Leader of the smaller MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara, has described Robert Mugabe as a ‘hero’. In Zimbabwe, it is common for ZANU PF members to be declared nation heroes upon their deaths. Then, amid great pomp and ceremony, they are laid to rest at Heroes’ Acre in Harare.

Wikipedia - the people built encyclopaedia on the internet - defines the word as “hero (male) and heroine (female) came to refer to characters (fictional or historical) that, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice - that is, heroism - for some greater good, originally of martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence”.

The website continues: “In modern movies, the hero is often simply an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances, who, despite the odds being stacked against him or her, typically prevails in the end. In some movies (especially action movies), a hero may exhibit characteristics such as superhuman strength and endurance that sometimes makes him nearly invincible. Often a hero in these situations has a foil, the villain, typically a charismatic evildoer who represents, leads, or himself embodies the struggle the hero is up against. Post-modern fictional works have fomented the increased popularity of the antihero, who does not follow common conceptions of heroism.”

I have looked at this definition and I can see nothing in Mugabe that would even approach the elements that evidently make up a hero.

He may have broken the colonial shackles and led the country to becoming a independent Zimbabwe, but when we look at what he has since transformed the country into, he can hardly be described as a ‘hero’.

The economy is in ruins, the country can no longer feed the people and the political bias displayed by Mugabe and his party can not be described as ‘democratic’…

As a government, ZANU PF has failed not only the people of Zimbabwe - now scattered to the four winds - but they have systematically picked the bones of the country clean. They all live in plush houses, eat imported food and travel around in luxury motor vehicles - whilst the people they allegedly led to freedom live in holes in the ground, cannot find a job, have no money, cannot afford transport or medical treatment, and their children are obliged to go without an education.

When a country flourishes, there are very few words said about the leaders, as the success is largely an effort from all strata of the community. When a country fails - and, let’s face it, Zimbabwe is a spectacular failure - it is quite comical (if it weren’t so sad) to watch the politicians point fingers at each other, and, like in Mugabe’s case, blame it all on some conspiracy by the West.

That it was the West that orchestrated his rise to power, it beggars belief that he should blame his woes upon the West.

It could be said that Mugabe’s rise to power has beggared the entire country.

Mugabe is not a hero. Not in my eyes, at any rate. And I think I join the ranks of quite a few Zimbabweans, of all colours, who would agree with me. He has not only ruined a lovely country, but he has chased people that worked for the betterment of society and the country to foreign shores.

Oh, and most Zimbabwean heroes are only declared such upon their death. Perhaps Mugabe would oblige us all. Although even his demise would not convince me of any heroism.

Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded Man