I believe many people in Botswana long ago got sick and tired of the goings-on in Zimbabwe. To Batswana (I really do not like that word), or should I say, to the citizens of Botswana (Oh?), Zimbabwe was a nation they admired and actually looked up to. But things changed and the people of Botswana find it difficult to separate the evil of Robert Mugabe from the nation called Zimbabwe. People of Botswana, educated or otherwise, have the unforgivable tendency of believing that Mugabe made Zimbabwe and is there for the common person.
I am tired of explaining the obvious contradiction but all they need to do is to be in Zimbabwe and decide for themselves, not as tourists but as residents. They must be aware that, if they become Zimbabwean, they cannot keep any of their money outside Zimbabwe. They must also be aware that dual citizenship is not guaranteed. So many basic things that the people of Botswana take for granted are not available to their Zimbabwean counterparts. Above all, they must forget about writing letters to the editor and hope that their views criticizing the government or the dear leader would be published or go without punishment. What will be published is their disappearance or the loss of their property. I believe that the people of Botswana are getting exceedingly worried now because while they praised Mugabe and chided Ian Khama for supporting opposing leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the people of Botswana are now getting more and more apprehensive about Mugabe at the same time they are worrying about their own president.
Welcome to the club, Botswana! When I was at my home village of Dukwi Refugee Camp, I was surrounded by DR Congolese who were victimized for having been the late Papa Kabila (not Baby Kabila) loyalists. They thought the world of Mugabe and I was in the camp because I knew that Mugabe is a devil who tried to kill me. It was a situation where both devils, Mugabe and Papa Kabila, were causing friction among groups of refugees who had run away from both men but for clashing reasons. But that is not my greatest worry; Zimbabweans are resilient enough. My worry lies with the people of Botswana because, with their peace loving demeanor and shying away from confrontations, the people of Botswana are not cut to be political or economic refugees in any country. Like they say, every big river starts with a drop.
There is already a political refugee from Botswana in South Africa. Botswana must not create any situation that propels even one of its citizens to become a refugee in any other country. The people of Botswana must understand that opposing their own leader who is behaving badly is not the same as praising a foreign leader who is behaving worse and whose policies do not affect them. I fear that the people of Botswana are now in the same trap that Zimbabweans are caught in. First came the accolades from both within and outside. Then, well, all hell broke loose, people disappearing, unexplained road accidents, disputed election results, members of the opposition suddenly becoming enemies, defections and state media being used against citizens who pay for the running of that media. It is not a laughing matter; this is serious stuff because we see dead bodies. My heart bleeds for Zimbabwe. The country has gone through so much and the people have suffered for so long yet the misery is getting worse by the day. I am not exaggerating to say that Zimbabweans were silently hopeful that Mugabe’s days were numbered by heaven’s gatekeeper.
The wily old fox is well too aware of the uncompromising stance of nature and, out of nowhere, his young wife has burst onto the political scene. I warned Zimbabweans that Grace Mugabe’s move to take over the leadership of the ruling party’s women’s league was just a political ‘meat tenderizer’ for bigger bites coming. Grace Mugabe is on a country-wide whirlwind tour and she is sending shivers down the spines of all the idiots who had surrounded Mugabe before Grace was even born. She is breathing fire and threatening people if things are not done in a certain way. Over the weekend, some people walked out of a stadium where she was addressing a rally.
They complained that they had been forced to attend yet all they heard were threats and insults against political opponents much like her husband’s speeches. “We started moving out of the stadium because she was now attacking people as well as denouncing the opposition when we thought she was going to talk of unemployment and ways of improving our tattered economy,” said one Atinos Mutasa, who attended the rally in Masvingo. “We had waited for a long time to listen to her address and when she stood up we thought she was going to tackle the fundamentals of our ailing economy but to our surprise she just behaved like her husband who is known for attacking personalities instead of coming up with ways of fixing our economy.” That is the Mugabe trademark seen on the international stage as recently as the UN General Assembly a few weeks ago. Grace now says she is Mugabe’s chief political adviser and has wondered aloud why she could not rise to a leadership above the presidency of the Women’s League. Indeed, some bootlickers have already started chanting her name for the presidency. She has threatened “to dump” Mugabe’s closest advisers and that statement alone has sent shivers down the spines of the murderous clique that has been smooching off Mugabe for decades. Last week, Grace complained about the economic situation of the nation; not for the nation but for herself. “I manufacture yoghurt but no one buys it,” Grace Mugabe said last Wednesday in Harare.
“You can’t even find a person who can buy a packet of milk.” The heart of the matter is if our politicians, like Emerson Mnangagwa, Joyce Mujuru Oppa Muchinguri and others, were true to themselves, if they were true to Zimbabwe for which they presumably suffered so much, they would have refused to let the country slide into the mess that it has descended into with gold-diggers like Grace literally shitting all over the beautiful country that the world knows as a beautiful nation. Zimbabwe cannot withstand the installation of a destructive dynasty with “Gucci Grace” as the matriarch. To everything is an end. The country does not deserve this type of uncleaned toilet treatment. The country belongs to a proud, hard-working people who have suffered as much as they have done because of their aversion to violence. Whatever happens in the end, the fact remains that those who have plundered and stolen from Zimbabwe will one day account for their behavior and will face severe punishment for using national resources to perpetrate the denial of human rights and the continuation of thieving. It is unfortunate that in instances where other families cry and complain of having been wronged, other families are celebrating and rejoicing. Such is the case in Zimbabwe and across the world. It is sad that whenever someone is happy, laughing and enjoying themselves, someone is pushed into misery by the joy being experienced by others. “You would see me quiet, a young girl, what did you think I was doing? I was learning,” Grace Mugabe said on Thursday. “So what is shocking you today?
You made me what I am, I was copying from you. You are not supposed to be shocked, I am seeing a higher post.” Zimbabweans are looking forward to the end of misery with Mugabe’s political demise, whether natural or self-inflicted. The people of Zimbabwe should not be expected to carry on their shoulders filthy trash like Grace Mugabe who has done so much to bring the nation down by proudly prostituting the decency of a nation. And Botswana thinks it has problems?
