"PLEASE END VICIOUS CYCLE OF EVIL" PLEADS MR SILENCE CHIHURI!

Tsvangirai's overture is a sobering thought

 

The proposition by Morgan Tsvangirai of an amnesty for Mugabe and his inner circle for the good of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans should be hailed by all genuinely peace loving Zimbabwe. This vicious cycle has to be ended somewhere. It cannot be a continuous orgy of retribution and retaliation. Common sense has to prevail from source with the national and political leadership.

 

If Mugabe could wave the olive branch to Ian Smith and Co then surely there should be nothing untoward about Tsvangirai doing the same to Mugabe. Smith killed thousands of innocent Zimbabweans not to mention the guerrillas who sacrificed their lives to liberate us. When Mugabe tore into the airwaves on the even of independence with his statesmanlike speech of reconciliation and forgiveness, he was hailed as a pragmatic leader who was a breath of fresh air. I think Tsvangirai is mulling the route that makes great leaders because as he said in an interview a short while ago, no amount of retribution will ever heal the wounds of those who have suffered at the hands of the monstrous dictatorship that is ZANU PF.

 

Nelson Mandela emerged from the ashes of apartheid South Africa to become one of the greatest leaders Africa has ever produced. Yet the bedrock of Mandela's policy was enmeshed in conciliation and reaching out to the very people who had humiliated him, killed most of his comrade-in-arms and oppressed Black South Africans. Mandela was never vilified but he was lauded as a great man of wisdom and integrity. I personally think that Tsvingirai has latched a gear up his ladder of leadership with a statesmanlike and visionary proposition for peace and brotherhood. Zimbabwe is desperate for that spirit today - of conciliation and tolerance.

 

Yes the wounds are still fresh and the fire of pain is still burning in the hearts of Zimbabweans, but Tsvangirai is no less a victim himself. He has endured as much pain and suffering at the hands of the dictatorship and he is merely chatting the way as a leader. Of course bold moves always come with at times misplaced recriminations. I am one of those people who in the past have yearned to see bold moves being taken by our political leadership and I should be among the first to welcome when such signs of political sanity manifest themselves in the form of propositions and overtures that would certainly guarantee peace and continued prosperity in our strife torn country.   

 

Zimbabwe today is a country that is deeply divided with the seeds of division being largely sown by politicians who are the government of the day. Ours is a dangerously polarised country today, and it would be a recipe for full-scale strife should no bold efforts be made by future leaders to normalise the trend towards worse disintegration. This is a very opportune moment to start chatting the conciliatory course of futurist politics because the successful reconstruction and rehabilitation of Zimbabwe will hugely hinge upon wisdom and peaceable existence rather than animosity.

 

Yes Mugabe has presided over one of the worst regimes in our time and overseen the worst decadence during his tenure. But history has told that those who mess up never do it with an intention to clean up because if this were the case, then they would never do it in the first place. However, it is always the duty of others to do the clean up and our country is one that needs quite a bit of cleaning up in the comings years. That kind of national purification will have to start with plugging the source of the dirty that is Mugabe. If you rapture a leaking pipe then you will end up with more sewage on yours hands. Mugabe is no different because he is dragging a lot of dangerous baggage with him.

 

People may clamour for Mugabe's blood but they may needlessly prolong the suffering of the innocent citizens of our country some of whom are dying needless deaths due to lack of ordinary medicines. Others are going for days on end without a decent meal while sleeping in the open. All this is because Mugabe cannot be dislodged and will not yield power without force. The consequences of employing force on Mugabe, entrenched as he is at the moment, is a disastrous deterioration and prolongation of the prevailing situation. The circumstances obtaining in our country are precarious and any further slip down the slop will be catastrophic and even much more difficult to recover from. The more threats we hail at Mugabe the deeper he digs in his heels.

 

Tsvangirai's proposition maybe misconstrued for a fall on the last hurdle or maybe given as a sign of someone looking for a quick fix to the current problem, but that is no quick fix at all. In fact that move will prove to be the largest block on the foundation of the future of Zimbabwe. It should be known that Zimbabwe is one nation and that the electorate is the same that is courted by ZANU PF and the MDC. There has to be a constructive approach towards reaching out to that electorate no matter how divided it is between ZANU PF and the MDC. The people who today sing ZANU PF songs and vote ZANU PF are the same who tomorrow might vote for the MDC. They will not be won over by force but rather, they will need to be reached out to. And that includes their leadership as well no matter how cruel. They have to be shown the way because following their footsteps would be total failure to raise the bar of leadership.

 

The Zimbabwean crisis will only take a homegrown solution and that solution can only be found if our leaders start exploring the ways that benefit the nation more than themselves. Tsvangirai is exploring one such avenue and it is a very refreshing move. Mugabe will not listen to anyone and least of all Thabo Mbeki. This so-called South African initiative fronted by Mbeki will be in the sand in no time and the sooner Zimbabweans realise that the better. Mugabe will never willingly retire as long as the prospect of prosecution and incarceration lingers over his conscience. The man knows what he has done and because power has its limits, he is powerless to forgive himself. It will only take the people to forgive disgraced leaders like Mugabe and Co and people like Tsvangirai do have the morale high ground to seek consensus on such an essential national issue. Tsvangirai is simply seeking consensus and the people of Zimbabwe should duly yield it.

 

It should be bone in mind that Mugabe still has a significant following in Zimbabwe. His supporters are a cocktail of genuine admirers and sympathisers who still view Mugabe as the hero of our liberation struggle. Then there are the crooks that would love to have Mugabe where he is for as long as possible, not because they love him, but because it is enriching them. Of course it would be a loss and painful experience to allow such people to go scot-free and not be brought to book. However, the benefits of allowing all Zimbabweans the experience of all-inclusive and peaceful reconstruction and re-integration into economic and political existence, far out ways the loss of revenge through the prevalence of common sense over animalism.  

 

Mugabe and his inner circle are all terribly arrogant and they would beat their chests loud but this is the time for nation builders rather than nation wreckers to assume the national mantle. It is time for leaders who have the vision to take Zimbabwe into that next level and it will take tough decisions take by humble citizens with the pragmatism to forgive and move on. Leaders need the support of their people to see through those difficult but necessary decisions.

 

 

Silence Chihuri is a Zimbabwean who writes from Scotland. He can be contacted on silencechihuri@hotmail.com