How Zimbabwe can avoid Dictatorships : Lessons to learn from history.
By Hosia Mviringi
18 October 2018
Dictatorships are a creation of mankind , they are not a natural phenomenon and thus can be managed.
Most dictatorships are a result of complacency and or willful inaction by citizens.Active citizen participation can stop dictatorships in their infancy.
If I had my way I would seriously advocate for a law that limits the number of Political Parties in Zimbabwe to three (3). All other small Parties will be required to disband and all interested persons encouraged to join bigger parties and fight for positions therein.
To me this creates a health competituon for ideas and it discourages building of fifdoms by power hungry leaders.
Lets take for example if such brilliant leaders as Nkosana Moyo, Simba Makoni and others would all join the MDC. I think Chamisa would be kept on his toes inorder to beat the competition.But currently what do we have ? We have a scenario where once a leader feels threatened they create conditions or some false charges and allegations to get the other competitive members expelled.And what do we remain with ? We remain with a group of apologetic individuals around those leaders who do not add any value to the leaders, a bunch of Yes men and Women.We can not improve the calibre of our leadership by removing all competitive brains from around us.
Unfortunately this is the genesis of Dictatorship.
This analogy hereup applies to all Political Parties in Zimbabwe.I have used the MDC as an example because it is the biggest opposition in Zimbabwe which is capable of absorbing many other leaders who are wandering in the political wilderness.
But if you juxtapose it would equally apply to ZANU PF too.Not long ago we had a leader who would not tolerate any independent thinkers around him.Robert Mugabe would not accept divergent views.He would make sure that those around him exhibit dead ambition.But we all know how he almost ran down this economy.That fusion of ideas I mentioned above was not tolerated under Robert Mugabe.
We all know how a few Professionals who had dared join his government were hounded out just for seeking to do things differently.
Nkosana Moyo ,Simba Makoni ,Chris Kuruneri and many others are good examples of professionals who could have added value to the national governance but their ideas were not allowed to see light of day.
Today we have Nelson Chamisa of MDC Alliance.He is still a fairly new political player whom we may give the benefit of doubt.We know how he assumed leadership of the MDC and its well documented.I for one would choose to understand and pardon his feeling of insecurity.But that should have limits.By now he should have grown strong enough to face and withstand internal democracy.We do not expect this youthful politician to copy and paste undesirable attributes from such known and proven dictators as Robert Mugabe and Mobutu Sese Seko.
Those are ancient politicians whose tactics have no place in today's civilised politics.We expect Nelson Chamisa to cherish diversity and bring over the best brains ever available to surround him.That will enrich and grow him intellectually, politically and even physically.If you repel all intelligent people from around you the best you can become is an intellectual dwarf.You will suffer intellectual Kwashiokor.Intellectual Malnutrition.
And honestly I would not want Chamisa to go there.He still got a future ahead of him.
Of course the current setting in our present government cannot escape scruitny.President Mnangagwa is a man who has been in politics and government for a cumulative 54yrs.Tragedy is that he has served under one person for all this long.
How I wish he had seen leadership changes at least once at the top there.I have no doubt that he would have had a better appreciation of the different kinds of leadership styles available.
However my sincere hope is that he did his best as a self taught politician.
He was exposed to one of the most autocratic rulers of our times.Mugabe would not accept a challenge to his leadership and or line of thinking.
He would not stand independent thinking that may seem outside his own line of thought.
President Mnangagwa can give testimony to that.
He served patiently under the shadow of Robert Mugabe.
Probably President Mnangagwa knows that there is more that he could have contributed to Zimbabwe had he been given a chance earlier.
But unfortunately Politics is a very unfair game.You hardly get power delivered to you.You got to fight for it.
My sincere hope is that President Mnangagwa will turn his negative experiences under Robert Mugabe into hard lessons for pure and true governance transformation.
I applaud the President for taking on board Professionals and non politicians such as Professor Mthuli Ncube into the governance matrix.
Such Ministers as Professor Mthuli Ncube , Kirsty Coventry and Mangaliso Ndlovu brings in a breath of fresh air.
I have no doubt that Professor Mthuli Ncube's experience in and exposure to International Banking , Finance and Trade will bring strong leverage to the nation's Financial management systems and International trade relations.
He just has to be allowed room to be innovative , entrepreneurial and be as an independent thinker as is possible.
I am almost certainly hopeful that President Mnangagwa has learnt his lessons well and is indeed ready to transform all those negative experiences , including his later day tribulations at the hands of his former master as strong building blocks for strong enduring democratic governance systems that are sure to outlive this generation.
He should steive to do his best to repel any chances of that tag of Dictator ever sticking on him.
Icho !
By Hosia Mviringi
18 October 2018
Dictatorships are a creation of mankind , they are not a natural phenomenon and thus can be managed.
Most dictatorships are a result of complacency and or willful inaction by citizens.Active citizen participation can stop dictatorships in their infancy.
If I had my way I would seriously advocate for a law that limits the number of Political Parties in Zimbabwe to three (3). All other small Parties will be required to disband and all interested persons encouraged to join bigger parties and fight for positions therein.
To me this creates a health competituon for ideas and it discourages building of fifdoms by power hungry leaders.
Lets take for example if such brilliant leaders as Nkosana Moyo, Simba Makoni and others would all join the MDC. I think Chamisa would be kept on his toes inorder to beat the competition.But currently what do we have ? We have a scenario where once a leader feels threatened they create conditions or some false charges and allegations to get the other competitive members expelled.And what do we remain with ? We remain with a group of apologetic individuals around those leaders who do not add any value to the leaders, a bunch of Yes men and Women.We can not improve the calibre of our leadership by removing all competitive brains from around us.
Unfortunately this is the genesis of Dictatorship.
This analogy hereup applies to all Political Parties in Zimbabwe.I have used the MDC as an example because it is the biggest opposition in Zimbabwe which is capable of absorbing many other leaders who are wandering in the political wilderness.
But if you juxtapose it would equally apply to ZANU PF too.Not long ago we had a leader who would not tolerate any independent thinkers around him.Robert Mugabe would not accept divergent views.He would make sure that those around him exhibit dead ambition.But we all know how he almost ran down this economy.That fusion of ideas I mentioned above was not tolerated under Robert Mugabe.
We all know how a few Professionals who had dared join his government were hounded out just for seeking to do things differently.
Nkosana Moyo ,Simba Makoni ,Chris Kuruneri and many others are good examples of professionals who could have added value to the national governance but their ideas were not allowed to see light of day.
Today we have Nelson Chamisa of MDC Alliance.He is still a fairly new political player whom we may give the benefit of doubt.We know how he assumed leadership of the MDC and its well documented.I for one would choose to understand and pardon his feeling of insecurity.But that should have limits.By now he should have grown strong enough to face and withstand internal democracy.We do not expect this youthful politician to copy and paste undesirable attributes from such known and proven dictators as Robert Mugabe and Mobutu Sese Seko.
Those are ancient politicians whose tactics have no place in today's civilised politics.We expect Nelson Chamisa to cherish diversity and bring over the best brains ever available to surround him.That will enrich and grow him intellectually, politically and even physically.If you repel all intelligent people from around you the best you can become is an intellectual dwarf.You will suffer intellectual Kwashiokor.Intellectual Malnutrition.
And honestly I would not want Chamisa to go there.He still got a future ahead of him.
Of course the current setting in our present government cannot escape scruitny.President Mnangagwa is a man who has been in politics and government for a cumulative 54yrs.Tragedy is that he has served under one person for all this long.
How I wish he had seen leadership changes at least once at the top there.I have no doubt that he would have had a better appreciation of the different kinds of leadership styles available.
However my sincere hope is that he did his best as a self taught politician.
He was exposed to one of the most autocratic rulers of our times.Mugabe would not accept a challenge to his leadership and or line of thinking.
He would not stand independent thinking that may seem outside his own line of thought.
President Mnangagwa can give testimony to that.
He served patiently under the shadow of Robert Mugabe.
Probably President Mnangagwa knows that there is more that he could have contributed to Zimbabwe had he been given a chance earlier.
But unfortunately Politics is a very unfair game.You hardly get power delivered to you.You got to fight for it.
My sincere hope is that President Mnangagwa will turn his negative experiences under Robert Mugabe into hard lessons for pure and true governance transformation.
I applaud the President for taking on board Professionals and non politicians such as Professor Mthuli Ncube into the governance matrix.
Such Ministers as Professor Mthuli Ncube , Kirsty Coventry and Mangaliso Ndlovu brings in a breath of fresh air.
I have no doubt that Professor Mthuli Ncube's experience in and exposure to International Banking , Finance and Trade will bring strong leverage to the nation's Financial management systems and International trade relations.
He just has to be allowed room to be innovative , entrepreneurial and be as an independent thinker as is possible.
I am almost certainly hopeful that President Mnangagwa has learnt his lessons well and is indeed ready to transform all those negative experiences , including his later day tribulations at the hands of his former master as strong building blocks for strong enduring democratic governance systems that are sure to outlive this generation.
He should steive to do his best to repel any chances of that tag of Dictator ever sticking on him.
Icho !
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