Printer-friendly versionSend by emailPDF version

Zimbabwe will be a better country in the not far distant future, if the country’s politicians have access to papers with the same level of indepth, balanced analysis as Mary Ndlovu’s , writes Proudly Zimbabwean.

I think Mary Ndlovu's analysis in the article Tsvangirai’s terrifying gamble has depth and she should keep up such balanced analysis. If we get three to five papers carrying out such level of analysis, our politicians will be guided properly and Zimbabwe will be a better country in the not far distant future.

There are no easy solutions to the Zimbabwean complex problem. What we need is to be less emotional and accept some compromises no matter which side of the political divide one belongs to. I believe we have a generational problem in which 'same age boys' do not respect each other. I mean the generation that was old enough (and young enough) to hold a gun during the liberation struggle. This generation has too many camps, trained in the Russian way of doing things under the Soviet Union, trained in Chinese way of doing things, trained in the British way under many commonwealth scholarships, trained in the Rhodesian way under various programmes of counter insurgency etc.

These camps do not seem to see eye to eye, and hence the lack of consensus on leadership change even in Zanu PF. The fact that Tsvangirai belongs to that generation complicates things. More so that some of his key leaders belong to one or more of the camps I have put forward. Do you think Dumi, Solo, Ema, Mogi, Simba, Pat, Jonzo, Giles, Paul etc (all from this generation belonging to different camps) will sit down and agree who should take over the running of our country from our aged leader? If these guys were able to do so, do you think Mugabe would refuse to call it a day? If you research the doctrines, rivalry etc of the regimes that trained these camps during the period of the liberation struggle you will understand what I mean.

As Zimbabweans we need patience to manage this generation. Mugabe may be a problem (for failing to let go of leadership), but his generation was not a problem. I think these are some of the issues that need investigation, so as for us to be able to understand some of the major causes of our current situation, and perhaps offer us a way out of the problem.

The young generation of leaders such as Tendai Biti, Authur Mutambara, Nelson Chamisa and the newly elected Zanu PF youth league should put the nation first and not be swallowed by the rivalry of the older generation that goes beyond our current problems back to an unfinished battle from the liberation struggle. They should not support their political parties blindly at the expense of the nation. They too may become a lost generation, a generation that is made to fight amongst themselves by their leaders and sponsors, and ending up confused on what is right for their country.

Why are these young leaders failing to build consensus on the evil of violence during elections and the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe by the western countries? If they are not careful, they will be like the lost generation I have mentioned, not knowing what is good for their country. They should sit down and look at all sections of ZIDERA and see if they are all good for Zimbabwe. Also they should sit down and look at the evidence of violence during elections and see if it is good for Zimbabwe.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.