Zimbabwe: The Blame Game

19. Undoing Mugabe

133 19 Undoing Mugabe he way he treated Matabeleland people in the 1980’s saw the seeds of distrust. Even when he had stifled Nkomo enough, into agreeing on the power sharing government in 1987, the people in Matebeleland still remained with unhealed scars and wounds. They were waiting, all these years, for an opportunity to fight him and do away with him. When the MDC came about they more easily adopted it than other rural provinces. It was this distrust that the people from Matabeleland had for Mugabe, and later on for Nkomo and ZAPU, for joining Mugabe, that could be the reason why even after the other former ZAPU cadres had re-formed the ZAPU party that it still has failed to make any in roads, for some time, into this explosive area. 2. In 1987 Mugabe was given executive powers in the Edson Zvobgo inspired and drafted constitution, but Mugabe has misused these executive powers over the years, to silence the people’s displeasure with his governance and any opposition against his rule. He came hard on civil protest, made redundant political rivals, such that ordinary people in Zimbabwe began to be too aware, too early, of Mugabe’s autocratic tendencies. That’s why, just after 10 years of his rule, Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM), and Tekere made a lot of noise in the 1990 general election. It was a mirror into the people’s increasing displeasure with their leader, whom they had voted for overwhelmingly in the previous 2 elections periods (1980, 1985). 3. Mugabe’s particular favouritism of Mashonaland and Masvingo leaders, and in so doing, he has isolated leaders and people from other provinces, especially those from Manicaland and Matabeleland. These people and, the leaders from these provinces felt alienated from the political and economic landscape and destiny of Zimbabwe, T 134 by the Zezuru-Karanga alliance and later on, by the Zezuru-KarangaNdebele tripartite ruling class. Canaan Banana, Mugabe, Simon Muzenda, Joshua Nkomo, Joseph Msika, Joyce Mujuru, and even the national chairman of ZANUPF, Joseph Nkomo, all have been from these ruling alliances and tribal areas. This has always galvanised Manicaland people to fight against this dominance and alienation by the Zezuru-Karanga alliance, especially in the Shona provinces and social landscape. It was for this dominance by the Shona people that Ndebele people also fought Mugabe. It is the dominance of the Manicaland people by the Zezuru-Karanga groups that they have always supported their sons, especially if there were rebelling against Mugabe’s leadership style. That’s the reason why even though Tsvangirai had not come through this province’s ZANUPF leadership structures, people in Manicaland easily identified with him more than any other Shona political provinces. They took to him as their own son for he is originally from Buhera, which is in the political province of Manicaland. It took the other Shona provinces like the Mashonaland and Masvingo provinces, up to 10 years to start embracing him. 4. Corruption in the government ministries and department’s over the years was another of Mugabe’s undoing. Way back, in the late 1980’s, ructions from corruption by ministers were felt all over the country and abroad, especially after the Judge Wilson Sandura spearheaded hearings into Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries’ vehicles scandal( the Willogate scandal), that embroiled ministers like Enos Nkala, Enoch Dumbusthena, and Morris Nyagumbo, and even the presidium itself. This resulted in Nyagumbo committing suicide, or being killed, whichever way you might look at it, to abscond from being jailed. It is also this job that put to halt Sandura’s career as a judge. Ever since his fine works on this scandal he has always been overlooked for appointments, in favour of government apologists. This corruption trial made a lot of noise and made people in Zimbabwe to be aware of the fact that their elected government was corruptive. Ever since that, over the years, this ruling coterie has been 135 embroiled in one scandal after another. Like Mobuto’s government in Zaire, this government slashed billions of donor aid money and loans, even funds meant to finance governance itself, such that the government became ineffective in doing its job. This crash, grab and run mentality was adopted throughout the social fabric of Zimbabwe. Board of directors, senior management, middle managers, and line managers adopted these corruptive tendencies into the public and private sectors and government...