Is Mugabe Suffering from Megalomania or Alzheimer?

By Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK December 8, 2014
I felt physically sick with anger when I read on Ghanaweb that Mr Robert Mugabe, the nonagenarian dictator of Zimbabwe not only mocked Ghana and Ghanaians but also insulted the nation and her citizens (see, “Mugabe Mocks Ghana: They are as poor as ever”, Starrfmonline/Ghanaweb, December 7, 2014). After reading it I had to restrain myself from posting a comment as I would have become the proverbial sane man who ran naked in public chasing a naked mad person when the insane took his clothes whilst in the bathroom, instead of sane clothing himself before running after the insane for his clothes. Sadly, some of the numerous comments, a reasonable number, if not, majority thought Mugabe was right. No, No and No. There was nothing right about what Mugabe said, rather, everything wrong with it. This article is a response to Mr Robert Mugabe.

Perhaps, I am too proud of my Ghanaian roots not to allow any human being to put down my country of birth. Robert Mugabe did insult Ghana and Ghanaians, even if there is some truth in what he said. In international relations, the leader of a country cannot and must not insult another country and her citizens, not even hostile countries let alone a friendly one. Mugabe could have said that Ghana has not made the progress expected of her since independence without necessarily calling Ghanaians poor and in all those detrimental language. It would still be wrong, undiplomatic and unacceptable if the leader of some of the most developed countries such as Obama or David Cameron described Ghana and Ghanaians in such language and would have responded to them.

After reading the report, I came to the conclusion that Mugabe is uncouth and suffering from megalomania or Alzheimer's disease because most of what he said are factually incorrect. Ghana has not stood still since independence whether relative or in absolute terms. Again, two out of the three West African countries (Liberia and Sierra Leone) affected by the Ebola crisis have no colonial past with France. For these reasons alone and considering his age, I was tempted to forgive the ageing dictator in case he is showing signs of dementia.

I am not sure if the authorities in Ghana have seen or read Mugabe's description of Ghana and Ghanaians. At least, I know that Ex-President Kufuor is aware since in his typical characteristic of diplomacy and courtesy, he disagreed with Mugabe without reprimanding him (see “Kufuor tells Mugabe: "Ghana has improved fantastically", Satrrfmonline/Ghanaweb, December 8, 2014). If the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hannah Tetteh and any of her officials are aware, then what has stopped them from ordering the Zimbabwe High Commissioner in Accra, Mrs Pavelyn Tendai Musaka to the ministry and demanded a withdrawal and an apology from Mugabe?

Now let's look at some of the economic indicators for Ghana and Zimbabwe. Ghana has a population of nearly 26 million whilst that of Zimbabwe is nearly 14 million. According to the CIA Country Report, Ghana has GDP per capita of $3,500 compared to $600 for Zimbabwe (2013 data). If the data are accurate then Ghana's GDP per capita is nearly 6 times higher than that of Zimbabwe. So which country and her citizens are poor? Of course, I accept that poverty is not defined purely in terms of GDP per capita but by other socio-economic indicators such as income distribution, access to basic goods and services for reasonable human survival, etc. Moreover, per capita GDP figures are averages and make no sense to the poor because they do not put food on their plates, pay the rent, school fees and other basic needs such as healthcare, water, electricity, etc. It is also possible that Ghana's data is influenced by the rebasing of her GDP but Zimbabwe has not rebased her GDP.

What about other areas? Death rate in Ghana is 7.37 per 1,000 and that of Zimbabwe is 10.6 per 1,000. Maternal Mortality Rates are as follows: Ghana 350 per 100,000 live births and Zimbabwe 570 per 100,000 live births (2010 data). Life Expectancy at birth in Ghana is 65.75 years (63.38 for male and 68.19 for female) whilst those for Zimbabwe are 55.68 years (55.4 for male and 55.97 for female) 2014 data. Infant Mortality Rates are as follows: Ghana 38.52 per 1,000 live births and Zimbabwe is 26.55 per 1,000 live births (2014 data) and hospital bed density is 0.9 per 1,000 population in Ghana and 1.7 per 1,000 population (2011) though these improvements are not reflected in overall improved life expectancy in Zimbabwe. Ghana also does better in terms of access to improved water than Zimbabwe (87.2% for Ghana in urban areas compared to 79.9 for Zimbabwe (2012 data). Literacy rates in Ghana are only 71.5 % but Zimbabwe is higher at 83.6% of the population.

Of course, I also acknowledge that Ghana is far older than Zimbabwe and therefore the above comparisons could be unfair. Again, Zimbabwe could be performing better in other areas such as child school attendance, sanitation, etc though they do not reflect in better overall life expectancy in Zimbabwe. From the above comparative data, I really do not see which colony Robert Mugabe is comparing Ghana and her citizens to, unless he is delusional or either suffering from megalomania or dementia.

Zimbabwe at independence was not only self-sufficient in food production but was also the bread basket of East Africa but through Mugabe's poor management of the economy and the seizure of rich agricultural lands from white farmers for his cronies, Zimbabwe went through famine. I believe corruption is worst in Zimbabwe than in Ghana though the 2014 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index puts Ghana at 61 out of 100) above Zimbabwe (48 out of 100). This is because Zimbabwe has no free media and the citizens are scared to freely express their views about the dictator and his corrupt officials for fear of arrest and torture.

In terms of democratic governance and rule of law, despite the democratic revolution that swept across the globe in the 1990s, when even Eastern Europe were liberated from totalitarian regimes, Robert Mugabe continues to one man show life president of Zimbabwe. He has just announced his candidacy for the 2018 Presidential Election. Not only that, he is now turning Zimbabwe into a Kingdom and preparing his 49 year old wife to succeed him as President. The wife has been recently awarded a fake PhD is Sociology by University of Zimbabwe under bizarre circumstances. This can happen in only a banana republic such as Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

Ghanaians may be poor in some areas but relatively richer in ideas, governance and democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, etc because they would not entertain what deluded, power drank Robert Mugabe is doing in Zimbabwe for that long. Just read the words used by Mugabe on his Deputy, Mrs Mujuru in order to prepare the grounds to coronate his wife as Deputy President. Speaking to his party congress on Thursday, Mr Mugabe described Mrs Mujuru as a corrupt thief, who had planned to assassinate him and welcomed the fact that his wife had exposed Mrs Mujuru's attempt to oust him. He told party supporters that he would announce Mrs Mujuru's replacement early this week (see “Mugabe to contest 2018 election”, Daily Graphic, December 8, 2014). One man to single-handedly select and announce the Deputy President, no election so that he can appoint his crony or his wife. That will never happen in today's Ghana.

The impudence of Mugabe's insult on Ghanaians is the fact that, Ghana assisted his liberation movement/party and citizens in diverse ways with the struggle for independence. Mugabe himself received some of his education in Ghana and even married a Ghanaian. Some of his fellow citizens and freedom fighters were also offered scholarships to study free in Ghana's top secondary schools, training/technical colleges and universities. If Mugabe would not appreciate Ghana's kindness and assistance to him and his fellow citizens, then, he should not rub salt into our wound by insulting Ghanaians as poor and stacked in the past. Perhaps, if Ghana had used the resources she spent on assistance to him and his fellow citizens in those days, those resources could have been used to educate more Ghanaians to have improved the literacy rate to the level of Zimbabwe.

Robert Mugabe is considered a political pariah by most global leaders and cannot even travel to most democratic countries outside Africa, Asia including China, Latin America and Russia. In fact, some countries do not even want to welcome him and when he attends international meetings such as the UN General Assembly, he is avoided by other leaders and ministers. This pariah leader and dictator subjugating his people under his one man oppression, soon to be one family kingdom, a Nonagenarian who is deluded and showing signs of dementia should shut up and check himself up into the nearest mental institution in Zimbabwe.

It is very disappointing for a Pan-Africanist, anti-colonial and freedom fighter to describe Ghana and Ghanaians in such unprintable words. The Ghana government must demand an apology, even if he is suffering from Megalomania or Alzheimer's disease. Yes, Ghana could have done better and still struggling with her development efforts but Mugabe hit far below the belt. And should apologise to Ghana and Ghanaians.

Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK