THE CALAMITY OF CAREER POLITICS (THE HERALD) REASON WAFAWAROVA on THURSDAY. For a good majority of our career politicians across the political divide the indisputable mental preoccupation is to retain the maximum possible power for the longest possible time, and this is not exactly the problem, until one looks at the ways and means used to satisfy this hankering. For many of our politicians the most preferred and most effective way is to ensure that one’s authority is never contested, and the real challenge is to come up with sugar coats impressive enough to disguise the ban. It is important that there are mechanisms in place to obliterate all political dissidence, not only at state level, but also at party level. Good career politicians always surround themselves with bootlickers and yes people. We have seen how the opposition in Zimbabwe has been splintering over the last decade, and chief among the causal factors are such things as imposed leaders, silencing of voices dissent, and even emending of constitutional provisions to extend expired constitutional terms. The ruling party has its own ways of barring potential contestants from upsetting the status quo, and of late we have been reading about what appears to be outrageous regulations prescribing the requirements for one to contest for a post in the party’s Central Committee – things like one having to prove active service in the structures of the party for a minimum 20 years. Clearly this requirement is a necessity to stifle competition at the upcoming Congress. Most of our senior political figures are career politicians and if there is one career that has herculean challenges in sustaining it is politics. What many African politicians do to sustain their careers is to ensure that everyone agrees with them, or they simply believe everyone agrees with them. Once this sense of consent has been portrayed as being a matter of consensus, the task of obliterating dissent becomes a lot of easier. Those that have to be slandered into silence will be silenced in the name of the people, and those that have to be eliminated from the political scene will be eliminated in the name of the people. The MDC-T politician who put his opinions about leadership change in the party was assaulted in the name of the people, and after the assault his suspension from the party was also carried out in the name of the people. If it is not the people one good rallying point to create manufactured consent is history. There is no tool more powerful for a long serving politician than the glories of past achievements, and as the ruling party heads for its Congress at the end of the year, we have heard high sounding reminders of the glorious and gallant sacrifices made by those that took part in the illustrious liberation struggle that gave us independence. Those that aspire to contest posts held by our gallant liberators are no more than disrespectful Johnny come too late fellows with no manners and regard for the tradition of the revolution party and its sacred hierarchy. We all know that authoritarian conduct is under is under attack from the progressive sector of this world, and no politician would ever easily accept being authoritarian or totalitarian. To avoid being labeled a totalitarian, any long serving politician worthy the credit will try their best to avoid any blunt actions of open oppression or undemocratic conduct. Career politicians must avoid anonymity and security of people around them, and this is for the simple reason that people enjoying the freedom of anonymity and personal security are too independent to be controlled and mobilised for the benefit of the politician. We are not here talking about the anonymity of miscreants like the infamous Baba Jukwa, but things like the secret ballot and so on. Political parties often avoid the secret ballot to go around the problem of anonymity, and those who use anonymity to express themselves against the leadership are often targeted with reminders that everything done under the cover of privacy or darkness will somehow find its way to the ears of the high ranking leader. Recently we had one ruling party senior politician quoted by the media as having reminded a group of youths that the party had eyes effective enough to see through people’s bedrooms, and the idea was to make it clear to the youths that any dissident thoughts contrary to the interests of that particular politician were punishable by definition. For career politicians to prolong their stay there must be a semblance of stability and unity among the electorate or the people being led. It is important that there are no protests, demonstrations, unrest, questioning of legitimacy or general political dissidence. When that happens at party level you got to quickly organise your loyalists and expel the dissidents from the party so an example is set for the would-be admirers. We just saw how the MDC-T did it a few months ago, with the expelled dissidents ganging up to counter-expel their tormentors. The problem in this particular case was that the expelling was left until too late, and too much political dissidence was allowed to prevail for too long before corrective action was taken. Of course the targeted leader himself is less than sophisticated, and in that regard what happened to him was not surprising. The ruling party is expertly timeous in carrying out such expulsions, especially when the threat is viewed as encompassing a broader image of the party leadership, and a few times such expulsions have taken place, the expelled cadres have found themselves in complete isolation, and in some cases they then get recalled with unquestionable expectation for an incontrovertible loyalty, with no ifs ands and or buts. One very effective way of sustaining long service for career politicians is to surround oneself with corrupt people, or to pay a blind eye to the corrupt conduct of one’s subordinates. Heads of Ministries do it, politicians do it, and the whole culture of patronage feeds from this strategy. Corrupt people are enslaved by their own sins, and they are the easiest people to manipulate or exploit to one’s advantage. If a politician bribes or corrupts a few hoodlums, they can do wonders in terrorising political opponents, or in spreading the propaganda that says a particular politician is uncontestable, and there are always excellent reasons that can be given for this. We hear of tradition, founder entitlement, respect for elders, past sacrifices, or as they say in opposition circles, a leader is “the face of the struggle,” or any such convincing babble. A career politician must ensure that he is not subjected to the independence and freedoms of institutions of accountability, be it the wings of the political party, national audit institutions or any pressure groups. At state level career politicians have always relied on appointing loyal friends or family members to be in charge of any such accountability institutions. At party level career politicians have often relied on factionalism, and we know that factional members are driven more often by their collective power interests than they are driven by merit or quality leadership, let alone by the needs of the electorate. It is common to see factional members allocating political positions to each other ahead of elections, and thereafter concentrating on deriding and eliminating their competitors. If one desires to be a career politician they have to find a way of dealing with democratically elected competitors. By democratically elected leaders we are looking at the Aristotelian sense of the term, where the electorate purely based on merit and the majoritarian will of the people popularly elects its leaders. Leaders elected in this manner are a threat to the careers of politicians whose whole purpose in life is to irk a living from politics, with no other known qualifications or options. You do not just come onto the scene with your democratic merits and popularity to end the political careers of others. That is considered disrespectful conduct, not only to the noble principle of seniority, but also to the sacred value of tradition and history. It is important for aspiring cadres to understand that their turn will come when the turn of the elder post holder is over, or after their death, whichever comes first. Patience is the rule of the game. This is the political culture that Africa has created, and needless to say, the culture hardly goes along with the demands of genuine democracy. We have heard terms like guided democracy being thrown around, and most of the time we are told what is being guarded are the core values of an organisation. A closer look will however show that sometimes what is being guarded are personal interests of those presiding over the so-called guided democracy. One other way of sustaining career politicians is to politicise everything around. Some leaders have politicised almost everything in their constituencies, be it funerals, church gatherings, school sports, or anything that can be manipulated to keep the career politician in control of as much of people activity as possible. This is why career politicians will not usually be in favour of humanitarian work carried outside their mandate. Nobody else apart from the career politician must be seen to be good enough to spearhead humanitarian work in the constituency of the politician in question. Africa has been derailed by corruption, incompetence of leadership, civil conflicts, coups and instability over the last 60 years, and part of the reason we have had these problems is power obsession in our politicians. We have among our people this conscienceless belief that politics is a pathway to self-aggrandisement – a guaranteed highway to easy wealth. It is this belief that breeds among our people this breed of career politicians that will do anything to shut out political completion. The calamity of career politics in Africa is not limited to incumbent governing parties only. Even rebel groups fighting for freedom often divide into numerous factions purely because career leaders will not phantom competition to their posts. Our opposition political parties fragment into many fighting outfits purely because of the same factors. From the formation of FORD in Kenya in 1991 dozens of fragmented political parties have been spawned, including Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement. In Zimbabwe the MDC has been fragmenting freely into tiny movements of disgruntled and power obsessed people, and like the First Lady recently intimated, it would not be a surprise if the party will fragment into at least 20 little parties. There are career politicians by calling, and in our decrying of the bane of career politicians far be it from this writer that we demean the noble cause of the meritorious career politician, the revolutionary cadre fronted by his own electorate purely on the basis that theirs is a life calling to serve the people, not themselves. When a party with warring power centers like ZANU-PF continues under the leadership of a ninety-year old, one way to look at it is to say such a leader has survived the torrid machinations of his party because he has the respect and support of his followers. The assertion may be contestable, and that is all in order, but when one looks at the pro-people policies synonymous with the name Robert Mugabe, it can strongly be argued that the man draws support to his name more to merit than to the calamities and shenanigans earlier outlined in this essay. There is a general identity to the name Robert Mugabe that says the man is driven by the needs of his people, and even his adversaries some times agree to this, only arguing that his policies are “unsound” or “populist.” There is no doubt that President Mugabe’s opponents will disagree with the assertion, and many reasons can be outlined in support of their own positions. However the generality of career politicians in Africa has caused us more problems than good, and one hopes the situation will one day change for the better. Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome. It is homeland or death!! • REASON WAFAWAROVA is a political writer based in SYDNEY, Australia. LikeLike · · Share Tichatonga Mwanawevhu, Nick Mangwana, Mbango Sithole and 17 others like this. 4 shares Obert Mundevere Ncube I like this, let me share it and read when I get to a pc. August 1 at 8:28am · Like Teddy Beto balanced piece of writing which can only lead to more readers, great goin Reason m sharing ths as wel August 1 at 11:43am · Like Makumire Esau great piece,,,ur english waz so simple ....yu hv expressed yur concerncs in a mature manner not that goobledgook u were using back then ... August 1 at 1:52pm · Like Sheillah Maundura Rusere Balanced in deed! August 1 at 2:18pm · Like John Chingava When Reason Wafawarova critique MDC/pf he is balanced.I dont think this is a fair assessment of the gentlemans articles. On a different note,sir,I think robert makes a complete picture of the carrier politician your essay is about. Pro-people policies,yes but all meant for vested interests.The history of robert is the history of a brilliant leader that turned into a carrier politician. August 1 at 2:50pm · Edited · Unlike · 1 Soko Papin welldone br Reason.good insight August 1 at 2:51pm · Unlike · 1 Livingstone Masamba Am I reading correctly or I need to put on my spectacles. An unexpected article from mukoma Reason who has finaly decided to use reason and not emotional attachments to some rogue politicians when writing his articles. Now becareful of being lebelled a cousin to the weevil family. Wellcome to the world of objectivity when it comes to seing how things a done at the Shake Shake building. August 1 at 2:58pm · Unlike · 1 Livingstone Masamba #John_Chingava You are correct my brother, but lets just give this dude credit for seing at last that ZPF is a personal project. There is noway he can suddenly admit that MDC-T is a peoples project. let us give him some time to gradualy offload the garbage that was full in his head. August 1 at 3:03pm · Like Clarence Musona Reason for President 2018 lol. A great piece, we need leaders like you. August 1 at 3:03pm · Like · 1 Blessings Chimunyapule Well penned. It is true that the current crop of our policians our power hungry in the Order of Napoleon from George Orwells Animal Farm. It is not the interest of the people that drives them but their preoccupation is how to consolidate power. Poli...See More August 1 at 3:06pm · Unlike · 2 Hebert Komboni A reasonable argument Mr Reason it shows great political maturity August 1 at 4:07pm · Like Heya Shoko thanks homie well said August 1 at 4:25pm · Like Thuthukisa Nkatha Good analyses of politics with very simple terms and phraises thank u August 1 at 4:56pm · Like Reason Wafawarova Livingstone Masamba I hear you. But I think Zimbabweans have a very unobjective idea of objectivity. Polarisation has taught us that criticism of certain politicians is unobjective by definition, while criticising of other chosen politicians is always hailed by others as being objective. August 4 at 4:04am · Like Allan Wenyika Far be it from the writer to ruin a good arguement by seeking to justify a man doing exactly that which defines a career politician. August 4 at 4:09am · Unlike · 1 Reason Wafawarova Allan Wenyika I hear you. Indeed RGM has been a career politician from the day he abandoned the classroom for politics. But I was only looking at the ways used to sustain the career. Like I said in the beginning paragraph, career politics is not exactly the problem. The problem comes with the means used to sustain career politicians. August 4 at 4:16am · Like · 1 Allan Wenyika Would you say RGMs means of sustaining career politics are justified? August 4 at 4:22am · Like · 1 Reason Wafawarova I am ethically not allowed to say that as a writer, and I will not. What I did was to put up an argument and to indicate the strength of the counter argument. It is up to the readers to talk about justification or lack of it. That is a judgment a writer cannot prescribe. August 4 at 4:25am · Like Allan Wenyika Yet you single out RGM as a career politician, but one who has a calling to serve the people and, therefore, one whose exploits must not be demeaned or put into the same class as the rest of everyone elses. Have you not already prescribed a judgement? I see this as an attempt at justifying RGMs exploits. August 4 at 4:39am · Edited · Like · 1 Stones Makunike Reason Wafawarova your analysis is very biased. Mugabe has managed to stay in power because he created a cult of personality over him. He has also been rigging elections continuously. Zimbabwe is at the deep end because of the corrupt, authoritarian di...See More August 4 at 4:47am · Like · 3 Reason Wafawarova Allan WenyikaI only argued that his tactic to sustain his career seems to be more based on his policies than the other issues raised in the essays, and I did acknowledge that any counter arguments are strong and understandable. In that regard I did not prescribe a judgement, and I refuse to do so. August 4 at 5:14am · Edited · Like Stones Makunike What ethics are you talking about Reason Wafawarova that allow you to call out names of other politicians but leaving some? Tsvangirai you disparage him but you can not talk the same way to his fellow dictator Mugabe because of ethics that do not allow...See More August 4 at 5:14am · Like Reason Wafawarova Not even in one sentence did I mention the name Tsvangirai in that essay. The only politician named in this piece is Mugabe, nobody else. Why would it be important to mention Tsvangirai You can prove me wrong Stones Makunike. August 4 at 5:16am · Like Stones Makunike Reason Wafawarova my brother, Let us be honest, I have never ever read an article of yours in which you have questioned the long reign of Mugabe or the controversy that surrounds his election victory. But coming to Tsvangirai you have labelled him a puppet of the West (of which he is) but you are not as objective when it comes to the 90 year old dictator. August 4 at 5:38am · Like Reason Wafawarova True I have not questioned the long reign for the sake of its length. We have had no term limits in Zim ad we have paid for that foolishness. But I have questioned things like esap, multiple farm ownership, corruption, patronage and violence under Mugabes reign. August 4 at 5:51am · Like Stones Makunike Even if it is a constitutional technicality that he has abused/exploited to his advantage it does not make it politically moral or right. That long reign needs to be questioned because he already sat a bad example to those who will replace him. August 4 at 5:56am · Like Reason Wafawarova We now have constitutional limits, and we will not have to rely on Mugabes set example. August 4 at 6:02am · Like Stones Makunike But that does not garantee the term limits will continue. His successor can just amend the constitution like he did to remove the term limits August 4 at 6:05am · Like Allan Wenyika For as long as there are career politicians there will always be career writers who deliberately and conveniently ignore the evil deeds of some politicians but who will name and shame other politicians in their writing. This group of writers will, however, always deny being partisan even when their writing betrays them. August 4 at 7:21am · Like · 2 Reason Wafawarova Career writers rely on readers and not on votes. It is hard to bludgeon the reader into reading ones material. However we have been brutally bludgeoned to vote in certain ways at times. August 4 at 9:09am · Like · 1 Allan Wenyika Career writers who choose to serve career politicians do not neccessarily have to depend on their readers. Their careers can be dependent upon the success and survival of the career politicians who they serve, sometimes even out of fear. To endear them...See More August 4 at 10:08am · Like · 1 Peter Juru Well said Allen Allan Wenyika. August 4 at 4:05pm · Like · 1 Reason Wafawarova I hear you Allan Wenyika. I was talking of writers and not political activists or propagandists. August 4 at 5:02pm · Like Stones Makunike Most Zimbabwean political writers who write in the state controlled newspapers or the opposition papers are polarized along political lines. Reason Wafawarova my brother, no matter how much you might want to deny it, you are one of those subjective wri...See More August 4 at 5:11pm · Like Peter Juru True Stones Makunike. If a writers articles are published in the herald newspaper the writer is definitely a pro Mugabe writer. If articles find space in the non government newspapers they are pro opposition. All these writers could be good if they we...See More August 4 at 7:53pm · Like · 2 Reason Wafawarova I actually did a piece questioning a number of things promised in Zim Asset. August 4 at 10:36pm · Like Allan Wenyika @Reason Wafawarova, You are one gifted writer with the ability to clearly express your opinions in all your articles. I have read quite a number of your articles where you have ripped into Tsvangirai but Im yet to come across one article of yours where...See More August 5 at 12:41am · Edited · Like · 1 Peter Juru You are spot on Allan Wenyika. I have also said it before that Reason Wafawarova is a very good writer but he loves Mugabe to death. You are absolutely right that Reason can say anything about any other politician but when it comes to RGM his language ...See More August 5 at 1:10am · Like · 1 Reason Wafawarova I leave it to readers and friends like Peter Juru to judge my work. That is what the art and career of writing is all about. However I do not believe that the glories and shortcomings of Mugabe and Tsvangirai come in equal measure, and as such I do not...See More August 5 at 6:22am · Like Allan Wenyika You are skirting the central import of my comment. Granted MT and RGM are worlds apart, but is RGM so clean that he should escape critism from your desk? Or shall we continue to speculate that your pen only serves to advance Mugabes cause? August 5 at 6:31am · Like · 1 Reason Wafawarova Not at all. I have directly criticised Mugabe on his embracing of ESAP, and as SRC President at GTC I organised demonstrations against ESAP, as a Union leadership member at UZ I was representing students in the UZ Council then chaired by Gono and we go...See More August 5 at 6:40am · Like · 1 Allan Wenyika I read only two of the articles you mentioned, the one on corruption and the other one on Hungwe. In both articles, just as I suppose you did in the ones I did not read, you do critisise Zanu pf as a party but never the person of RGM. As one of your re...See More August 5 at 7:08am · Like Reason Wafawarova How do you sanction a government of a country without sanctioning the country itself? How do you criticise a party so corrupt like ZANU-PF without criticising the leader of such a corrupt party. How do you say the Wafawarovas are murderers without impl...See More August 5 at 7:13am · Like · 1 Peter Juru Reason you still have not referred us to an article you criticised Mugabe. You certainly have criticised zanupf. Mugabe himself also criticises zanupf. I ask again my friend, show me an article which you have written in criticism of RGM? Obviously the...See More August 5 at 3:59pm · Like · 2
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:27:01 +0000
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