The African tragedy;Great message,Bad Messengers

In December 2008 world renowned African public intellectual Professor Mahmoud Mamdani from Columbia University in the US wrote an article entitled ‘Lessons from Zimbabwe’ which drew widespread and almost embarrassing backlash from fellow African intellectualls.Infact one response had 35 names of prominent intellectuals and Human Rights activists in Africa lambasting and lampooning Mamdani's remarks.Mamdani's piece tried rather unsuccessfully to downplay the role and effectiveness of MDC whilst insinuating that Mugabe is where he is today because he is popular in the rural areas. He said a lot of things that l found distressing as a young scholar who is generally awestruck by Mamdani's indisputable work on Africa. This time he lost it. Mugabe’s legacy is a subject of intense debate particularly among Africans themselves.However, as the country continues to suffer many ostensibly have begun to revise their view on the man. Heroes are known to deliver, to defend and not to preside over the tragedy in Zimabwe.Which ever one looks at the situation in Zimbabwe, after 29 years as President, Zimbabwe has never been as weak as it is at any point in town. It is really an embarrassment considering the potential the nation has.
Indeed Africa has had such frustrating leaders like Kwame Nkrumah,Muammar Gaddaffi and Robert Mugabe among others. These are leaders with a message l have found convincing in some respects but their own actions betrayed them.Infact, many times the more lofty they spoke, the more hideous their actions became at home. These are leaders whose words cannot be reconciled with their actions.Infact, as for Mugabe and Nkrumah, their words are so different from their actions that anyone who reads about their actions might even think that the author is conspiring against the great Africanists.
It is a fact that President Mugabe is smart. He has at least 6 academic degrees to his name and most of them he got them as he labored to prepare for majority rule whilst in prision.As he languished in prison alongside some of the nation's finest freedom fighters who have mostly died, one can sense that Mugabe always had a deep belief in himself then and he believed that a day would come when the black majority would one day win the war against the boisterous and immoral Ian Smith regime. He was right for in 1980, Zimbabwe became independent.

Unfortunately many of the people Mugabe fought with are either dead, old or sidelined politically. A few cling to him and defend him like fools. Over the years, Mugabe has managed to eloquently expose annoying Western hypocrisy on several issues like Rwandan genocide and colonialism,IMF structural adjustment programmes etc.Infact,often his speeches generated standing ovations at UN general assembly meetings, momentarily as a Zimbabwean l often felt a sense of pride as our 'statesman shined’. My own first experience with Mugabe was in 1987 when l was a mere toddler in Masvingo.It was the 21st February movement when then nation would celebrate his birthday. I saw him at a close distance in Mucheke stadium. I never forgot it since then. Then he was popular. He would move around dazzling crowds with his speeches. But it was all talk because a few months before that, thousands of other Zimbabweans were being slaughtered in Matabeleland in a systematic effort to decimate Joshua Nkomo’s support in the region.Nkomo’s contributions in the liberation struggle spanned a longer period than Mugabe and he must have forever felt threatened as long as Nkomo moved freely. Over the years Mugabe has shown disrespect for some of Zimbabwe’s most courageous liberation war leaders.Infact he has been as ruthless to some freedom fighters as Smith was to African nationalists.Dumiso Dabengwa and General Lookout Masuku, kingpins of the struggle were incarcerated in the same jails Smith had kept them on spurious charges that he can hardly defend today. The difference was that liberation war heroes were being abused by a fellow comrade barely months into independence. Was Mugabe focusing on removing Smith shortly before independence or he spent more time thinking of how to sideline comrades as soon as he got power? One has a sense that as soldiers were fighting, Mugabe was brooding over sidelining tactics in the camps were soldiers were protecting him. Soon he would turn against the same soldiers.
One could argue that Mugabe's brave stand against Western bullying at international fora in a way emboldened some of his fellow leaders and it made some countries think twice before doing a couple of things. One thing is certain about Mugabe, he loves fights and he is not afraid of standing to anyone who looks down upon him. Many times great powers have shown disrespect to a couple of leaders. Mugabe would not brook such nonsense


Similalry; the mention of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana generates a sense of Pan Africanism in many Africans like me. Indeed he had vision of a United States of Africa. He was passionate about it and he actually sent material assistance at some point for the freedom of Zimbabwe. He was undeniably concerned about Africa’s liberation in every sense. To this day, he is widely y respected as a prophet of African unity.Infact when he was overthrown in a coup; he was made honorary co-President of neighboring Guniea.Imagine such reverence even upon falling from grace.

Gaddaffi assumed power in his 20s and over the years he has a reputation for broad shoulders and a spine. He remains the most vociferous proponent of the United States on Africa

However; these men have something in common; Hatred for Western domination and a strong belief in the strength and potential of Africa. As l follow their lives, l get stung at how much they equally dominated their own people. Nkrumah with all his lofty speeches and belief in unity where all Africans are free, instituted some of the most heinous pieces of legislation that attacked civil liberties.Infact, l struggle to comprehend how such an icon could at some point miss it to such lengths. The Trade Union Act of 1955 was passed and it outlawed all strikes. Soon after the Detention Act saw people arrested on account of alleged treason without recourse to law.Oppostion politicians naturally suffered under such legislations. It is not surprising that the man ended up being overthrown. Mugabe passed POSA which binds political parties to have their rallies cleared first by a partisan police before holding them. Not surprising, MDC rallies have been banned several hundred times.Infact, during the 2002 and 2008 elections, there were no go areas. Army generals came out on TV vowing never to allow anyone else from being President.AIPPA was passed and it saw shocking media restrictions. Independent media has been constantly under fire since then. The mighty Daily News, Tribune and many others were closed. The Daily News printer was bombed and to this day no one has been arrested. The paper itself was banned. Joseph Mwale, the cold murderer who killed countless Zimbabweans remains on government payroll to this day. Thousands of ZANU PF militias remain on payroll to this day with their sole responsibility being to terrorize anyone who stands in the way of President Mugabe and his lieutanants.Infact, one could argue that Zimbabwean tax payers pay to be murdered and raped. Their very tax money is used by Gideon Gono to pay for abductions and murders. Hundreds of MDC activists are unaccounted for to this day several weeks after the ‘inclusive government’ was put in place.
Gaddaffi's dictatorship is legendary and needs no elucidation
What is clear about these men is that they just hate to be dominated. It’s not so much about hatred for Western domination as it is a personal disdain for anyone who tries to undermine them personally. Mugabe literally loves British culture. He often goes to rural rallies in suits and speaks to helpless villagers in English! You check out his choice of attire as compared to the more ethnic tastes of his contempories you would be surprised when he claims that ‘l don’t need even a pin from Britian’ .His wife would prefer to shop at Harrods in UK that in Zimabwe.Their hatred for the British is hypocritical and it stinks to high heavens. For them it’s a hatred for anyone who treats them in a way that makes them feel powerless for once. It’s about their ego and not the people’s ‘sovereignty’.
Any man who does not respect the right of another man to live freely cannot be a hero. I struggle to appreciate these well known three men whose evils are obviously in varying degrees. They had no respect for their people’s lives. They believed that they were the only ones with a divine right to lead their nations.

Repressive legislation would be promulgated to deal harshly with anyone who feels they could liberate the country more than them. Mugabe once notoriously remarked 'I don’t know anyone who could have managed the economy better then me’. That sums it all. These three men are similar in having an exaggerated impression of themselves and their important.
They are the wrong sources of inspirations for emerging young African leaders.

They may have said certain things that are true and they said them in a manner that’s convincing but their characters betrayed them.
Character remains a major challenge. As the old leadership adage says, charisma will take you to the top but it is character that will keep you there. Indeed who can doubt the brilliance of Bill CLintion? But who can also doubt that he doesn’t represent the best of examples to great character particularly to young people in America?
Africa desperately needs leaders who speak with the eloquence of Mugabe, the tenacity of Nkrumah, the independence of Gaddafi yet the character and humility of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

Nyerere is another frustrating leader in that he was humble, reasonably incorruptible which was rare but his policies simply plunged his nation like a meteor into a pool of oblivion.Ujamaa was ill advised. Why do men of good character fail like that yet questionable people like Mugabe cling on for 29 straight years in power?
The molding of character remains a major necessity in our African schools. As students are being sent to school, character development should be an integral component of the development of students. As African economies continue to cough and sneeze, professionals are migrating and families are falling apart. A generation of young people is growing with absentee parents who are either trying to make ends meet for the family of dying with the scourge of AIDS. Africa has millions of orphans.
Mugabe grew up with an irresponsible father. Yet he was smart. One cannot doubt that his less than helpful childhood contributed in making of the heartless man he has turned out to be.
Investing in children and education is one of the most transformative and generational actions any African government can do.
The character of these little geniuses rising in colleges in schools will determine the leaders we will have. African has fine academics and professional s in Leadership but many fail the test of character. Our challenges are so huge and systems not yet secure and mature that we need men and women of conscience to take us to a new dispensation of African Renaissance. Mbeki bellowed about Renaissance but his treatment of Mugabe exposed his integrity.
We need a message..but we desperately need leaders of integrity

God bless Africa