GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Building Zimbabwean castles on sand
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, as the first sign of subversion begins to manifest, Squealer, propagandist to the pigs, tells the animals, "Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure. On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?" Amid the chaos in Zimbabwe, many have bestowed on themselves the mantel of The People’s Champion, but there is one thing you can be sure of: it is not the people themselves making decisions. The one phrase in short supply up north at the moment is "fresh elections"; if it is said at all, it is muttered as an afterthought. Rather, all focus remains, as it has for almost 40 years, on who the president should or shouldn’t be. The last fortnight has been all about power. Not democracy.There is a price...
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