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Zimbabwe
elections - "A riot is at bottom the language of the
unheard."
E.
Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
I scratch my
heard as I write this while recognizing how appropriate a
prognosis the statement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is to
the present situation in Zimbabwe. It has already happened
in Kenya and it may happen in Zimbabwe.
So what else
could the citizens of Zimbabwe say to Comrade Mugabe after
the elections on March 29, 2008? The results of that
election have been delayed for obvious reason. After losing
parliament, the first time in 28 years, in fact, since
independence, it is not hard to assume that Mugabe has lost
the presidency.
So, it is
time for Mugabe to step down. The opposition party, the
Movement for Democratic Change, has petitioned the
Zimbabwe's High Court for immediate release of the results.
Yet, he hangs on, thinking a re-count is the best option
left for Zimbabwe.
For some,
this poses a strange dilemma. One aspect of it, and perhaps
the most damaging, is what this impasse does to the national
psyche of Zimbabwe; of which the image of Mugabe, the
freedom fighter, is at the core. Generations from now, how
would Zimbabwe remember its founding father, with pride or
shame?
After 28
years of independence, with Mugabe at the helm, Zimbabwe has
been ruined in many respects. What is left to salvage is
the image of the man who once led Zimbabwe so valiantly to
independence from white rule.
Ironically,
it is this same man, who is bent on self-destruction because
of his narcissistic tendencies. Together with his admirers,
we are forced to watch as he spins precariously close to
disaster. Should this happen, the spirit and history of his
nation would be crushed in an irreparable way.
The
unfolding scene in Zimbabwe need not end as happened so
recently in Kenya. It can be reversed by one man alone –
Mugabe. He has to recognize the danger into which he is
pushing his nation and recant his ambition for the sake of
his people. .
Unfortunately, Mugabe’s present stance does not help. He is
insisting on a ballot recount on the basis of a ridiculous
claim that it was the opposition that stole the elections.
He should know that there is nothing in the current state of
affairs that a ballot recount can salvage. If anything,
that act is more likely to worsen the situation. The only
recourse is for him to acknowledge defeat now.
I am
reminded of a moment in 1958 when
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev' was told
that an American had won the first International Tchaikovsky
Piano Competition. The Soviets had assiduously organized
the competition, hoping to claim
cultural
superiority over America after successfully launching
Sputnik in those cold war days. With so many piano
virtuosos in Russia, no one had counted the American
competitor, Van Clinburn, who was only 23, as one of the
greats.
As the writer
Sara Fishko tells it, “Cliburn
famously tore into Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto, awing
the Soviet judges. But they remained unsure whether they
could give the prize to an American. As the popularly
recounted story goes, the judges sought Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev's approval. "Is he the best?" Khrushchev
asked. The judges replied yes. "
“Then give him the prize," Khrushchev said,
according to Sara Fishko.
In
Zimbabwe’s case, the question is not who is the best. It is
that time has left Mugabe behind and out of touch with the
aspirations of his people and that isn’t it about time he
gave someone else the chance to rule?
Mugabe,
warts and all, can be remembered affectionately, if he would
behave like other leaders in history who recognized the
truth and gave in to the verdict of the moment. Mugabe
should recognize Morgan
Tsvangirai now as his successor. Such a move would
be his finest since his confrontation with Ian Smith.
Also, such
an acceptance of defeat will help cement the opinion that
Mugabe made no effort to rig the elections.
Of course,
there are also those who insist that the reason why the
results were even close was because Mugabe rigged the
elections. Otherwise it would have been a total landslide
for the opposition.
This line of
thinking fails to consider the nature of elections in some
parts of Africa, where, usually, the incumbent president
could get as high as 99.9% of the total vote! Given this
background, it would be hard to reason that all crafty Old
Mugabe could manage was to produce a stalemate that leaves
his status in doubt.
Mugabe has
been an honest broker this election cycle. His belief,
perhaps, that the people would always want him as leader,
could have prevented him from rigging the elections. This
belief could have been a product of fact or pride, but it
was his to think so.
But, those
of us who argued against him in the past did so not because
we didn’t share in some of his basic ideals for his
country. We did so thinking that his struggle for economic
empowerment and land reform was just but the process was
flawed. It was an approach that had already been proven
futile by Idi Amin of Uganda fame.
Our problem
with Mugabe now is this narcissistic tendency of thinking
that he alone could do what needed to be done for Zimbabwe.
Fortunately, history has, with this election, given him a
moment of pause and a chance to redeem his legacy. He could
do so by the selfless act of stepping down in exchange for
peace for his country.
Otherwise,
he would regret Dr. Martin Luther King, words: “"A riot is
at bottom the language of the unheard.”
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher
www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, April 8, 2008
Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish or
reproduce, with credits, unedited. If posted at a website,
email a copy of the web page to
publisher@ghanadot.com . Or don't publish at all.
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