The Tribal Aspect In Zimbabwe’s Succession Politics.

“Nulla fides regni sociis omnisque potestas; impatiens consortis erit” - Marcus Annaeus Lucanus. [“There is no friendship between those associated in power; he who rules will always be impatient of an associate”].

The Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Comrade Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.

Realities in the Post-Colonial African State have scant regard for the anthropologist's comfort. Just when my project of mapping all the tribes in Zimbabwe and assigning them their true interests was nearing completion, new tribes have just emerged there. In staying true to the anthropological spirit, I cannot, as yet, give them definitive names or descriptions since much further study is required. I cannot, as yet, enumerate them though I have observed two and can infer from these that other new tribes have also come into existence. I cannot, as yet either, say whether the two new tribes I have observed are mutually exclusive or not. 

But to understand alright what I mean by new tribes, we have to revisit what one respected intellectual observed about "tribes" in the 21st Century in, of all places, Washington DC. He observed that politics in the United States's seat of power followed the same dynamics followed by tribal politics in the most primitive stages of human history. Whatever new forms of affiliation we now have - guilds, ideology, similar pastimes - have replaced tribes as the new "tribes" in modernity. Wall Street is a tribe. 

The two new tribes that have emerged in Zimbabwe's succession politics thus are what we can provisionally call the "Corrupt Tribe" and the "Security Tribe." The "Corrupt Tribe" prefers the current rot to persist as it has guaranteed them a seat at the table that they couldn't possibly reach through merit. The "Security Tribe," on the other hand, want gradual change that takes into account national values and the realities of the globalised world. I surmise that there must be a "Human Rights Tribe," "Business Tribe," "Law Tribe" etc but I suspect, for now, that these other tribes can find their full expression in one of the two main tribes I have sketched out above. 

Why I Ran In 2016?

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people" - Chinese Proverb.

For all my study of Greek political thought, I couldn’t tell you who predates the other, Sophocles or Aristotle? I only mention this because the point I want to rely on in this blog entry, was made by both authors, yet I cannot decide who was reaffirming the other. Sophocles said call no man happy until he is dead, while Aristotle went even further and said; even if a man lives an excellent and happy life, we cannot call him happy either if his offspring fall into ruin after his death.

This tells me that it is not advisable for any mortal to claim to have the right formula for an excellent life. So, although what I am doing this 2016 is inspired by my own childhood experiences, I know it is only one of the possible pathways to excelling in life. I do not claim to be living the happiest possible life either or, even, to be in the vicinity of my goals in life. What I do claim, instead, is that I am satisficing, by which I mean I am heading in the general direction of those goals. 

What started me off in the general direction of my goals is that, growing up in rural Zimbabwe, my Grandfather had a thick volume Who’s Who among his very few books. Reading what other people had achieved must have sowed the idea in my mind to emulate their pathways. It is this start in life, I wish for every one of my rural countrymen. 

Now, the circuitous introduction I have put up above is only meant to support one idea and one idea only: access to books and knowledge must make for a happier life than living in ignorance. It is with this idea in mind that I have decided to make all my Marathons and Half Marathons in 2016 to be in aid of raising money to send books to rural areas in Zimbabwe. 

My Grandfather - John Kanhutu. Later, I will tell you about the social compact he had with President Mugabe and, my place in that compact.

Applying "Swarm Theory" To Zimbabwe's Re-Development Agenda

This concept above by Ben Zweibelson for the Canadian Military Journal (CMJ) illustrates how a traditional hierarchical organisation works. For our purposes, development projects should be done at the tactical level without necessarily being directed from the operational or strategic levels.  

The dimensions and implications of "Swarm Theory" are elegantly explained in this article here, and could easily be applied to Zimbabwe's re-development agenda - provided there are sufficient dedicated adherents. I have taken the tenets of Swarm Theory to mean, for what I have in mind, Zimbabweans using their talents and expertise to develop their rural areas relying neither on foreign sponsored NGOs nor State funds/approval. There are excellent reasons for this approach which I will list in later instalments when I come round to explaining the feasible prospective projects. For now I must list the hurdles this course of action must encounter.

Swarm Theory, for all its elegance and promise, must falter on the differences observed by Thomas Hobbes as to why the selfless cooperation that occurs in the animal kingdom cannot be replicated in human affairs. He noted; "Some man may perhaps desire to know, why mankind cannot do the same (Swarm behaviour). To which I answer, first, that men are continually in competition for honour and dignity, which these creatures are not; and consequently amongst men there ariseth on that ground envy and hatred... Secondly, that amongst these creatures, the common good differeth not from the private, and being by nature inclined to their private, they procure thereby the common benefit. But man, whose joy consisteth in comparing himself with other men, can relish nothing but what is eminent. Thirdly, that these creatures, having not (as man) the use of reason, do not see, nor think they see any fault, in the administration of their common business: whereas amongst men, there are very many, that think themselves wiser, and abler to govern the public, better than the rest; and these strive to reform and innovate, one this way, another that way; and thereby bring it into distraction."