What next for Zimbabwe, some lessons for Uganda

Ousted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. It is still not clear who will succeed him. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • NRM Richard Todwong says that the Zimbabwe situation teaches Ugandans leaders some lessons like any other change of government.
  • DP president Nobert Mao said the Zimbabwe situation teaches that we should never give up but we must keep struggling until at a certain time change will come.

After the jubilation that followed President Robert Mugabe's resignation on November 21, Zimbabweans could be returning to their ordinary lives.

Parts of the country remain desperately poor after years of economic mismanagement and corruption under Mr Mugabe's rule but the question that now lingers in the mind of every Zimbabweans is; who will fill the void left by the veteran leader?

Local people say it is not clear whether the military, whose intervention a week ago, brought about Mr Mugabe's fall, will continue to play an active and visible role in the country's political scene?

Reports from Harare, however, have indicated that the interim leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party, former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is widely expected to take over the presidency, but the proceedings by press time yesterday were yet to happen.

What happens to Mugabe?

He resigned with immediate effect on November 21, but it's unclear whether there will be an investigation into some of the allegations against him and his wife former First Lady Grace Mugabe, who is accused of usurping her husband's executive powers.

However, though it turned against him, the ruling ZANU-PF has paid tribute to Mugabe for his 40-year leadership of the party.

Mr Mugabe will be remembered for the massacres in Matabeleland in the 1980s, for the farm invasions of the 1990s and later, and for the brutal repression of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change when it seemed on course to win the 2008 presidential election.

The man who is likely to take his place, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was deeply involved in most of those crimes. However, the people of Zimbabwe, like the rest of the world, are so relieved to see Mr Mugabe go that many have forgotten this history.

Lessons for Uganda
The Deputy Secretary General of the NRM Richard Todwong says that the Zimbabwe situation teaches Ugandans leaders some lessons like any other change of government.

“It teaches us that as leaders, we need to do things in the interest of the citizens we govern because they have the power to revolt,” said Mr Todwong.

The secretary General of the Forum for Democratic Change Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi said the Zimbabwe situation teaches Ugandan leaders that they are expected to listen to their people.

"The country is older than all leaders and the Zimbabwean situation is the climax of every bad government. You can squeeze people for some time but not all the time and all governments need to follow up their promises in every nation, “said Mr Mafabi.

The President of the Democratic Party Mr Nobert Mao said the Zimbabwe situation teaches that we should never give up but we must keep struggling until at a certain time change will come.

“The people of Zimbabwe have been struggling for a long time and they never gave up, I am pleased that they achieved their missions and for us as Ugandans, we should not give up, there is light at the end of the tunnel,” said Mr Mao.

Dr Patrick Wakida, the executive director of Research World International, said the biggest lesson Uganda has learnt is that no matter how you do it as a leader, time comes when you must leave the stage for another person.

“Age is not a number; age is a factor that comes with tiredness, inability to perform, so when the country says you are tired, go because it is very dangerous to play games in a generation which does not belong to you,” said Dr Wakida.

He described the jubilation by opposition in Zimbabwe as short sightedness and urged them to re-position themselves in the transitional government and wait for freedom when they hold free and fair elections.

Mr Crispy Kaheru, the co-coordinator of Citizens’ Coalition for Democracy in Uganda [CCEDU] said the fall of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe brings hope to Ugandans who have been fighting the NRM dominance.

“A good and effective leader is not the absolute ruler who decides singly on the destiny of a nation like Mr Mugabe did but one who is a good guide of the competitions among all interests of the people,” said Mr Kaheru.

FDC presidential aspirant Gen Mugisha Muntu said although it is not clear who will end up running Zimbabwe as a president, whoever prevails will need the backing of both the military and the people.

“And as Uganda we must know that no autocrat lasts forever,” said Gen Muntu.

The UPDF spokesperson Brig Richard Karemire declined to comment and referred this reporter to the minister on foreign affairs.