More than two decades ago, a group of documentary filmmakers, and administrators like me, gathered at a strange estate-cum-lodge called Midgaard, just outside Windhoek. We were at this place as part of an annual documentary screening and discussion forum. At first glance, this was the ideal setting for filmmakers wanting to reflect on their craft.
On the very first day, a group of us decided to walk into the vast, flat expanse of white sand that seemed to stretch to the ends of the earth. One filmmaker – a tall and imposing man – took hold of a map and bellowed that we should follow him. We did. Hours later we were tired and thirsty. Clouds had gathered from nowhere and bolts of lightning and thunder had us shaking with fear.
“We are lost,” said the self-designated leader. We looked at each other, wondering what we should do next. A few started sobbing. Some of us had to pretend to be brave while, inside, we were quaking.
Unlike Zimbabwe and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), something intervened to rescue us. No, it was not what you called in drama deus ex machina – an unlikely happening that brings a happy ending. The game rangers of Midgaard Lodge realised we were late and decided to track us down. Over the three trips, we were all safely deposited at the lodge where we fortified ourselves with firewater and began to revise history – telling tales of our bravery. Ah, people.
Waiting for Canaan: Political leadership
Waiting for Godot is a famous play by the late Irish writer, Samuel Beckett. The two main characters, Estragon and Vladimir, are by the roadside waiting for someone called Godot who never arrives. They do not even know what Godot looks like.
It seems Zimbabweans – except for those happy with the status quo – are waiting for a leader who will lead the country to the mythical Canaan. If your fortunes are tied to the current kleptocracy, then you have arrived, despite the constant looking over your shoulder. The jostling at the feeding trough means that there is very little focus on rebuilding the institutions of democracy. The person matters more, as if their political style and their political decisions will be sufficient to change the trajectory of the country’s fortunes. The types vying for power are worth characterising.
The Godfather figure
A recent X Space hosted by Uganda’s Robert Kabushenga and featuring his compatriot, publisher and editor Andrew Mwenda, was especially revealing. Mwenda had written an article on the systemic causes behind the collapse of a garbage-filling dump in Kampala, in which dozens were killed:
“The money making and vote buying culture that has engulfed our country has progressively eliminated public spirited individuals from public life. It has led to the success of crooks seeking personal gain. This corrosion of the public ethic is rooted in the philosophy that governs our economics and has now captured our politics.”
You could swear Mwenda was talking about a certain teapot-shaped country. Yoweri Museveni’s thieving octopus has its tentacles in everything – you can call it organic stealing. The system now works perfectly. Zimbabwe is nearly there – just a bit more effort and the stealing will be decentralised. Mobutu’s Zaire perfected this into an art form. If Mobutu was travelling overseas and ordered US$3 million from the treasury, every key person in the ladder added their own “mark-up” to the requested funds. The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains dysfunctional from that culture, which ended up translating into strongmen building their own militias to defend their looting of resources, especially minerals.
Time for a religious leader?
Zimbabweans are a prayerful people. God bless them. They are, however, very right-wing in their Christianity. Theirs is a Pentecostalism that preaches prosperity and tells us that poverty is an intergenerational curse; blessings are revealed in your improved circumstances. The individualism fits neatly with an atomised people who worship at the altar of money. No wonder the Papa Prophets are thriving.
I once gave a lift to two people from Mutare to Harare. They were on their way to prepare for some “crossover” New Year’s Eve event at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. The key preparation was putting together contributions from the Zimbabwe branch towards replacing their international prophet’s ageing private jet with a new one. So here they were, struggling to make ends meet but their leader needed to live ostentatiously.
A zealot arising out of this lot is likely to declare Zimbabwe a Christian nation and they will muster enough votes in parliament to change the constitution with drastic consequences for individual rights.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Christianity had radical tendencies, especially in Latin America where Catholic priests declared:
The option for the poor is simply the idea that, as reflected in canon law, “The Christian faithful are also obliged to promote social justice and mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor.” It indicates an obligation, on the part of those who would call themselves Christian, first and foremost to care for the poor and vulnerable.
They did not see poverty as a demonic condition but rather a result of a history of oppression.
A socially accountable leader: Councillor Crispen Dube
In October 2022, death robbed Dangamvura of the best councillor we had ever had. Crispen Dube was our councillor in Ward 9. Whatever your political affiliation, you knew that Councillor Dube was there for every family in the ward. He was visible. He was empathetic. He listened to issues and took these up at Council level.
Funeral in your family? He would appear with firewood, water and words of encouragement. His own workers would fill up potholes in our area. Before he won the potable water battle, he distributed plastic water buckets to each family in his ward.
Councillor Dube did not ask his constituents to attend some school of ideology. He did not make them ululate as water ran in the pipes again after a decade. He was simply an ethical leader – leading from the front.
We need more of such.
READ MORE FROM CHRIS KABWATO
In search of the donkey’s horns
‘Muchasvinura’: Zimbabwe’s keyboard warriors and the politics of narcissism
