Crisis? There is no crisis in Zimbabwe

By Bernard Bwoni

‘There is no crisis in Zimbabwe’. That was the world widely-condemned little-big statement by the former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki during that opposition-inspired contentious and catastrophic period of 2008 leading to the formation of the government of national unity. The powerful declaration that saved Zimbabwe from the jaws of the neoliberal sharks at the starry-eyed and unpatriotic petition of a firmly handheld opposition. Fast-forward to 2014; the same words are echoed and uttered by the EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Aldo Dell’Arriccia who boldly and rightly made it clear to the opposition that there is no leadership crisis in Zimbabwe. The only leadership crisis that is evident for all to see is found in the opposition tiers where the disarray spans from zero to ninety nine problems and some flimsy and funny attempts at the so-called renewal. The opposition in Zimbabwe has been comatose beyond resuscitation since that infamous neo-colonial founding and funding of 1999 and there is absolutely nothing to renew from a spent comically-named Renewal Team or the romantically-ruined remnants fronted by one Morgan Tsvangirai. Now that is a leadership in crisis.

A crisis is often defined as a ‘condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political and international affairs leading to a decisive change’. A leadership in a crisis is one that is thrust in a mire of uncertainty and chaos, thrown into confusion and circumstantial upheaval with catastrophic consequences. In Zimbabwe the prevailing peace and tranquillity is not a by-product of a leadership in crisis, but rather the strong leadership in a crisis situation by President Mugabe and the ruling party. Under the leadership of President Mugabe there has been clarity and finality and decisions are made with precision and patriotism for the sake of expediency and facilitation of national processes. There is consistency and cohesion in terms of policy and national trajectory. The only crisis in Zimbabwe is the one induced by the economic sanctions imposed at the behest of gullible opposition politics. The outcome of the sanctions-induced economic crisis in Zimbabwe is that President Mugabe has become a victim of the inconsistencies deeply embedded in the Zimbabwean society that the sanctions were necessary to put pressure on him for regime change purposes at the same time meant miraculously not to maim the very same people on the ground whose ‘cause’ the opposition was purporting to be championing. What an unfortunate paradox.

A leadership in crisis is naïve, has no vision, is a proxy implant and totally compromised as those found within the country’s paralytic and pubescent opposition ranks. Don’t lose sleep over the international media hype about doomsday and dictators because that is just a smokescreen to smother the African economic inferno that President Mugabe has unleashed to uplift and upgrade the lives of the historically marginalized indigenes.The reality is that President Mugabe is in charge, duly elected by the people of Zimbabwe and he has not disappointed. He has been the African version of the atlas, carrying the fully weight of the world of economic expectations of the country’s sanction-ravaged population on his shoulder through the eternity of the damaging effects of the embargo. He has soaked the entire international onslaught against Zimbabwe and never succumbed to the prejudices and preferences of the settler world of neoliberal trappings. Mugabe has remained resolute amid all the negative and damaging speculation about the country. He has gone against the grain to redress the inequalities created by a system from the past and put emphasis on ownership and control of the country’s abundant natural resources. Here is a man who has carried the weight of gravity, a man with feet firmly on the ground to the cause of Zimbabwe.

President Mugabe’s visionary leadership has deliberately and effectively focused on cascading real wealth down to the ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe. The key here is ‘Wealth’ that will span generations to come and not a few ‘Life-is-good-Supercharged-Range-Rover’ comic moments of fame on YouTube. That is real wealth filtering down to the original owners of Great Zimbabwe through the morally-justified empowerment and indigenisation policies. Zimbabweans are no more mere labours for the settler minorities but wealthy citizens on their own land. That is not a leadership in crisis, but a responsive and effective leadership with specific intent to economically liberate and empower its citizens.  As President Mugabe rightly put it, we are a simple people and to take it a notch up a simple people who aspire for an equal society for all Zimbabweans to be given that opportunity to own what is rightfully and lawfully theirs.

The task and ask of leading a country through a sustained period of the deliberate economic sabotage that befell Zimbabwe has been treacherous and torturous. The ruling party has been up to the task and hence the emerging acknowledgement from crafty colonial corners. It has been a long and difficult journey and mostly a case of executing only the very necessary. The fine tuning will come later once the dust settles and as the reality of ownership becomes clear. The economic transition was going to take time and it has. But things can only get better. Amid the so-called chaos there is an order many throughout the continent aspire to. The challenges that the country faces today are in fact presenting the ordinary citizens with some hidden opportunities. As the reality of ownership continues to slowly but surely take root the people are beginning to fully embrace these noble and people orientated policies. As the tectonic forces of history continue to shift beneath the feet of all Zimbabweans, the historical inequalities of yesteryear have been redressed and many Zimbabweans are confronted with that realisation of economic independence. A must follow for all African countries.

Bernard Bwoni can be contacted at bernardbwn@aol.com/bernardbwoni.blogspot.co.uk