Till death do us part!

Zimbabwean politicians do not retire, they die in office. In fact, even if they think about retiring, as Joseph Msika reportedly did, they risk being marginalized for admitting that they were frail, old, tired, dead wood. If it is true, as I suspect it is, that Msika wanted to retire several years ago but was told to sit tight for the good of the party, one can begin to make sense of Robert Mugabe's retirement plans, of which there are none, unless to die in office counts as one.Zimbabweans are expected to buy the nonsense of the indispensability of Robert Mugabe! We are all married to Robert Mugabe: till death do us part; divorce is not an option!In fact, we are all married to ZANU-PF politicians. In the entire history of this murderous coalition which has stalked our land for three decades of lack-lustre governance, only one person has ever come close to retiring honorably, one Nathan Shamuyarira, who nevertheless continues to haunt us with the occasional outburst from Chibuku house.Some people in the MDC may be day-dreaming about a time in the near future when the political thugs who make up ZANU-PF will peacefully retire to enjoy their loot and plunder. I am not nearly as optimistic as some of my friends in the MDC that ZANU-PF is willing to compete fairly for power and give up its most favored status at election time; not for as long as Mugabe is still among us.In a recent interview, Thabo Mbeki said he had suggested, during negotiations that led to the so-called inclusive government, that Mugabe became ceremonial president. I am persuaded that Mbeki was hinting at what a future Zimbabwe government might look like, if Barack Obama can be made to buy a ceremonial Mugabe presidency, believing it to be more palatable than the current arrangement, thus unlocking the spigots of Western aid.Under this scenario, Mugabe can be expected to continue to have some official role in our national affairs, for his biological life!