By Roy Muroyi POWER appears to attract corruptible people like a magnet. The worst types of people are lured to amassing power over others, especially here in Zimbabwe. This is especially true for those who exhibit the dark triad — machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—a particularly harmful psychological concoction. There is a lot of these machiavellianism and narcissism in Zanu PF’s top leadership today.
Vice-President General Constantino Chiwenga would still be regarded as a hero by the Zimbabwean people today had he handed over power to the opposition in November 2017. Chiwenga, however, opted for a selfish route, permitting a system that has brought down the country to its knees since 1980 to remain in power. He opted to promote machiavellianism and narcissism and today the masses describe him as such.
Chiwenga today remains a clown in the eyes of the masses. His fall-out with the private media time and again is as a result of his transgressions. An indicator that Chiwenga’s social integrity is in jeopardy and that assistance or social support may be required is the constant embarrassment he continues to put himself through since the November 2017 coup. A video clip circulated on social media last week of Chiwenga complaining about the media shows how the retired army general is operating in an unfamiliar territory, thus grossly embarrassing himself in the process.
Chiwenga is constantly suffering embarrassment, be it from his own party, the private media or from social media commentators. All this could have been avoided had the big man handed over power to the right people in November 2017. Now he is constantly being accused of wanting to topple President Emerson Mnangagwa, these are all issues that the big man could have avoided in 2017
The Vice-President did not necessarily have to become a political leader, though he may have been an excellent politician right after leaving the army. A politician is not always a leader. Leaders are positive people and only positive politicians can be called leaders.
Poor politicians are mis-leaders of note. A transformative leader differs from a conventional politician in that he or she possesses virtues that have greater significance than votes or physical power. Those close to Chiwenga should advise him to step down, especially after reports of ill-health ever since the coup.
Chiwenga would have made a good politician influencing policy behind the scenes and enjoying his political muscles outside of the public office like what the late General Solomon Mujuru did. I carefully noticed the fall in the health of leadership in Africa and concluded that the bacterium that transmits this condition is not only carried by “political rulers”, but it also runs in the veins of some military leaders who desire to be political leaders.
One of Chiwenga’s worst sins was his desire for glory rather than power. Popularity sometimes does not give you political muscle, but your ability to mobilise the irreversible transformation of your society makes you stand out.
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Chiwenga was already in total control of the army during the November coup of 2017. In this position he could have detected how politics in Zanu PF should function other than choosing to take up a Vice-President’s role which is literally a non-influential role in the broader national politics.
From the days of the liberation war, the gun led the politics and Chiwenga could have been powerful still in the army or as a retired army general. Instead, Chiwenga chose to play second fiddle to Mnangagwa putting himself in the most complicated and dangerous position in Zanu PF politics where he is constantly accused of plotting to topple his master.
In the wake of his mistreatment of his estranged wife Mary Mubayiwa, Chiwenga’s behaviour is perceived morally questionable and it goes beyond mere opinion deviance, which may involve breaking laws or rules within a common social context.
Such a transgression can be perceived to be driven by his selfish, dishonest, or inhuman attitudes. No normal father would watch his children’s mother being ravaged by an evil system because she has transgressed against him.
The people you most want to see succeed, happy and healthy in this world are your children. Like it or not, your parenting style has a big impact on it; one wonders how Chiwenga’s children have been affected by the mistreatment of their mother by their father. The way that Chiwenga treated his wife of years, no matter what her transgressions are against him, shows the outside world that he has no heart for forgiving. Having such an individual at the helm of power is a disaster for the nation.
Zimbabwe still has inefficient and self-centred leaders, which means poor governance and its associated issues with political instability, social ills, corruption and a lack of accountability and transparency will endure if Zanu PF is not voted out of power in 2023. Douglas Adams once wrote: “The planet is a democracy, the humans hate and outnumber The lizards and yet the lizards always get elected. It turns out the humans vote for the lizards for a simple reason: If they did not … the wrong lizard might get in.” Zimbabweans can choose better leaders in 2023 and it does not have to be that way. It is, however, sickening why so many people in Zimbabwe’s government are incapable of running even just an ice-cream truck?
Without even racking one’s brain, one must be able to name some Zanu PF political figures who like Chiwenga, are machiavellian narcissists with a touch of psychopathy. These people can be harmful to unimaginable levels if we keep them in power. You will find my machiavellian narcissist allegations about Chiwenga to be accurate given how he has handled medical professionals since he assumed the position of Minister of Health — a position he assumed in violation of the Constitution.
- Roy Muroyi is a pro-democracy promoter and he writes here in his own capacity
