Mugabe, Kagame: A comparative analysis
The Zimbabwe Standard - 1 hour ago
May 25, 2014 in Editorial
Both Robert Mugabe and Paul Kagame are celebrated freedom fighters who
gallantly fought their way to leadership of their respective countries
after protracted wars.
Sunday Opinion with Farai WT Taderera
Mugabe left home for Mozambique to join the liberation war against
colonial rule while Kagame started as a high-ranking officer in the
Ugandan Army before he left to lead the Rwandan Patriotic Front on its
assault against the French-supported Hutu government of his homeland.
Politics
The post-genocide transitional government of national unity of Rwanda
took office in 1994 headed by Pasteur Bizumungu as president, but only
responsible for home affairs, while Kagame was the defacto ruler as
both vice-president and minister of defence, with an added
responsibility of foreign affairs.
Later on in the late 1990s Kagame began to publicly disagree with
Bizumungu, accusing him of mismanagement and corruption so much that
the president resigned and the Supreme Court appointed Kagame as the
Acting-President. He proceeded to appoint a commission which drafted a
new constitution that was approved by referendum in May 2003.
Among its many laws, the new constitution also sought to prevent Hutu
or Tutsi hegemony over political power by prohibiting the formation of
political parties along any tribal or ethnic lines.
It is this law that Kagame used to silence opposition in his efforts
to preserve unity. For example, the Democratic Republic Movement
(MDR), the second largest party after the RPF in the transitional
government, was banned after it was found guilty of spreading divisive
ideology by a parliamentary commission.
Bizumungu, who had gone on to form an opposition political party which
was hounded out of existence, was later arrested and only released by
presidential pardon in 2007.
Kagame was elected for his first seven-year term as President in
August 1993 according to the new constitution, after silencing and/or
co-opting members of the opposition into the RPF.
Currently serving his final second term, allegations abound of his
crack teams in pursuit of opposition elements who flee for safety to
neighbouring countries in the region.
Kagame appears in no hurry to retire as he scoffs at critics when
asked whether he will change the constitution in order to run for a
third term. He insists that countries should be left to decide their
own destinies and that he was not elected to leave office, but to do
business on behalf of the Rwandans.
Mugabe came to power as Prime Minister in 1980 and seven years later,
amended the constitution to make himself President.
In pursuance of his quest to create a one-party state, he coerced the
only opposition then, Zapu, into his Zanu PF party; a process that was
never really consummated at grassroots level despite the official
rhetoric and the cosmetic appearance of unity.
Since then general elections have been religiously held, with the
outcome always in his favour, especially from the year 2000 with the
advent of formidable opposition from the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) led by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai.
Any talk of regime change is viewed as treasonous despite the fact
that, that is what elections are all about; a process to challenge the
ruling party and replace it with another through the will of the
majority.
The war in the DRC
The two were protagonists on either side of the Congo War where Kagame
fought to topple Laurent Desire Kabila while Mugabe defended the
Congolese leader.
Human Rights groups and other independent organisations have accused
both parties of plundering the host country's mineral wealth.
Rwanda's economy is alleged to have directly benefitted, with reports
of the creation of the so-called Congo Desk where mining companies
were allegedly taxed and minerals sold for the benefit of Rwanda. In
the case of Zimbabwe, it is reported that only senior army and
government officials personally benefitted from the plunder.
On the economy
Shortly after assuming the Presidency, Kagame launched Vision 2020, an
ambitious economic development programme consisting of a list of
projects for the government to transform the highly impoverished
agro-based economy into a middle income country before the year 2020.
As a result, annual economic growth averaged 8%, Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) per capita increased from US$567 in 2000 to US$1 592 in
2013.
With 90% of the population in agriculture, Vision 2020 has resulted in
the service sector alone contributing 43,6% of GDP while tourism is
the leading foreign exchange earner with 16% of visitors being from
outside Africa.
On the business front, the Rwanda Development Board asserts that a
business can be authorised and registered in 24 hours; hence the
country ranks 52 out of 185 countries in the world and three out of 46
in sub-Saharan Africa for its overall ease of doing business.
Transparency International ranks it eight out of 47 in sub-Sahara and
66 out of 178 in the world on its corruption index.
On the contrary, Zimbabwe has embarked upon so many economic
blueprints, including a Vision 2020 of its own, and even the latest,
Zim Asset which is still to be launched with all its attendant
shortcomings; this is more than six months after the last elections.
Average annual income has reduced drastically from US$950 in 1980 to
below US$400 by the year 2003. One of the earliest development
projects, the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (Esap), was
abandoned midstream.
Even the Land Reform Programme with all its lack of planning,
shortcomings and haphazard launch, is still heralded as a monumental
success notwithstanding the glaring evidence of food shortages and
economic decline.
On a 2010 list of the top 10 countries in the world led by Liberia and
Mongolia, Transparency International rated Zimbabwe as the fourth most
corrupt.
Conclusion
The two men believe they have the divine right to rule until "they
have accomplished their tasks".
Mugabe will not lift a finger to create the right atmosphere for
investment and development of Zimbabwe.
Instead, he looks at such initiatives from a political standpoint; any
economic development that takes place must recognise his unfettered
rule and comply with programmes that perpetuate his political life.
He has made it known that he is not going anywhere any time soon as he
reserves the right to stand again in 2018.
Kagame on the other hand believes that he is the only one who knows
what is good for the people of Rwanda and he has the credentials to
prove his point, namely a thriving economy.
He does not see why he should step down if he is delivering for his people.
The people in turn do appreciate what he has done for them, but
believe that at the end of the day, democracy must prevail and he
should accordingly pass the baton when his second and final term
expires in 2017.
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