Why sudden interest in Mugabe's health, his successor

Utterances on President Mugabe's health and his succession have compelled me to write this article to reflect the deliberately overlooked side of him that has such a bearing on the prevailing enjoyment of independence and democracy in Zimbabwe.

It is so sad and very absurd to continually read in the papers and to listen to other media publishing stories, the majority fictitious, on his health.

I ask myself, "Why all the hype?" We all get unwell at some point or the other in our lives and what do we do?  We pray to God the Almighty and ask for the reinstatement of our health enabling our lives to carry on. So the same goes for President Mugabe. I always wish him well that he may continue to execute his duties illustriously.

I have lost count of the number of times he has "died" and "resurrected" in his natural life and surely even Christ himself would envy these "feats". It saddens so much and I am in fact appalled by this degree of utter nonsense of the ungodly prophecy emanating from some Christian spiritual quarters.

Every day of our lives people die … now my question is, "Do we predict and tell their deaths to the world? Quite frankly the answer to all that is a big "NO!" and this is clearly because we all know that death is inevitable regardless of age as it is a part of God's plan for mankind to complete the circle of life. The prophets of doom forget all too quickly that President Mugabe is also a Christian and surely also prays to the same living God for guidance and well-being.

This leads me to the issue of succession playing out in some party quarters. Firstly need I remind them that during the last Zanu-PF congress and all other congresses held before that, President Mugabe's candidacy has never been opposed or challenged but has always won overwhelming popularity.

My questions to some party cadres is "Why now?" "Are you also now in the line of the wishful-thinking detractors regurgitating what the imperialistic media is reporting about President Mugabe?" "Is it some form of cowardice that you talk through the media and not the proper party platforms?" I believe that matters of such magnitude must be formally raised during these meetings.

Remember, President Mugabe was not a cocky upstart like many of us are today; he rose through the ranks of the party for him to be where he is now. His fight for true democracy and total emancipation of the masses from the former colonial master, Britain, makes him stand unrivalled.

He has remained steadfast in preserving and defending our hard-won independence that our gallant sons and daughters died fighting for during the liberation struggle. He is a tried and tested leader who has made possible the two milestones in the history of our country since independence; that of the land redistribution and indigenisation programmes aimed at benefiting the masses and not just Zanu-PF supporters only, to be a resounding success. Surely now we bask in the glory of his illustrious hard work.

As far as leading the country of Zimbabwe, it has been job well done by the President and there cannot be any kind of gratitude we can ever show or say that will measure up or justify his immense contribution of truly making us to be masters of our destiny. We are enjoying freedom, peace, justice, development and black empowerment that no African country has ever had; all because of President Mugabe.  He leads by example without fear or prejudice and is a shining example to all other leaders through Africa and the rest of the world.

I have always told my fellow Zimbabweans, that President Mugabe is a principled leader and a blessing to the whole nation. As a nation we should and must be proud of him and actually thank God for giving us such a blessing and should pray that God gives him many more years as this will be a further blessing to the nation.

As I wrote this piece, I vividly remembered one personal encounter I had with President Mugabe and especially when I was with my daughter at ZITF a while back. As we cheered and waved in the crowd, I stuck out the party symbol in acknowledgement of his presence. He immediately came up to where I stood and lovingly carried my baby girl in his arms, talking to her. I remember how much he made my daughter laugh on that occasion.

Just recently she popped up the question, "Daddy when are we going to meet vaMugabe again?" In all honesty, I did not know how to respond to her but I also could not imagine the disappointment she would feel if I told her that it might not be any time soon.

It is clearly God's time that he has been at the helm 32 years after independence. There is still a lot of work for him to do and especially the maintenance of peace.  I would like to thank him for his continued effort of peace and reconciliation in our country.

President Mugabe is truly a man of high principles and unquestionable moral values, stamping his authority on such issues as gay activities, that he has likened to madness and worse than animalistic.

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Shupayi Kadira is a Bulawayo-based socio-political commentator. He can be contacted on swkadira@gmail.com or mobile 0777 956 722.

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