Gearing up for a tough 2009 in Zimboland

January 5, 2009 by Denford ·
Filed under: Politics, Zimbabwean diaries

The New year is upon us and, six months after the presidential elections, we still have no government. Everyone, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, the South Africans, the Tanzanians (I did say everyone) says the same thing: a government in Zimbabwe is needed as a matter of urgency.

All of the above, except Mugabe, believe that the best government would be a GNU. Mugabe alone seems to be going the route of wanting a government all by himself. People fail to understand that, according to Mugabe, the MDC victory in March is not legitimate. He has told members of his party countless times that the MDC vote was “extracted” under duress from the people of Zimbabwe because of “sanctions” imposed on the country.

This is crucial if we are to understand the mindset at work here, the sort of mindset that has come up with the strategies I have written about elsewhere. Allof these strategies are justified in the mind of Zimbabwe’s despot because he has first denied the MDC’s moral right to those votes (even if this is just in his head)

And his head matters very much. Friendless, Mugabe has always kept his thoughts to himself, so much so that to this day, there is no single cabinet minister who can tell you what it is that Mugabe is thinking or planning.

This inherent, inbuilt introverted approach has also ensured that Mugabe is inscrutable to the world. But the mask is crumbling and we will soon see the real man emerge. Morgan Tsvangirai said last week that Mugabe “loves” the idea of dying for a cause.

It may well explain what most people see as an attitude of “after me, the flood” from this man. He is 84 and he is desperate for his final legacy not to be a crumbling nation. Which is why he will cling on, trying to right the economy that has gone haywire, just so that he can step down while claiming final victory.

In other words, this man is not voluntarily stepping down until he has convinced himself that he has triumphed against the “imperialists” on teh economic front.

Those seeking to final see his back would do well to study this motivation carefully, because it contains the seeds for coming up with workable strategies to finally set the country right again.

2009, therefore, presents this nation with the same set of intractable problems it faced in 2008. The solutions also have not changed. They are just waiting for someone to implement them.

Anenzeve anzwa, I hope.

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