OPINION:I REMEMBER Zimbabwe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Around that time, foreign soap operas were introduced on to the local television station. At first, people were gripped. Shows like Australia's Neighbours, and, from the United States, Santa Barbara, managed to captivate us.
Inevitably though, these got tiresome. A person can only wait for so many weeks for a door knob to be turned or for the truth about a pregnancy to finally come out. One by one, all but the most die-hard fans fell away by the wayside and the soap craze died.
Unfortunately, something similar has happened to Zimbabwean politics. This time last year there was growing excitement at the prospect of a change in government after years of displeasure with the status quo. Following the opposition’s victory in the March polls, it was as though a new era had dawned.
Over time, though, that hope was stillborn. It never came to fruition. The cruellest part of it all was that instead of things just going back to the way they were, they deteriorated in ways that, until then, had been unimaginable for most of us.
What happens to a dream deferred? The very soul of Zimbabwe has festered and the rot has manifested itself in the form of a cholera outbreak, starvation, thirst and despondency. Yet like the soap that has grown old, the politics and governance of the country now interests few people within its own borders and beyond.
The man who should be the country’s president was yesterday sworn in as its prime minister by the man who should, at best, be living out his remaining days in the company of the many ghosts that must surely haunt him.
Because a similar compromise worked in Kenya, it is hoped that the government of national unity will help restore stability and that Zimbabwe will begin the process of rebuilding a broken nation.
I can only wonder what went through Morgan Tsvangirai’s mind as he stood there, being sworn in as prime minister. Did his mind drift into the past?
Did he ponder comparisons between the challenges of being a trade union member in the dying days of the Ian Smith regime as opposed to those under an angry Mugabe regime?
Did he think of his imperfect deal with Mugabe being similar to the flawed Lancaster House constitution which was imposed on the country in exchange for independent rule? I wonder if he looked back at all the opportunities he had in the past to make a deal with the president before the country’s infrastructure fell apart.
One could argue that if he was going to eventually reach a settlement with his old foe, it would have been better to do so before the relationship between the two sides had become so toxic.
Maybe Tsvangirai will stand tall with his head raised high in the knowledge that he fought the good fight on behalf of those who couldn’t.
As for Mugabe, there is no point in trying to work out what goes through his head any more. Having undergone the process of being a “terrorist”, freedom fighter, liberation war hero, statesman, dictator and “madman”, he is now just a shell.
What lies behind the expensive suit and trendy sunglasses that are Mugabe is at best a relic.
He may huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down, but I doubt that even his closest lieutenants still take him seriously. He is now just a dark cloud that the country is waiting to be done with.
The greatest obstacle to the agreement between Mugabe and Tsvangirai will be their deputies and foot soldiers. These converts will lock horns and will almost certainly ensure that the whole thing comes crashing down, if it ever gets off the ground.
If the parties can stay in government long enough to see real changes to the constitution, if the opposition gains a little experience governing, and if the suffering of the most vulnerable is alleviated, the sham “unity government” will have been worthwhile.
Hopefully, in the process, the opposition is not co-opted into the ruling party structures, or worse, indoctrinated with Zanu-PF ideology.