Why is Mnangagwa seeing enemies all over the region?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, paranoia can be defined as the ‘unjustified suspicion and mistrust of other people or their actions.’

The dictionary further states that this is also ‘the unwarranted or delusional belief that one is being persecuted, harassed, or betrayed by others, occurring as part of a mental condition.’

That’s quite interesting, if not somewhat disturbing!

Could this be what we are witnessing playing out in our own Zimbabwe?

What can we say about President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s apparent belief that Zimbabwe, or rather he, is surrounded by enemies who are bent on destruction?

He seems to see ‘former colonial powers’ up to mischief in countries neighboring Zimbabwe.

During his recent address to the ruling ZANU PF’s 123th Session of the Central Committee meeting, Mnangagwa was undoubtedly displeased and unnerved by the electoral outcome in South Africa.

As is now common knowledge, the governing (as opposed to ‘ruling’) ANC party failed to win an outright victory – thereby forced into a forming a GNU (government of national unity) with opposition political parties.

Mnangagwa clearly did not take this well.

Instead of interpreting this outcome for what it really was: real democracy at play – he elected to perceive this as an attack by erstwhile colonial masters who were out to remove former liberation movements from power.

In his rather panicked warning, Mnangagwa said former liberation movements across Africa faced a mortal threat from their former colonial powers.

According to Mnangagwa, these imperialist forces were determined to install puppet leaders so that they could unfairly exploit the continent’s natural resources for their own benefit.

Wow, that is rich coming the leader of a government that is at the forefront of looting Zimbabwe’s vast national resources for the benefit of a small ruling clique.

In all this, while the majority of ordinary Zimbabweans languish in extreme poverty, who, in turn, are forced to rely on handouts and crumbs from the table of those in power.

Nonetheless, as opposed to seeing the beauty of democracy, as well as free, fair, and credible elections in action, Mnangagwa was seeing enemies and devious machinations against him.

Was this not the message he gave to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last month?

In his rather embarrassing statement, the Zimbabwe leader expressed his apprehension at the relationship between the US and neighboring Zambia.

He moaned to Putin: The US is consolidating power in Zambia both in terms of security and financial support to make sure that we feel lonely.

He, of course, neglected to mention – whether deliberately or out of ignorance – that the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Zambia was merely an office set up in the US embassy in Lusaka to assist the Zambian forces in the United Nations Multidimensional Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic.

In no way is it a military base!

It is merely a security cooperation arrangement as we witness here in Zimbabwe – where Chinese military personnel train our armed forces.

We had the same agreement immediately after independence in 1980, when our military was trained by the British.

As a matter of fact, our 5th Brigade was trained by the North Koreans – only to massacred over 20,000 innocent unarmed civilians in the Midlands and Matebeleland provinces.

Was Zimbabwe supposed to be viewed as a regional security threat due to these relationships with foreign powers?

Be that as it may, Mnangagwa, again, opted to interpret this relationship between the US and Zambia as a carefully crafted scheme directed at him.

He even said that it made him feel lonely.

Wow!

I am now waiting to hear what Mnangagwa has to say about the relationship between the US and Botswana.

Recently, the US government offered Botswana excess defense articles in the form of a C130H aircraft, at no cost to the southern African nation.

In fact, the country’s president, Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi, was over the moon over this donation.

He said, “For this, I want to thank them [the US] because instead of selling to us used equipment like others, they opted to partner with us in preservation of global peace.”

Will Mnangagwa, as we have come to expect, also perceive this as a plan by the US and Botswana to attack Zimbabwe?

The most curious aspect to all these incidents, though, is that the countries involved do not appear to share the same paranoia as the Zimbabwe leader.

At no point did we ever hear South African president Cyril Ramaphosa view his party’s (ANC) poor performance in the recent polls as some ‘plot by former colonial powers’.

He never saw enemies in every corner.

As a matter of fact, he hailed the outcome of the elections as ‘a victory for democracy.’

Maybe, Mnangagwa was just frightened that an ANC coalition with opposition parties may finally force South Africa to hold the ZANU PF regime to account for its horrendous human rights abuses, rampant corruption, and unashamed electoral fraud.

Zambia is not at all concerned with Zimbabwe, or rather Mnangagwa, and regards its relationship with the US as purely a bilateral matter, to which every nation is entitled.

That is why the Zambians have taken Mnangagwa’s reckless statements to the SADC for intervention as they were most worrying.

Of course, as already highlighted, Botswana is actually elated over its relationship with the US – which has absolutely nothing to do with Zimbabwe.

So, why is Mnangagwa so concerned?

Maybe the Oxford Dictionary has the explanation!

When a leader treats his own people as second-class citizens – mercilessly oppressing them and casting them into abject poverty – he tends to develop a forbidding sense of insecurity.

He begins to see enemies everywhere, as he knows that he is no longer wanted.

It is akin to a husband who is fully aware that he has failed his wife.

He starts to believe that she is planning to leave him at any time and that every man is pursuing her.

In other words, he becomes paranoid.

He is even rattled just by the thought of another man looking at her.

This is what I sincerely believe is at play in Zimbabwe.