Zimbabwe a time bomb: Rukoro

WINDHOEK – It is high time that political and business leaders in SADC realise that Zimbabwe is a floating nuclear time bomb unless a timely and meaningful intervention is made.

Chief Executive Officer of First National Bank Namibia Holdings, Vekuii Rukoro, sounded the warning at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in Windhoek on Wednesday night. He was speaking on the lack of leadership in Africa within the context of the ‘African Renaissance’ mooted by President Thabo Mbeki almost 10 years ago.Rukoro took Zimbabwe as a case study, and said at the root of this failure was a monumental failure of leadership – both at political and business levels.”For their part, our political leaders must tell President Robert Mugabe in no unclear terms that he has now become an embarrassment to Africa, that their solidarity is now with his people and not with him and that he must now set in motion a credible process for the transformation of democratic institutions of State leading up to free and fair elections supervised by the international community.This is leadership!” he emphasised.Rukoro has been critical of what he called the region’s political and business leaders’ aloof position towards the crisis in Zimbabwe, and said it was in their national interest to take a stand.He highlighted that Zimbabweans were desperate for an end to the brutal human rights abuses they were suffering at the hands of the security forces, and the restrictions on their internationally recognised rights to political freedom.If SADC was serious about its solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, it needed to stand up for justice and human rights in Zimbabwe.He blamed the discredited rules of the African old boys club, namely ‘you stay out of my domestic affairs and I shall see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil about your country’.Rukoro said it was now a case of a former liberation hero who had become power-hungry to such an extent that he had changed the democratic institutions of State to ensure his own perpetuation in office by hook or crook – including by stealing national elections in broad daylight.Instead of executing their responsibility towards the people of Zimbabwe by calling Mugabe to order, SADC leaders instead declared their solidarity with him and blamed everything on colonialism.Namibia’s former Attorney General and MP asked: “Why do governments with expensive embassies on the ground buy cheap propaganda from the Zimbabwean government? “Do they not realise that the political instability and economic demise of Zimbabwe will very shortly have far-reaching economic implications for the whole region of SADC? Until when do political and business leaders of SADC propose to abandon their leadership responsibilities vis-à-vis Zimbabwe merely because of short term political expediency?” he asked.NampaHe was speaking on the lack of leadership in Africa within the context of the ‘African Renaissance’ mooted by President Thabo Mbeki almost 10 years ago. Rukoro took Zimbabwe as a case study, and said at the root of this failure was a monumental failure of leadership – both at political and business levels.”For their part, our political leaders must tell President Robert Mugabe in no unclear terms that he has now become an embarrassment to Africa, that their solidarity is now with his people and not with him and that he must now set in motion a credible process for the transformation of democratic institutions of State leading up to free and fair elections supervised by the international community.This is leadership!” he emphasised.Rukoro has been critical of what he called the region’s political and business leaders’ aloof position towards the crisis in Zimbabwe, and said it was in their national interest to take a stand.He highlighted that Zimbabweans were desperate for an end to the brutal human rights abuses they were suffering at the hands of the security forces, and the restrictions on their internationally recognised rights to political freedom.If SADC was serious about its solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, it needed to stand up for justice and human rights in Zimbabwe.He blamed the discredited rules of the African old boys club, namely ‘you stay out of my domestic affairs and I shall see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil about your country’.Rukoro said it was now a case of a former liberation hero who had become power-hungry to such an extent that he had changed the democratic institutions of State to ensure his own perpetuation in office by hook or crook – including by stealing national elections in broad daylight.Instead of executing their responsibility towards the people of Zimbabwe by calling Mugabe to order, SADC leaders instead declared their solidarity with him and blamed everything on colonialism.Namibia’s former Attorney General and MP asked: “Why do governments with expensive embassies on the ground buy cheap propaganda from the Zimbabwean government? “Do they not realise that the political instability and economic demise of Zimbabwe will very shortly have far-reaching economic implications for the whole region of SADC? Until when do political and business leaders of SADC propose to abandon their leadership responsibilities vis-à-vis Zimbabwe merely because of short term political expediency?” he asked.Nampa