PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will today take an oath to commence his seventh consecutive term as leader of Zimbabwe. Southern Eye Editorial
The stage has been set for a grand occasion with 40 heads of State and government expected to attend.
Plans were being made to pack the 60 000-seater National Sports Stadium to the rafters with people being bussed from all corners of the country. High-profile regional artistes are billed to entertain guests in what should pass as one of the biggest inauguration ceremonies in Zimbabwe’s history.
Indeed, Zimbabwe last celebrated in such style when it ushered in majority rule in 1980 where Mugabe, as the then incoming Prime Minister, took the oath as the country’s first majority leader.
The country had promise then, with Tanzania’s first President Julius Nyerere describing Zimbabwe as “the jewel of Africa”.
“You have inherited a jewel,” Nyerere told Mugabe then. “Keep it that way.”
Sadly, Mugabe did not live up to that advice offered to him by Nyerere and Zimbabwe is nowhere near being the jewel of Africa.
Mugabe is leading a nation that is divided and impoverished yet still so full of promise. His re-election has left the country more divided than it was in 2008 when the Sadc region was forced to end bloodshed caused by political intolerance.
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The July 31 elections that saw Mugabe winning by 61% of the vote against MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s 34% were marred by allegations of massive fraud. There was hope that the courts would clear the allegations to everyone’s satisfaction, but after this week’s developments at the Constitutional Court, that would not be the case.
Questions over Mugabe’s legitimacy will remain an Achilles’ Heel for the new administration in the next five years.
However, judging from the clear demonstration of his intentions not to compromise, it is our wish that Mugabe would show the world that his 33 years in power have taught him to be President for everyone.
One of the major reasons Zimbabwe is in the doldrums is the culture of entitlement by the ruling class when it comes to distribution of resources. Mistakes from the land reform programme, the discovery of diamonds in Marange and the on-going indigenisation programme should not be repeated if this country has to go forward.
That can only happen if Mugabe becomes President for everyone, including the over a million people that Zimbabwe Electoral Commission figures show voted for Tsvangirai.
