Source: Zimbabwe wins again . . . sort of – NewsDay Zimbabwe June 17, 2016
Does anyone still remember the idiom “Africa wins again”?
Conway Tutani
The idiom — meaning the exact opposite of what it says — was in currency during the days of strongman leaders soon after the first wave of independence from the early 1960s when the continent invariably scored high on all negative indexes — no power, no water, no roads, no schools, no hospitals, no freedoms — as military coups and one-party systems inevitably led to repression and economic stagnation. It should be said that Africa, to a large extent, earned itself that unenviable distinction, becoming the laughing stock of the world.
To those usual suspects whose first inclination is to dismiss that biting sarcasm as an imperialist neo-
colonial label to disparage Africa, there are historical and contemporary examples from elsewhere. For instance, the term “sick man of Europe” is given to a European country experiencing a time of economic difficulty or impoverishment, mostly self-inflicted. The term was first used in the mid-19th century to describe the Ottoman Empire, but has since been applied at one time or another to nearly every other major European and contemporary example from elsewhere. Until as recently as 40 years ago, Greece, Portugal and Spain were under the stranglehold of repressive military rule, making them stagnant and backward in comparison to the rest of Europe. Despite being geographically in Europe, they were just like some banana republic in Africa and Latin America, poor, corrupt and badly ruled.
So no one was singling out Africa for bashing when they said sarcastically that “African wins again” as the continent was regressing politically and economically. It was not a racist notion as such, but an expression of shock, disgust and even anger. No sane person would have cheered on as the African people’s lot worsened under inept, corrupt and kleptocratic leadership, making independence hollow. There was nothing Afro-pessimistic or self-hating about it.
But we can now truly and confidently say “Africa is winning again” without the slightest hint of irony, mockery or sarcasm as an increasing number of African leaders are seeing to that. For example, Tanzanian President John Magufuli, in office for less than a year, continues his crusade to raise his country from stifling, outdated politics and economic lethargy. He has been a breath of fresh air in a continent that has, for too long, been blighted by serious leadership deficit, making it the sick man of the world.
Magufuli made his first mini-Cabinet reshuffle this week when he appointed a new Minister for Home Affairs, replacing the one he sacked last month after he had turned up in Parliament and answered questions while drunk. Magufuli, who took office in November, promised to tackle corruption and inefficiency in government. He has sacked several senior officials for corruption and cut spending he deemed wasteful by scrapping official Christmas cards and banning foreign travel by public officials, among other effective cost-cutting measures. He is proving that there is not just hope, but capacity and political will for consolidating democracy and achieving sustainable economic development in Africa.
It goes without saying that Zimbabwean ministers such as Samuel Undenge (Energy and Power Development) and Patrick Zhuwao (Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment) would have been booted out had they been in Magufuli’s Cabinet because, as seen from his track record, Magufuli wants to have the cleanest of governments. Undenge has tried and failed to satisfactorily explain away his direct involvement in shady deals under his ministerial ambit running into hundreds of millions of dollars. The same with Zhuwao, who has been ordering ministry officials to hire a particular company.
Any clearer open-and-shut case against Zhuwao? But these are sacred cows; they are untouchable.
True to form, the system is already busy bullying and intimidating the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission against carrying out another blitz on top government officials. Another farcical display looms large. Nothing — absolutely nothing — will come out of this stunt. One can safely and confidently bet the house on that. The ruling party is a refuge for corrupt characters. Ask Jim Kunaka, the former Zanu PF militia leader in Mbare who ran an extortion ring collecting thousands of dollars daily depriving ratepayers of council services. Kunaka, despite being left for dead by Zanu PF thugs — who gave him a taste of his own medicine, it must be said, in 2014 as Zanu PF faction fights broke out when divisions in the party became poisonous — has crossed back to the ruling party because he knows the corruption investigations activated against him for having defected will simply be shelved after scurrying back to the system in supplication. If you do that, all is immediately forgiven. People have got away with it after killing opposition supporters in the name of Zanu PF. That’s how tragically simple it is.
Let’s be healthily suspicious. Who, in Zimbabwe, doesn’t know that these figures of authority don’t always have our best interests at heart? We have been fed on a diet of “evil” successionists, but not so about vile corruptionists. We should refuse to be part of these lies by withholding our votes in the same way they are depriving us of decent livelihoods.
The cynicism and contempt of the system knows no bounds. Nowhere else in a democracy would a First Lady be seen dishing out seized smuggled goods at her rallies to gain political mileage as Grace Mugabe does as if she is digging deep into her own pockets. Contraband goods are supposed to be sold at customs rummage sales, where every sale is itemised and receipted. That’s the law as it stands. So, effectively the First Lady is depriving the State of revenue — in the same way those who intercepted diamonds from Chiadzwa effectively robbed the nation of $15 billion, by President Robert Mugabe’s own estimation.
And whether it’s as low as $5 billion — as some over-eager media apologists would have it — it’s still too great an amount by any reckoning. The last thing an anaemic economy — such as ours is presently — needs is bloodsuckers. And it’s not only about the amount, but the extraordinary duplicity of those who scream hoarsest blaming sanctions for the parlous and perilous state of the economy while sucking it dry.
Zimbabwe wins again! Well, sort of — because Mugabe is the complete opposite of Magufuli.
lConway Nkumbuzo Tutani is a Harare-based columnist. Email: nkumbuzo@gmail.com
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