Robert Mugabe And The Ghost of Ian Smith

Last night I watched a CNN report on the current crisis in Zimbabwe by David McKenzie. The report detailed the current civil collapse within Zimbabwe and the government’s attempt to crack down on civilian unrest. McKenzie travelled about unspecified areas to highlight the growing unrest amongst the civilian population and the increasing dissent from Mugabe’s traditionally loyal police force. McKenzie met with Hardlife Mzingu a leading member of the Tajamuka campaign a popular movement seeking to remove Mugabe from office. McKenzie’s camera showed small Tajamuka community gatherings behind the backs of humble low-income homes. Hardlife Mzingu was young, slim and relaxed before the camera. The other members of the gathering were mature, heavily built mothers and fathers. Maids? Cooks? Gardeners? Electricians? I’d guess most of them were unemployed.

The Tajamuka members sat on the ground, shoulder to shoulder as the camera panned over them. I had the sense that Hardlife had worked hard behind the scenes to ensure McKenzie’s cameraman had an impressive number of people to film. Hardlife declared himself unafraid to be filmed on camera. Good for him, but I felt quite uncomfortable as the camera recorded the unmasked Tajamuka members and beamed their open faces out to the world; it’s likely this footage will be viewed by the Zimbabwean security faces. Names and addresses will be supplied by compliant neighbours when the security forces come aknocking. The Tajamuka members featured in the CNN report will most certainly be identified. Who knows want retribution will be taken? If the security forces visit the faces on my television screen, McKenzie will not be able to help or protect them.

Hardlife came across as being brave, articulate, defiant and apparently fearless. Over the years CNN must have screened thousands of interviews with similarly brave, articulate, defiant and apparently fearless young men and women. These fearless change-warriors come and most of them go. Some of them have their bones and fight broken by the batons of angry policeman, some are thrown out of the windows of tall buildings and murdered on poorly lit roads; and some of them end up like Robert Mugabe. There was a time when the would be “President for Life of Zimbabwe” appeared to the world just like Hardlife Mzingu; a brave articulate, defiant and apparently fearless young rebel who was prepared to risk his life to bring down an evil repressive regime. 

If McKenzie’s report was right, the current “President for Life of Zimbabwe” (no one can say another life term president won’t come along) is fully prepared to end the lives of a high number of younger versions of himself to ensure his aging, dissolute, utterly corrupt body dies on a throne he stole from the wicked, wicked, wicked Ian Smith.

Sadly, after all these long years of Zimbabwean black governancea whole bunch of well-to-do African intellectuals are holding their heads with despair as they deal with this simple fear: it’s possible that if the resurrected Ian Smith walked through downtown Harare tomorrow and promised to return Zimbabwe to the exact economic and social conditions of his day, then a whole rush of Zimbabweans would lift Smith up on their shoulders and carry him into parliament at a speed that would probably kill the nasty old white bastard all over again. 

Or maybe not? Or Maybe yes? Or maybe...