Champion President’s legacy, ensure continuity of ideas

celebrations will continue, inspired and sustained by his lofty achievements. 
Friends and foe agree that he is an extraordinary man and that he has changed the face of the world through his revolutionary zeal and knowledge of what the world should be like.
He has consistently and fearlessly denounced the continued subjugation of Africans by their erstwhile oppressors and challenged oppressed people throughout the world to defy the might of the West and claim their rightful inheritance.
We draw many lessons from him. First and foremost we learn that we can choose to lead a consistent life and make a huge impact in our generation. Consistency comes from principles that one commits oneself to and is prepared to die defending them.
President Mugabe towers above all African leaders in this regard.
Recent events on the African continent, particularly in Libya where Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown with the apparent complicity of some African leaders, point to a serous deficit of principled leadership. What we find easily now are leaders who say one thing today and another tomorrow. They don’t stand for anything worth writing about.
President Mugabe’s life is a life of courage. The rise of African nationalism required courage, as the crop of these leaders dared to challenge white dictatorship. Many did rise to fight colonialism and but few stayed the distance.
And for President Mugabe to be still saying the same things that he was saying in the days of Kwame Nkrumah is a remarkable mark of courage and consistency. Today, his is a lone voice on the African continent, hence his recent sharp rebuke of today’s African leaders.
He poured out his heart during interviews with our sister paper The Sunday Mail and with ZBC radio and television, departing from his usual reluctance to publicly criticise other African leaders. After the last AU summit, which was a damp squib, he appears convinced that Africa is losing grip and as one of the elder statesmen he needs to reprimand his colleagues.
“Not only have they become cowards, but have become sellouts of our own people. Betraying, betraying the nations of Africa. That’s that AU thing. They just think of money, money, money. Material things,” lamented the President.
Throughout his life he has refused to be inferior to any other human being. Hence he finds it strange that other African leaders are worshipping Western leaders. “You go and kneel before Sarkozy, you go and kneel before David Cameron, kneel before Obama and say yes we shall do all you want us to do . . . and when you are kneeling you are making your nation kneel before these young imperialists.”
Servant leadership has distinguished his service to his people. He has stayed true to the objectives of the liberation struggle. The land had to go back to the people and it has done so at the expense of making him an eternal enemy of the Western powers.
Now economic empowerment is underway as mines cede shares to locals and give back to the communities by way of the community share ownership programme. The other sectors of the economy are all set for a radical shift in ownership as the minimum 51 percent indigenous ownership is implemented.
His legacy is secure. When the present flirtation with transient and extraneous issues like democracy and human rights ends, it is the permanent interests and values of Zimbabwe that will endure and vindicate him.
Privately a lot of African leaders, including some of the opposition leaders in Zimbabwe, agree with the values that the President stands for but they lack the courage to publicly declare them. There is fear of being ostracised by the West. They will not even have the courage to call a spade a spade. They will call sanctions restrictive measures and not what they really are — an evil economic embargo.
But there is still hope. A new breed of young leaders is emerging that will take up the values that are embodied by President Mugabe and run with them. Sooner or later there is going to an awakening of Africa as the agenda of the West becomes clearer and is rejected.
The spirit of the 21st February Movement is to instill the attributes that are in President Mugabe in the next generation of leaders. Perhaps the weakness of the movement is that it tends to lie dormant for most of the year, only coming alive at the beginning of each year as we move towards the President’s birthday celebrations. What is needed now is to transform it into a real movement that champions the President’s legacy and guarantees continuity of ideas and principles. President Mugabe’s opponents can never have an enduring legacy, because they are wearing borrowed robes.
In him, Zimbabweans see a pillar and symbol of resistance. They feel safe under his leadership. Perhaps a sharp indictment on the entire leadership of the country is that there is that worry that the next leader will reverse the gains of independence and will not have the revolutionary stamina of President Mugabe.
So even at 88 years old, he remains the most trusted leader the country has, hence the decision by Zanu-PF that he should be their candidate in the next elections.
We congratulate him for his achievements, which are also our achievements as a nation and wish him many more years.