Editor's Monday ViewpointIt has indeed been painful to watch over the last few years, Robert Mugabe's desperate and somewhat naive (surprisingly for a rather seasoned politician) attempt to hold on to power at all costs. What has been equally shocking is the rather tepid and unbecoming silence of fellow African Heads of State, of countries like Nigeria and South Africa in particular, as the mouth of Harare has unleashed his maniacal reign of terror on the people of Zimbabwe.
The irony of all this is that it was the same Robert Mugabe that put his life on the line, along with other brave Zimbabwean and African freedom fighters, as they fought a vicious war of attrition and ultimately prevailed against the racist minority government of Ian Smith. I still remember quite vividly as an impressionable 11 year old in 1980, as this great African leader visited Nigeria upon assuming the mantle of leadership in Zimbabwe. He was a honorary guest at Nigeria's model Staff College of the time, the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) of which my aunt was an administrator, at the time.
He seemed soft spoken, humble and statesmanlike and exuded an ample ounce of self-assuredness with a dignity that belied his much vaunted image of a "bush war" general. Over the next decade and a half or so, he (Robert Mugabe) and the likes of Joshua Nkomo, Eduardo Dos Santos, Joachim Chissano and Samora Machel, amongst others, would serve as vital anchors for Nigeria and Africa's determination to rid the continent of the debilitating scourge of apartheid as practiced by the white minority regime in the racist South African enclave of the time.
The afore-mentioned African leaders, along with Robert Mugabe were all comrades of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, ANC. Following Mugabe's victory in the battle against Ian Smith and the subsequent independence of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia under Ian Smith), other Southern African countries such as Namibia soon gained their independence and apartheid itself was ultimately dismantled in 1994 as Nelson Mandela became the first African President of the Republic of South Africa.
This is where it begins to get interesting as Mandela serves only one five-year term and relinquishes power to Thabo Mbeki, perhaps to give an hint to his comrades like Mugabe who did not seem to have a succession plan in mind.
This, in my opinion, was Robert Mugabe's greatest mistake and it has come to haunt him as his enemies have exploited his tyrannical leadership and lack of vision, it seems, to their own benefit. Mugabe, Zimbabwe and indeed Africa would have been best served with a well laid out succession plan that would have ensured the continuation of his initial progressive policies of economic development and national reconciliation.
The descent into anarchy, literally with the seizing of white farmlands and the brutal suppression of opposition to his government have only shown him to be a man lacking in even the most rudimentary form of political intelligence and savvy to the point where this once great country (Zimbabwe) and African giant (Mugabe) have now become the joke of Africa and indeed the whole world.
It remains to be seen how all this will eventually play out, but it is important to note that although Mugabe may be on his last leg, Morgan Tvansgirai, his (Mugabe's) bitter rival and choice candidate of the West, may not be the answer or cure, for the ills that befall Zimbabwe either.
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