Recently, someone posed a question on social media that had some nerds, and the usual frivolous brigade, jumping in to respond. The post said:
plutocracy – rule by the wealthy
kleptocracy – rule by corrupt thieves
kakistocracy – rule by the worst, least qualified
But what if it’s all 3 — what’s the word for that?
One person responded as follows:
Here it is: Triummalocracy, governed by the three evils.
“Trium-“: From Latin trium, meaning “three.”
“Mal-“: From Latin malus, meaning “bad” or “evil.”
“-cracy”: From Greek kratos, meaning “power” or “rule.”
They could have been describing contemporary Zimbabwe and its wealthy, corrupt and unqualified patriarchs who have the country in a chokehold.
The struggle for the birth of something new
Since the turn of the new millennium, our country has been in a state of flux and turmoil at the level of ideas. In response to Morgan Tsvangirayi’s “Chinja Maitiro”, we had Jonathan Moyo’s “The Land is the Economy. The Economy is the Land”. Twenty-five years ago, Moyo could marshal the power of radio and television to drown our voices with the “Hondo Ye Minda” jingles. He could also hold galas and even create a music band, Pax Afro.
By the 2013 general elections, it seemed as if the only game in town was the succession issue in ZANU PF. The energy levels in civil society had gone down considerably. Most people seemed to have resigned themselves to the liberation party continuing in power. Although November 2017 answered our questions on the succession issue, the illusion of the possibility of positive change soon dissipated. The leopard had brushed off the dust on its coat and kept the spots intact.
When Ian Smith rose from the dead
As ZANU cruises in power with a compromised opposition in tow, the fear remains of the people out there. It is clear that both party and government do not have an effective strategy to spin development achievements. The ‘sanctions’ mantra has seemingly been abandoned. The economy remains in comatose with paid party voices limply cajoling established businesses to be more innovative in the face of informalisation.
For the people, the daily reality cannot be rigged: transport blues, youth unemployment, mad food prices and paltry salaries. It is against this background that some young people compare stories they have heard or read on Rhodesia and the current life in Zimbabwe. I had not seen ruling party apparatchiks and bots as rattled as the week that the Smith-ED debate raged on X. Metaphorically foaming at the mouth, one major beneficiary of the regime could only hurl his standard insult of “madununu”. This was not a fight you could take to The Herald or ZBC. That disgruntled generation was venting elsewhere.
The little matter of hegemony
But the real issue was not about Rhodesia versus Zimbabwe. It was about a big word called hegemony. You can rule people by consensus, that is, they willingly give you their vote and trust in your ability to deliver the good life for them. You can also rule by force. You use the police and the army to intimidate the populace. Whether ruling by consensus or ruling by force, nothing is guaranteed. There will always some forces that counter the hegemony. This a very simplistic interpretation of the idea of hegemony as articulated by the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci (1891 – 1937).
ZANU PF’s trump card is the liberation struggle credentials. Thus, the party cannot believe that there are people who have cut the umbilical cord to the liberation war. Instead of an exercise in introspection on what occasioned this disaffection, the ZANU PF “brains trust” believes it can insult, jeer, caricature and smear its way into maintaining hegemony.
The slow death of counter-hegemony
But ZANU PF could be in luck. There are worrying shifts in society’s capacity to organise any meaningful peaceful and legitimate resistance to the closure of democratic space as well as the pauperisation of our people. The past eight years have seen a significant degradation in the forces that can effectively counter the ruling party both at an intellectual level and organisationally.
A right-wing Pentecostalism has emerged with its prosperity gospel in which the individual is placed at the centre – not the collective – and their success is due to “blessings”. Your poverty cannot be ascribed to a system – it is a curse that has to be lifted. Attendant to this is the marginalisation of difference. Here, religion and culture are marshalled to defend the nation against “satanism” and “foreign lifestyles”. You cannot speak of LGBTQ+ rights and not be hounded. Afterall, to call another man gay is supposed to be the worst insult.
The backlash against women’s rights has been most virulent. The alpha males have emerged to uphold “our values and put women where they belong”. You would swear they were not born of a woman but miraculously appeared on earth.
When a political change is not enough
Whatever political change will happen in Zimbabwe in the future will not be enough to turn the country around if it is not accompanied by an intense and progressive cultural struggle. It is difficult to see what the site of that cultural struggle would be given the de-intellectualisation of our society. We are now caught between an intellectually fatigued ruling party and a confused, disjointed and right-wing society. We are no longer a people who engage at the level of ideas informed by theory, data, science and history. We have perfected the art of social media rituals – random posts, political posturing and clickbait.
It shall be a long road to true Uhuru.
Read more from Chris Kabwato:
Living on luck: The return of betting culture
From Marechera to Mukanya: Relevance and the high price of exile
A lesson in accountability from our mothers to our leaders
