The Sunday Mail
President Mugabe’s slip at Harare International Airport last week must surely be a gift from God.
This month, the man turns 91 years old and at that age, falling down — as with a young child — can result in not only embarrassment, but also serious injury.
But President Mugabe showed that he is mentally agile by having the reflexes to break that fall, and that he is physically fit by walking away totally unscathed.
Anyone claiming that he is infirm and incapable of ruling because he slipped, broke a fall and walked away, all at age 91, can only be from that lunatic fringe of society that having failed to depose him via the ballot box now clutches at the most fantastical of straws.
This incident proved why Zimbabweans vote for him consistently: he is as mentally alert and physically capable as he has ever been.
Any suggestion otherwise can only come from people who are as thick as elephant manure and evidently far less useful. For 15 years these people have been chanting themselves hoarse that “Mugabe must go”.
Their ugly noises reached their loudest in 2013, towards the end of the days of the inclusive Government.
They harped on about President Mugabe’s age, claiming that he was in decline and thus could not be entrusted to lead Zimbabweans for another five years.
Zimbabweans, we were told, should instead repose their trust in a man whose only — and very lacklustre — tenure in national political office came via appointment by President Mugabe.
And what has happened since then?
Well, in July 2013 he won a crushing, landslide electoral victory when the people of Zimbabwe spoke in a resoundingly clear tone that the only place that “Mugabe must go” is to State House.
In August 2013, the leadership of Sadc decided that they, too, wanted President Mugabe’s guidance, and made him their deputy chair.
In January 2014, the leadership of the African Union said it would not be left behind and decided they wanted President Mugabe to be their First Deputy Chair.
In August 2014, the leadership of Sadc elevated him to be their Chair.
In January 2015, the leadership of the African Union unanimously elected him to Chair the continental body.
At the same time, implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation is being accelerated, sanctions are slowly but surely (and very grudgingly) being lifted, foreign investors are flowing back into the country and a sense of united purpose is growing among Zimbabweans who want to focus on developing their nation.
Surely this cannot be the anatomy of a leader in decline!
At that AU Summit, we know that President Mugabe at times worked right up to 5am while the supposedly young and able dullards of the lunatic fringe slumbered and dreamt of regime change.
Any journalist with half an idea of what the job entails can easily call the AU staff and confirm the remarkable work our President was doing in Addis Ababa.
Surely, an incapable leader does not work until 5am!
And on returning he slips and breaks his fall (we understand that some within the lunatic fringe of the private media don’t even understand what this term means!)
Only the wilfully dull would think that things are anything but looking up for President Mugabe and Zimbabwe.
It takes a dunce to even suggest that this is the time for President Mugabe to step away from the scene.
The people of Zimbabwe, the people of Sadc and the people of Africa have been unequivocal about this.
The nature of the challenge before us all as Zimbabweans is such that all effort must be directed towards socio-economic transformation, not this claptrap of resigning because of a little slip that the lunatic fringe would want to dwell on.
Thankfully, President Mugabe and progressive Zimbabweans — who constitute the majority of this land of ours — are not sidetracked by the ravings of the lunatic fringe.
Our people should be seized with the important business of getting Zimbabwe out of the economic morass that we find ourselves in due to illegal Western sanctions, corruption and inertia.
We cannot, at any cost, afford to engage ourselves in the self-indulgent pursuits of the lunatic fringe when so much work is before us.
EDITORIAL COMMENT: The anatomy of a man in decline
The Sunday Mail
President Mugabe’s slip at Harare International Airport last week must surely be a gift from God.
This month, the man turns 91 years old and at that age, falling down — as with a young child — can result in not only embarrassment, but also serious injury.
But President Mugabe showed that he is mentally agile by having the reflexes to break that fall, and that he is physically fit by walking away totally unscathed.
Anyone claiming that he is infirm and incapable of ruling because he slipped, broke a fall and walked away, all at age 91, can only be from that lunatic fringe of society that having failed to depose him via the ballot box now clutches at the most fantastical of straws.
This incident proved why Zimbabweans vote for him consistently: he is as mentally alert and physically capable as he has ever been.
Any suggestion otherwise can only come from people who are as thick as elephant manure and evidently far less useful. For 15 years these people have been chanting themselves hoarse that “Mugabe must go”.
Their ugly noises reached their loudest in 2013, towards the end of the days of the inclusive Government.
They harped on about President Mugabe’s age, claiming that he was in decline and thus could not be entrusted to lead Zimbabweans for another five years.
Zimbabweans, we were told, should instead repose their trust in a man whose only — and very lacklustre — tenure in national political office came via appointment by President Mugabe.
And what has happened since then?
Well, in July 2013 he won a crushing, landslide electoral victory when the people of Zimbabwe spoke in a resoundingly clear tone that the only place that “Mugabe must go” is to State House.
In August 2013, the leadership of Sadc decided that they, too, wanted President Mugabe’s guidance, and made him their deputy chair.
In January 2014, the leadership of the African Union said it would not be left behind and decided they wanted President Mugabe to be their First Deputy Chair.
In August 2014, the leadership of Sadc elevated him to be their Chair.
In January 2015, the leadership of the African Union unanimously elected him to Chair the continental body.
At the same time, implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation is being accelerated, sanctions are slowly but surely (and very grudgingly) being lifted, foreign investors are flowing back into the country and a sense of united purpose is growing among Zimbabweans who want to focus on developing their nation.
Surely this cannot be the anatomy of a leader in decline!
At that AU Summit, we know that President Mugabe at times worked right up to 5am while the supposedly young and able dullards of the lunatic fringe slumbered and dreamt of regime change.
Any journalist with half an idea of what the job entails can easily call the AU staff and confirm the remarkable work our President was doing in Addis Ababa.
Surely, an incapable leader does not work until 5am!
And on returning he slips and breaks his fall (we understand that some within the lunatic fringe of the private media don’t even understand what this term means!)
Only the wilfully dull would think that things are anything but looking up for President Mugabe and Zimbabwe.
It takes a dunce to even suggest that this is the time for President Mugabe to step away from the scene.
The people of Zimbabwe, the people of Sadc and the people of Africa have been unequivocal about this.
The nature of the challenge before us all as Zimbabweans is such that all effort must be directed towards socio-economic transformation, not this claptrap of resigning because of a little slip that the lunatic fringe would want to dwell on.
Thankfully, President Mugabe and progressive Zimbabweans — who constitute the majority of this land of ours — are not sidetracked by the ravings of the lunatic fringe.
Our people should be seized with the important business of getting Zimbabwe out of the economic morass that we find ourselves in due to illegal Western sanctions, corruption and inertia.
We cannot, at any cost, afford to engage ourselves in the self-indulgent pursuits of the lunatic fringe when so much work is before us.
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