‘Professors of Zimbabwean Opposition Politics’- The Ngwenya 2018 Narrative

I was a rookie activist plying the half-lit corridors of Harvest House, early 2000s on special official party assignments. Probably then, contemporary luminaries of MDCT politics – the Gutus, Chamisas and Mwonzoras of modern-day democratisation were languishing at some dingy tertiary institutions. I eventually got afflicted with a nagging feeling that academics were habitually resented in those trenches. One could sense an imaginary, yet palpable ‘them and us’ fissure between A-ntellectuals and F-graders. There was always this pervasive ‘we are better grassroots activists than you’ culture waved at bookworms, probably gleaned off a misplaced notion that labour activists were more grounded in popular resistance than us because of their ‘workplace’ experience. In retrospective, I deduce that it is the stage at which Zimbabweans lost an incredible opportunity to harness strategic analysis and combine it with grit to destroy ZANU.PF political hegemony – that moment when the book generation permanently ceded the struggle to the brick generation.
Even up to today, I still get irritated when I hear sensible people say the trajectory of modern-day liberation was ‘reversed by educated men’ like Welshman Ncube, Arthur Mutambara, Simba Makoni and so forth. It is as if Africa has never had successful professors at the helm of governing political parties. As late as 2009, we had John Atta Mills running Ghana as the head of National Democratic Congress which boasted of many achievements. Alpha Condé of Guinea, an alma mater of Pantheon-Sorborn University and head of the Rally of the Guinean People was even re-elected in 2015. In the late 1970s, Fort Hare alumni Yusuf Kironde Lule took control of Uganda, reminding me of the leadership potential in latter day professors of Zimbabwean politics like Brian Raftopolous, Henry Dzinotyiwei, Eldred Masunungure and the late Masipula Sithole.
In fact, if one scavenges deeper into the struggle against colonialism in the 1960s, Rhodesian political activism was replete with academics and moreover, the University of Rhodesia itself offloaded a large stock of freedom fighters who nurtured ideological activism in the liberation camps. It was from this human capital that international universities siphoned raw talent, ultimately offloading it to the first Zimbabwean government in1980. And so today, when the opposition movement seems to be faltering, struggling even to secure consensus around coalition leadership, I cannot understand the seething anger against people like Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube and Simba Makoni. I still contend it is ridiculously senseless to accuse these enthusiastic academics of ‘dividing’ the votes and being devoid of charismatic populism necessary enough to depose Robert Mugabe. Unless they are given a chance to lead the coalition, we will never have another Herbert Chitepo in this struggle. This opinion piece is not about denigrating people of diminished intellectual stature, no. I am only alluding to a simple fact that just because someone is ‘too educated’ does not mean they cannot head the opposition coalition. Merely dismissing them on a flimsy basis of, as in Welshman Ncube, Arthur Mutambara and Simba Makoni’s cases, ‘having split opposition votes’ at one time or another is world class naivety.
We must not lose out on quality leadership on the basis of faked history and paranoiac phobia. Zimbabwe and its citizens are faced with intractable problems, much too deep. Hounding out academics and educated cadres from the movement on the basis of unfounded accusations is retrogressive to the struggle. The struggle needs depth, strategic analysis, intellectual finesse and sophistication, because we are dealing with a cunning political dragon called ZANU.PF. I have listened with despair and awe to cadres claiming that educated people are reluctant to take up positions in structures because they ‘hate getting their hands dirty’. A struggle can only thrive when its capillaries are deep in the marrow of middle income citizenry. Stone throwers and rubble rousers are necessary but not enough to match the demands of modern day scientific political combat. Yes, we are supposed to be in the trenches in rural areas and factory floors. However, someone has to contextualise the struggle from a scientific perspective before passing on the implementation baton to the foot soldiers.
ZANU.PF employs Nikkuv-type rocket scientists to rig elections. They benefit from diabolical think tanking and rogue intellectuals. If we have to match them symbol for symbol, we need to attract the Ncubes, Mutambaras, Raftopolouses, Ruhanyas, Zamchiyas, Kagoros, Mthulis, Masunungures. Nkosanas and so forth high in coalition leadership ranks. Such practices of hounding out academics were also prevalent in private and public companies in the 1980s and 1990s, as a result these citizens migrated to countries were critical skills receive premium attention and reward. Look at the state of our industry and economy today. Simplistic dismissal of professors as not being charismatic or populist enough to lead the coalition is tacit admission that Barrack Obama was not good enough as president of one of the greatest civilisations on this planet. Do not get me wrong: political professorial accolades do not mean ‘automatic’ qualification for coalition leadership. Competency, potential, experience and persuasive ability are still critical – because without these, it is impossible to prevail over ZANU.PF. My point is that from the current crop of political professors we have in Zimbabwe and abroad, we have an opportunity to exploit and benefit from their A-ntellectual skills. By Rejoice Ngwenya

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