The Mbeki/Zuma War: A Case Study
For Nigerians
By
Musa Ilallah
musahk123@yahoo.com
The South African President Thabo
Mbeki’s and his former Vice and now President of the ruling party,
African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, Jacob Zuma’s
relationship that had gone sour has now being rested with the
resignation of Mbeki as the country’s President. Media reports world
wide were recently saturated with resolution of the ANC which
commenced investigation and deliberated on the allegations that
President Mbeki influenced the resurrection of graft charges by the
national department for public prosecution against his former deputy
and party leader, Jacob Zuma and consequently ruled that Mbeki must
resign from office.
While depending its action, the ANC said
that its decision was taken for the stability and peaceful and
prosperous South Africa.
For Zuma it has been a long running
battle with his boss, Mbeki since he indicated interest to step into
his shoes as President of South Africa at the expiration of his second
term in office in 2009. He removed Zuma as Vice President and later in
2006 dragged his name in the mud by accusing him of being corrupt,
fraudulent and rapist. Specifically, Zuma was taken to Court on the
allegation that his aide was accused of collecting bribe on his
behalf. The case against Zuma was thrown out in 2006 but the national
prosecuting authority recharged him to court. However, a court ruling
earlier this month cleared Zuma of the corruption charges, alleging
that the Mbeki’s government had interfered in the decision to
prosecute him.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the
Mbeki/Zuma war is in so many respects similar to the Obasanjo/Atiku
war. The circumstances are the same. So are also the issues at stake
and the charges involved. It is a well known fact that President
Obasanjo did all he could to strangulate the ambition of his Deputy,
Atiku to succeed him in office after serving his constitutionally
mandate of two terms of 8 years in office. It all began as a rumour
and later Atiku was proved right that his boss, Obasanjo was not
planning to leave the Presidential Villa at the end of his term. But
rather, Obasanjo was scheming to elongate his tenure though the back
door. First he used his surrogates in the national assembly to embark
on a constitution review that will change the existing tenure
provision.
Atiku, as a political mathematician and
one who knows his onions very well and at the head of the anti tenure
elongation scheming christened ‘third term’ along with other well
meaning Nigerians began subtle and open moves to sensitise Nigerians
on Obasanjo’s plans and moved in with counter measures to kill the
tyrannical, immoral and illegal desire. Today, Atiku is the acclaimed
true democrat of the country world wide. He used his resources,
goodwill and political dexterity to nip in the bud the deadly ambition
of a tyrant that would have landed the country in big political and
economic crisis of out time.
One will recall that shortly after it
became clear that Atiku’s war against Obasanjo’s tenure elongation
plan was recording success, Obasanjo began to use all the apparatus-
party machinery and the government machinery, to begin a total
elimination war against Atiku. First, he used the national executive
of the party to charge Atiku with anti party activity for which he
stood the punishment of suspension and later dismissal from the party
he used his resources and political structure to build.
Then he used the apparatus of the state
to declare his office vacant for not performing his responsibilities
as Vice President. Let me remind you that the constitution has not
assigned any role for him but that his schedule is determined by what
the President asks him to do. So Obasanjo refused to assign his any
job and went further to withdraw others that he had given him like the
supervision of the PTDF, Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE among
others. Then the big bang came from Obasanjo accusing Atiku of fraud
and corruption, and consequently drags him to the court with a view to
jailing him and finally sending him to jail.
So you can now see clearly that the
smear campaign against Zuma by Mbeki is in so many ways similar to
that of Atiku by Obasanjo. The crux of the matter is that Mbeki and
Obasanjo did not want their Deputies to succeed them in office for
selfish reasons. The political story of Zuma is the same with that of
Atiku. They were so unfortunate to have worked with devils that were
not in any way interested about their political progression. Thank God
for the political maturity and dexterity of the South African
politicians and masses. But for this and the South African Judiciary,
Mbeki would have gotten what he wanted. That exactly was Obasanjo’s
life long ambition. To send Atiku to his political grave early enough.
Tribute must in this regard be paid to the Nigerian democrats, masses,
peasants and artisans for supporting Atiku all through his travails
with Obasanjo. The Nigerian Judiciary must particularly be commended
for summoning the courage and dared Obasanjo as sitting President to
give Atiku a clean bill of health on the illegal declaration of his
office as vacant, his suspension from the PDP and above all the
allegation of fraud and corruption with regards his supervision of the
PTDF.
There is therefore so much to learn by
Nigerian politicians from the Mbeki/Zuma war. That is to say that the
advanced democratic tenets exhibited by Zuma and Atiku for using the
democratic and legal options available at their disposal need to be
imbibed in all our political actors to checkmate anti democratic
elements like Mbeki and Obasanjo in our midst. Credit must therefore
be given to Atiku’s political maturity and calculations and dealt with
Obasanjo the way he did. Nigerian politicians must be told that
political intrigues have a limit to which they can work. The question
of putting to use best global political practices by all politicians
in the country must be our watch word. Indeed the Mbeki/Zuma war is a
must case study for Nigerians, politicians and non-politicians alike.
It is because of my conviction that
Atiku had proved being a politician worthy of emulation that one can
therefore say without any iota of doubt that I wholly agree with the
conviction of the Action Congress, AC in Lagos state that: “Again
South Africa is showing the way leaders and nations should behave and
we cannot continue in the primitive indulgence of our corrupt and
insensitive leaders who hide under the canopy of democracy to
desecrate the ethos of democracy and trample on principles and values
just for their selfish benefits.”
The most interesting thing about the
whole episode is the show of party supremacy over and above all its
members including the President of the country. The ANC issued a
‘fatwa’ to Mbeki to as quickly resign from or face the wrath of being
recalled since he was there courtesy of the party. This is the
contrast of the situation in Nigeria where Obasanjo and now Yar’adua
are above the party. One can recall that shortly after his election as
National Chairman of PDP, Vincent Ogubalafor pledge his more than 100%
loyalty to Yar’adua. The party should in an ideal democracy be above
all party members so as to check the excesses of power drunk
officials.
MUSA ILALLAH
A Communications Consultant writes from
Abuja
(musahk123@yahoo.com) |