I have written in numerous articles on Mugabe’s Rule and would like to make it crystal clear that this is not a condonation of Mugabe or empty-headed idolization. This article is about the recent amateur coup which Mugabe must now legitimize by resigning.
First of, I would like to give a background to the reader. The law with all its protections is intended to protect the least politically enfranchised element of society; those charged with crimes; and those who are hated the most – those who we cannot automatically guarantee justice for. Constitutions exist not for the obvious, but for what lurks in the shadows.
As it stands, I am against the concept of a coup because one coup leads to another; and another. Look at countries who have embraced the concept of coups: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Central Africa. Once there is an accepted ethos that the army can be political this can never be taken back, and that’s why Robert Mugabe for all his faults, on this one he is correct – he has a legitimate right as a constitutionally elected president to govern until he is voted out of power by the Zimbabwean people.
As for the National Transitional Authority, my concerns are that there are not a legitimate, elected form of government but operate as the civilian wing of the army and as such are directed. In order to preserve peace in the region, and especially in Zimbabwe I condemn this coup in the strongest of words. Military rule in Africa has done nothing but cause continued human suffering in all parts of the world.
