Mugabe and political succession in Africa

Democracy in Africa has suffered a devastating setback again. This time it was in Zimbabwe. So, if the Zimbabwean military did not drive Robert Mugabe away unceremoniously from the comfort of the presidential palace, he would have continued as the nation’s president after ruling his country for almost 37 years. Mugabe at the ripe age of 93 years waited arrogantly for his country’s army to package him hurriedly in a “bloodless correction” out of office with total disregard for Zimbabwe’s constitutional provision. The seeming removal of Mugabe from office by the military is another devastating blow on democracy. Simply put, Mugabe’s apparent removal from office is the beginning of an end to a controversial era.
Political succession has been very challenging in many African countries to an extent that some observers have expressed their displeasure as a result of incessant civil unrests and uprisings. Mugabe is not the only African leader who lacks the courage to leave government office in a befitting manner on completion of the term of office. There are many other African leaders whose love for political power has been a major obstacle to the consolidation of democracy in Africa. The question then is: Why are African presidents finding it difficult to leave office after swearing to an oath of allegiance to the nation they serve, and most importantly, the people that elected them into power? It is due to easy access to national resources.
The way political succession in many African countries is managed is very embarrassing that men and women of goodwill are now concerned globally that democracy in Africa is under threat. It is threatened by the desire of many incumbent presidents not to relinquish power peacefully and constitutionally. When they fail to actualize their selfish ambition, they fraudulently plan to alter the constitution that brought them to power. When they find it difficult to alter the constitution, the next move is to impose a presidential candidate through massive rigging. When an incumbent president cannot rig elections or find a “loyal” political ally, an attempt to impose their children or wives as successor becomes the next option.
There are rumours in the past few weeks that Mugabe was not favourably disposed to relinquishing power voluntarily. And if he does, he prefers making his wife, Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe, the next president to succeed him. What a pity? To achieve this inglorious end state, Mugabe removed his vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa from office. Mnangagwa ran for his dear life by going on exile to South Africa. Since the Zimbabwean Army headed by General Constantine Chiwenga entered the streets, Grace Mugabe is nowhere to be found. So, where is Mugabe’s wife? The take-over of government by the Khaki boys in Zimbabwe is very deceptive as Mugabe who appeared physically exhausted attended the convocation ceremony of the Zimbabwe Open University. The question many observers are asking is this: In what capacity did Mugabe attend the convocation ceremony? Did he attend as the President or as a Chancellor? Only Mugabe has answers to these questions.
The way African leaders expend energy and resources to remain perpetually in office for decades tells me that any development seen in Africa just occurred by accident. It is because leadership in most African countries are consumed by the politics of the stomach rather than a desire to use politics to solve societal problems. If this trend continues unabated, development will be an illusion in many African nations.
If public servants who were not presidents of their countries can retire, I see no reason why the president of a country cannot retire voluntarily after spending his or her term in office. Are African presidents afraid of life after presidential palace because of the fear of the unknown? At the heart of the problem of succession crises in Africa is the control of resources. That is why Africa, the second-largest and second-most populous continent in the world harbours most of the poorest people globally. In the past few decades, questions have always been asked about the quality of leaders emerging from Africa. This is of concern because there have been a lot of crises which have assumed socio-economic, environmental and humanitarian dimensions.
While Robert Mugabe is negotiating with General Constantine Chiwenga and his boys whether he should either remain in power or not, African nations must evolve ways of insulating public resources from political office holders by giving more powers to the parliament in their oversight functions. African governments should empower their people through civic education. I have realized that people do not matter in elections in most African nations because they are not really mobilized to defend their votes. Widespread poverty has made most Africans very gullible to an extent that once cups of rice, bread and sardines are given to them by politicians, they are confused. If politics is about serving people, it requires a high dose of moral values.
There is need for African countries to re-engineer political consensus on national development, bring back respect for competence in the appointment of elected and public officials instead of appointing dummies. Institutions of governments must re-establish a mechanism for supervision, discipline, transparency and accountability. I implore African leaders to find diplomatic ways of admonishing some of their colleagues, whose behaviours are observed to be unbecoming; of what is expected of any responsible leader.

MA Johnson