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Mugabe, 'man of
peace'
Something's
wrong with Comrade Bob. Maybe it's the cancer
everyone suspects, maybe it's just old age, but
he's getting soft. Mugabe's speeches don't usually
centre around peace, tolerance and free will -
quite the opposite - so his conciliatory address
to mark Zimbabwe's independence day came as a
shock. By SIMON ALLISON.
Two
controversies dominated the run up to Zimbabwe's
independence day celebrations, held in a packed
stadium in Harare on Wednesday to commemorate 32
years since
Zimbabweans replaced the
Rhodesian regime with Mugabe's.
The first
concerned the celebrations themselves, and
specifically what was being celebrated. Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai went public with his
dissatisfaction with the day's theme, encapsulated
by the not-so-catchy title Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment for Economic Transformation.
"We find this a repugnant theme, which sounds more
of a slogan for a political party than an
inclusive, peace-building theme," he said.
It is topical, however, with the Zanu-PF
section of the government recently bulldozing
through new indigenisation laws which require
companies to hand over half their shares to
government-related entities. Despite his
unhappiness, Tsvangirai refused to boycott the
celebrations, anxious to emphasise that
independence day was a national day, not just a
Zanu-PF day.
The second controversy
centred on Mugabe's health; a flurry of
unconfirmed media reports last week suggested he
was in Singapore being treated for prostate
cancer. But Mugabe denied this, running down the
aircraft steps on his return home and telling
reporters he was "fit as a fiddle".
But
maybe the speculators were on to something. I'm no
doctor, but when people behave completely out of
the ordinary, I start thinking something is wrong.
When Mugabe finally gave his speech on Wednesday
he wasn't himself at all.
He looked frail
and most reports commented that he sounded out of
breath. It was an unusually short speech too. But
it was the content that was most surprising. Where
was the firebrand we all know and Zanu-PF
supporters love? What's all this talk of peace,
cooperation and citizens' rights? And was that a
note of repentance I discerned? It was a speech
that might as well have been delivered to the
gentle accompaniment of Khumbaya. See for
yourself:
"We have done wrong to our
people, because we were fighting amongst ourselves
All our political leaders should encourage their
supporters to promote the spirit of peace and
tranquillity through social dialogue… All
violence, all fights, all struggles that are of a
violent nature, they should not be allowed to
interfere with the happiness of our groupings, no.
"It is now in our political organisations
that we must take absolute care and caution and
ensure that the fights of yesterday are buried in
the past and that we must organise ourselves on
the basis of free belonging, free choice of
membership. Membership is not forced, should never
be forced. People must freely belong to their own
choice and freely vote for a party of their own
choice."
But despite the almost
melancholic recognition of the imperfections in
Zimbabwe's political system, some of the old
Mugabe remained. In typical fashion, he railed
against the western colonialists, blaming them for
Zimbabwe's economic malaise. He also raised the
contentious issue of general elections, implying
they'll happen this year - a year earlier than
envisaged by the national unity agreement, and
against the wishes of his MDC partners in the
unity government.
Taken at face value, his
words should mean that we see very different
elections to what happened the last time. There
should be no voter intimidation, no political
vendettas, no arbitrary arrests and, above all, no
violence.
Not that anybody is likely to
take anything Mugabe says at face value. Words are
cheap, after all, especially when they come in
Zimbabwean denominations. But still it's nice to
think that somewhere in Mugabe's mind is a
recognition of his country's immense political
problems (most of his own making). Intriguingly,
some sources reported that this speech was a
departure from the prepared script that focussed
exclusively on the indigenisation and empowerment
theme, which in the end Mugabe barely mentioned.
Others reported that Mugabe's health
really was worsening, and this seemed the most
likely cause of his sentimentality. The Southern
Africa report writes that his frailty is becoming
obvious in public. "He is often unsteady on his
feet, and cannot easily negotiate stairs without
the support of aides on each side. At public
meetings, police routinely isolate a bathroom for
his exclusive use. He regularly makes use of it,
accompanied by an aide carrying a bag, and is
often engaged for 30 minutes at a time. There is
evidence that he no longer has full control of his
bladder - a classic symptom of advanced prostate
cancer."
Regardless of why, Mugabe's
surprising speech will remain an oddity unless
followed by a serious change in the way Zanu-PF
conducts its politics. Unfortunately, if Mugabe
really is as frail as described, he's unlikely to
be able to enforce his liberal new philosophy,
even if he wanted to. DM
This
article is run courtesy of Daily Maverick. To
visit their site, please click here.
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