“Zimbabwe After The Robert Mugabe Era”

“If snakes didn’t bite, they would be used to tie firewood” - Cameroonian Proverb.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

by Kudakwashe Kanhutu

Against my better judgement, I attended the lecture of the above title at the School of Oriental and African Studies on 19th February 2018. I was in the area anyway, doing other things, so thankfully, I didn’t go out of my way too much. I am afraid this was an opinionated discussion not worthy of academia. I will not, like Plutarch before me (The Malice of Herotodus), go into a point by point refutation of all the false premises that were raised in this lecture. Instead, I will only say something about the tone of the whole event. The tone, besides being non-academic, was pessimistic, but what pessimists do not realise is this: they actually wish for the things they propagate. To the extent that, if they had the means, they would midwife the scenarios they envision.

But, fortunately, as the Shona saying goes: “Kuhukura kwembwa hakutadzise Nzou kufamba” (“the barking of dogs does not prevent elephants from travelling along their paths”), the practitioner does not have the luxury of the armchair-know-it-all, he must act whatever the odds. Even more fortunately, if you were to read what these so called experts who led the discussions yesterday wrote, prior to the current Zimbabwean government taking over, you will find that they have always been off the mark. Theory has its limits. It's at that limit that the genius practitioner takes off and thrives.

Arriving at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.