Why Robert Mugabe?

Woke up to the news of old man Bob climbing over the great ruins of Zimbabwe, Swimming across the great falls and trekked across the horn of Africa to Addis Ababa demanding to be elevated to the highest office in the continent. The irate angry and grumpy Bob walked in the gallery devoid of protocol and pageantry addressing his fellow leaders. Mr. Bob exalted his contemporaries there present in the gallery. He reminded them of his sacrifices and endorsement of their excesses and gross abuses of the continent's agenda. He further asserted that he has voted for Ghadaffi, Mobutou, Arab Moi, and other controversial characters in the African narrative and that his days are numbered and he wants them to give Caesar whats due to Caesar irrespective of their feelings towards.

 I want to cut some slack for old man Bob but I find it morally ireprehensible to excuse him for his excesses. The people who voted him to that high office are supposedly representing the views and aspiration of the common man in the continent. There is a disconnect between the governed and the elected. The elected are proxies who should advocate for the will of the electorate. My views on old man Bob are mixed some rational and others residing on my emotional state. Does he deserve to be at the helm of the continent's governance apparatus? My answer is a definite NO because he will polarize the space and create a wedge between our Western collaborators and the interest of the continent. Leadership should be encompassing and exemplary and President Robert Mugabe lacks the pedigree and credentials to. No disrespect to my favorite freedom fighter but he has outlived his usefulness in the service of his people and the continent at large. AU 2015 needs leadership that dare to dream and think beyond the horizon of the current African predicament. My faith on this continental body has faded further into oblivion because business as usual is still the other of business in Addis. We got a long way to go unless we have benchmarks and expectation on our leaders.

Africa is truly what the critics called it – “ A zone of indifference”. There is no universality with regards to mainstream thought and ideology. The same Africans who blow the trumpet of good governance and probity are the same people who will turn around and emotionally endorse the election of old man Bob as the Chair of the African Union. We can’t have our cake and eat therefore we need to call a spade a spade. The objectives of this continental body has wallowed due to the indifference of our leaders and their personal ambition and agendas. We the African electorate cannot accept a continental body that doesn’t take a queue  from its masters. Mugabe is not only a relic of the past,  but has tainted his legacy by over staying his welcome. Yes he is a true son of Africa and I appreciated his valor and sacrifice. He has been tested as a leader and his emotional under tones has gotten the best of him and the once revered Bob became the next guy. Power is latent and as the old proverbial African idiom states " leave the stage when the ovation is high" has become elusive in African leadership. Old man Bob has no one to blame but himself and yes I am a big fan of him but I will also be the first to call out his excesses and given his state and age, he has no business orchestrating the affairs of the continent by being at the helm. He can take an advisory role and a lot can be learned from him. Succession planning is not one thing the African is good at. Besides, Robert Mugabe is what's right with Africa and Africa is what's wrong with Mugabe. We create personalities who consume us. The likes of Mugabe have no place in modern Africa. I appreciate his efforts in Zimbabwe's quest for self determination and subsequent independence but he is everything wrong with what the continent aspires for. The leadership we yearn for  in the continent cannot be spearheaded by him for his world view is convoluted and misplaced. Maximum respect to Comrade Bob and shame on President Mugabe a tough dichotomy but that's what it is. I just can't fathom how sane men with Africa's interest at heart elected an enigma like Bob to lead us for a better Africa. This is a big fat joke because Bob is a historic relic with a resistant hangover.