The Sunday News
Richard Runyararo Mahomva
Writers in Politics — a book I first read in my early university years. As one exploring the path towards an Afrocentric understanding of political theory this book is worth revisiting. Re-reading this publication two decades after its revision makes sense considering the text’s relevance to the current state of thought politics.
Moreover, Writers in Politics maps out a comprehensive understanding of how post-colonial imaginations of thought-power in Africa is manufactured. In the same vein, the book exhibits how neo-colonialism and post-colonialism are forces radically asserting their densities to the writer and the reader; thereby miscellaneously competing to shape the thinking of the reader.
In this entire process, the writer is a politician. The writer is never a client of non-alignment, the writer must win readers to his side. None could have said it better than Steve Biko, “I write what I like.” Biko is radically frank about his role as a writer; when you read his work you are reading what he likes (Black Consciousness). Therefore, reading this seminal book by Ngugi gives a comprehensive appreciation of the diverse compelling motives to the validation and disparagement of President Mnangagwa by various opinion leaders in Zimbabwe.
Since the launch of Operation Restore Legacy public opinion outlets have been at their peak — both giving asylum to rational and irrational (mis)readings of Zimbabwe under Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa. In Ngugi’s perspective, writing (media) curates warring images of Zimbabwe’s political cinema. Therefore, reading Ngugi (1997: 4) further makes sense in this whole theatre:
“Literature, then, does not belong to ethereal planes and surreal spaces, electing to have nothing to do with the mundanity of economics, politics, race, class and history. As a process and an end, it is conditioned by these social forces and pressures because imaginations take place within economic, political, class and race contexts. Arising from its thoroughly social character, literature is partisan; it takes sides more so in a class society.”
Given the above declaration, media gives expression to conflicting realities of those who write and those who read the written. This is why some views about the political situation in Zimbabwe are given more attention than others. In the same manner, some writers are despised for their leanings to the establishment, yet other writers are equally exalted for being anti-establishment. Eddie Cross — an opposition politician is one of such writers.
Last week, Eddie Cross was massively headlined in the private media for “endorsing” Cde Mnangagwa’s Presidency. At face value, Cross’ pronouncement was worth giving wide dissemination considering his prominently opposed stance to Zanu-PF. In some quarters this was worth dissemination because to some, Cross is an epitome of democracy as symbolised by his eminence in opposition politics.
To some, this was worth sharing with the entire nation because a white man famous for the regime change endorsed Cde Mnangagwa’s ascendancy to power. In my view the so-called endorsement of President Mnangagwa by Cross aptly demonstrates how our politics is in desperate need for white validation. On our own, we seem to be struggling to embrace the decisions we make for the future of our country.
If the exact validation statement came from a more qualified political commentator like Dr Tafataona Mahoso or Prof Manyeruke that was going to be dismissed as bootlicking. Had the same “endorsement” came from the then Nathaniel Manheru blog that was going to be ignored as mere Zanu-PF propaganda. I wonder if the same pronouncement would have been taken seriously had it came from Micheal Mhlanga, a political seer in this paper. This is evident of the depth of myopic political consciousness we have as a nation. Above all, the fact that we need a Rhode to pronounce our current blessing is problematic.
It’s as if we have no minds of our own to determine and shape the destiny of our beloved republic. This is why we gladly embrace neo-colonialists’ declaration of war to our economy and their pronouncements of death to policies initially meant to revive our nation.
In the book I made reference to, Ngugi (1997:13) gives an analysis of this manner using Joyce Carey’s text book Mr Johnson: “Joyce Carey, an empire builder, sets out in Mr Johnson, to construct an Africa humanity imbued with mindless fun. This Careyan African humanism reaches its epiphanic heights at the moment of death. Sentenced to death by a colonial court, Johnson the Hero of the narrative, begs to be executed by his friend, the white district officer, nothing can better complete the life of this African than his having to be shot dead by his master. Imagine the agony of the officer, and his human dilemma at having to execute one of his favourite natives, like a master forced to put his favourite dog out of pain, but one does it anyway, and this officer does it too, out of love, out of kindness, out of the highest of motives, doing Mister Johnson a favour.”
In other words, Ngugi warns us to be wary of white kindness, white benevolence, white intervention in determining our destiny. According to Ngugi, white humanitarianism only serves to destroy and to convince the victim of superficial sympathy and mercy tidings which only lead to the grave. This is substantiated by Cross’ endorsement of President Mnangagwa at the same time making him a villain to history:
“In 1983 when I was General Manager of the Dairibord — a large Parastatal in the dairy industry, I got a call one day from the Catholic Mission in Lupane to say that the army was in the district and causing mayhem. I called the then Secretary to the Prime Minister (Mugabe) and Cabinet, Charles Utete, and asked him what was going on. I invited him to fly with me in a light aircraft to see for ourselves. He replied after 30 minutes that this was ‘nothing to do with me, too sensitive and I should leave it alone’.”
Cross further narrates: “The Catholics sent me a report on the problems in the district (it was the start of Gukurahundi — the “storm that cleans”) and I took this report with me on a business trip to Scandinavia where I shared it with four foreign Ministers and asked them to get their Prime Ministers to call our Prime Minister and urge restraint. When I got home I was summoned to the Minister’s Office and there I was given a transcript of my discussions with the Norwegian Secretary of State and I was given a severe warning from the Minister of State Security to ‘never do that again, or else’. That was Mnangagwa.”
The huge proportion of this endorsement is largely an attempt to vilify one whom Cross pretentiously depicts as the protagonist of the new political transition. He further makes a misguided prediction of President Mnangagwa’s potential to deliver as he argues that his success is dependent on the death of the opposition:
Mnangagwa is in absolute control of the State and I think he is going to deliver. One of the key elements behind this strategy is that he knows the opposition is in shambles. The other thing he knows full well is that only a democratically elected Government will be recognised by the international community and recovery and reconstruction of the Zimbabwe State and Economy is not possible without that.
By giving that position, he consciously foregoes that the success of a Government is measured through policy delivery and not the presence or absence of opposition. In the past, Zanu-PF has managed to record policy implementation success in the face of intense opposition criticism.
Therefore, to think that President Mnangagwa will only attain positive milestones due to lack of opposition is a misinformed position. The opposition was never a hindrance to his assumption of power when the people of Zimbabwe marched their way to close the chapter of the old order on the 18th of November.
Likewise, the opposition has no capacity whatsoever to decapitate President Mnangagwa’s potential to meaningfully serve his tenure.
Moreover, there is no need for Cross’ prescription for free and fair elections in 2018. It’s quite obvious that democracy will be preserved and the people’s leader shall assume the reigns of leadership.
Otherwise, with or without white validation, 2018 is coming. Until then, we all await the change that Zimbabweans want.
Iwe neni tine basa!
-Richard Mahomva is an independent researcher and a literature aficionado interested in architecture of governance in Africa and political theory. Feedback: [email protected]
