UhuRuto and Raila supporters now battle for Zimbabwe

By Peter Wanyonyi

Our enthno-centrism knows no equal. Even Nigeria’s infamous enmity between that country’s mega-tribes pales into insignificance when one considers the ridiculous extent of our petty tribalism.

Dr Robert Mugabe, BA, BEd, BSc, LLB, MSc, LLM, is not an easy president to like. What Zimbabwe has been through under his leadership can only be described as hell. From the Gukurahundi mini-genocide of the Ndebele in the early 1980s, in which 20,000 Ndebele were publicly shot dead after being forced to dig their own graves; the disorderly land reclamation programme in the 1990s in which white-owned land was forcibly confiscated by Mugabe loyalists; to plunging the country into a ruinous famine that reduced Zimbabweans to eating wild leaves and roots for sustenance, Mugabe has inflicted untold harm on Zimbabwe.

The erstwhile breadbasket of Southern Africa has turned into little more than a basket case, a poster-child for African incompetence at running their own affairs. And all this before one considers President Mugabe’s ‘in-your-face’ stealing of elections in Zimbabwe. Surprisingly, he dictates to his party members and any one who dares challenge him is dealt with.

For instance, any serious opponents inside his own party somehow get involved in accidents, with the latest being a general who dared suggest that Mugabe should step down. General Solomon Mujuru subsequently burnt to death in a fire.

It is, therefore, a no-brainer that anyone even remotely interested in good governance and the rule of law would abhor any association with Mugabe. But there is a caveat when Mugabe is discussed in Kenyan political circles.

You see, there are uncanny parallels between Zimbabwe and Kenya in more than one way. Politically, Kenya’s uncomfortable 2007 Presidential election was later virtually repeated in Zimbabwe in 2008. In the latter, Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe, necessitating a run-off election.

Mugabe unleashed a reign of terror on the regions that had voted for Tsvangirai during the first round, with hundreds of Tsvangirai supporters brutally murdered to intimidate the rest into staying away from the vote.

The Zimbabwean military declared they would mutiny if Tsvangirai won the election, and foreign diplomats trying to reach the worst affected areas were detained and turned back. Tsvangirai pulled out of the election, with Mugabe winning unopposed.

This history of election theft endeared the boring Mr Tsvangirai to supporters of Mr Raila Odinga, who lost to former president Kibaki in 2007 in an election that Mr Kibaki’s vice-president, Kalonzo Musyoka, recently claimed ‘was stolen from Raila’. What has followed in Kenya has been ridiculous; Kenyans opposed to Mr Odinga have taken to praising Mr Mugabe, with a prominent cheerleader against Mr Odinga even incredulously declaring that this overwhelmingly-condemned “victory” for Mr Mugabe “opens the way for Mugabe to mend his ways”.

Granted, every regime needs court-jesters, but it is disconcerting to see sharp lawyers and seasoned civil activists extending Kenya’s tribalism to Zimbabwe and beyond.

Mugabe to mend his ways? Please!