!
Welcome, Madame Stop It!
We would have said our welcomes to the First Lady Amai Mugabe in that same breath (the moniker above is fully patented by her husband), but she deserves her own space, doesn’t she?
After all, she is now a political entity; a political being separate from her husband.
And an interesting politician she makes; she will make!
Dr Amai came from the Far East where she was recuperating from a surgery (may she get well soon) and flew straight into action as she attended her first ever Politiburo meeting, that elite club in the revolutionary party, Zanu-PF.
We will be watching her political career unravel.
She needs no introduction.
Bob’s in charge
Speaking about the First Lady, it is interesting how private media and other opponents of President Mugabe such as Mr Didymus Mutasa, erstwhile member of Zanu-PF, have sought to hide their own shame at failure to defeat President Mugabe, resorting to trying to cast aspersions on his abilities by dubiously and mischievously claiming that the First Lady is “now in charge”.
They claim that President Mugabe is no longer in control of the party and country, stating that the First Lady is now a “centre of power”.
We need to challenge this fallacy and, in fact, dismiss it with the contempt it deserves.
We have one President in this country, and he is the guy that beat the opposition hands down two years ago.
He did this largely out of his own strength, surrounded, as he was, by putschists like Joice Mujuru, Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo and others who wanted to get rid of him and go to bed with the opposition.
President Mugabe won resoundingly against an opponent sponsored heavily by foreign powers.
And when the dust had settled on the election and the putschist cabal wanted his overthrow, he flexed his muscles again and neutralised the threat.
It’s nothing new.
Mugabe has survived many such nefarious attempts since the 1970s.
He has survived attempts at his life even after Independence in 1980.
He has survived Tony Blair, George Bush, Gordon Brown.
He will survive, most likely, Barack Obama.
Now, Mugabe is not a god.
Far from it, he is a mere, fallible (yeah!) human being.
However, he has survived this far because of his own ingenuity, which even his ardent enemies have acknowledged.
He is his own brand of politics; his own political survivor.
To now say that he is no longer in control is not only preposterous but childish on the part of desperate, hare-brained idiots who seek to derive comfort from that illusion.
That is not politics, is it?
It is in the same vein as the childish equating President’s misstep at the airport to an election determining who should govern this country.
So cowards and opportunists and, in general, feeble minds should spare us this Grace-now-in-control nonsense.
Bull Buffalo that got gored
Well, it is out of habit that we call Mr Mutasa the honorific Nyati, when he is not one.
But we recall a tale that is told about him telling a certain woman that when a Zebra refuses to accede to the demands of the Buffalo it gets its poor self gored.
Or something like that.
Of course, the context was of a sexual nature, a field Mutasa was a relentless bull.
But, of course, there is a lot of symbolism.
Here is a man who had imagined himself to be in the same elements as gods and whose power he made felt, moreso coercively and corruptly.
Only that power, that giant robe, was borrowed.
Mutasa was kicked out of Zanu-PF on Wednesday.
Let’s say the bull buffalo got gored.
And apparently no one will miss him.
Now he will see how cold it is outside especially when one is shorn of borrowed robes.
And he is free to bray as a stray ass as he pleases, he that is no longer part of the club.
He can even choose to deflect attention from the man in charge of Zanu-PF, if it comforts him, like other losers.
And that includes one Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, who long ago was counselled not to belong to the wrong basket.
Borrowed, borrowed robes
Poor Temba Mliswa.
He went down with Mutasa, his Sekuru.
It is a typical case of a fly following a corpse to the grave.
We know that all his mischief and arrogance was predicated on the assumed power of his uncle.
Temba dared and provoked anyone, anywhere.
Temba thought the world belonged to him and his uncle, and perhaps the fallen Mrs Mujuru.
Now he must be feeling the nakedness in the wake of the disappearance of the robes he borrowed from another borrower!
Now let’s see if he will rise from this.
He told us on Thursday that, “You can kick Temba out of politics, but you cannot kick politics out of Temba.”
We wish him good luck.
Hopefully, he has learnt something from all this.
At least he has the age, and perhaps health, on his side.
Wharton’s love letter
The reader may recall that last week we published in these lines, how the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe had refused to answer questions relating to his country’s relations with Zimbabwe.
In light of which, we pub-
To Page 8
Too bad, haters, President Mugabe is in charge!
From Page 5
lished the exchanges between the Herald Political Editor and an Aunt Jemima called Karen Kelley.
Well, it got to the good ambassador and he felt obliged to write directly to Zindoga in the following terms (and he has posted the same response on US Embassy website and also on Facebook, we hear):
“Dear Mr Zindoga,
“I am sorry to have disappointed you with my decision not to respond to your questions submitted through my Public Affairs Counsellor. With due respect, I feel no obligation in engaging in a conversation that perpetuates the story that your set of questions implied. I do not believe that Zimbabwe is a weak nation without agency. My belief, one that I have demonstrated through interviews, speeches, social media and conversation, is that Zimbabwe is a powerfully sovereign nation whose future lies in its own hands.
“Blaming external reasons, such as targeted sanctions, for Zimbabwe’s situation or its future simply does not withstand critical analysis. Worse, it obscures and delays the steps Zimbabweans could take to rebuild and strengthen their country.
“Your questions were framed around the proposition that Zimbabwe has little responsibility for either its current status or its future, and that the main forces at play in Zimbabwe are outside forces.
“That frame of reference is demonstrably false and counter-productive. If you are interested in a conversation that starts from the premise that Zimbabwe does have its own will and power, let me know. In that context, U.S. policy toward Zimbabwe is certainly a legitimate topic.
“I have noted your response in the February 15 edition of The Herald in which you reprinted both the response from my Public Affairs Counsellor along with the questions you had submitted with your request for an interview.
“I will continue to highlight the positive in Zimbabwe, to spread the message that Zimbabwe is a country of great people and potential, that the United States is interested in a strong and prosperous Zimbabwe, and that the future of Zimbabwe is, indeed, in the hands of Zimbabweans.
“Sincerely,
“D. Bruce Wharton,
“Ambassador
“Embassy of the United States of America”
Now, this is interesting.
What is even more interesting is that Ambassador Wharton, perhaps out of a fertile imagination, believes that Zindoga is the owner of this column!
But one thing is instructive in this episode.
The Americans can, as indeed should, be kept on their toes.