In the 1930s City of Chicago became a hot bed of lawlessness, violence and murders as rivalry gangs fought for the control of the very lucrative alcohol business. Bootlegging was big business everywhere in America, these were the Prohibition years, and in Chicago Al Capone ruled. He used a cocktail of intimidation, violence and murder to eliminate his competitors and to who threatened his business interests and to coerce dealers to buy from him and his own men to give their blind royalty to him. He wielded a large stick; he bashed one of his own men who had let him down with a baseball bat!
Al Capone also used the carrot; a good many public officials in the Police and judiciary in Chicago were in his pocket. For elected public officials; Al Capone earned their gratitude by getting them the votes. He is credited with the phrase “Vote early and vote often!”
Like so many other unscrupulous individuals, Al Capone was careful to cover his own tracks and got others to do most of his dirty work for him. So he maintained a whiter than white public image and in his financial dealing, everything was above board and he earned nothing!
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe is a very well read man- he has at least seven University degrees and has often boosted of having “A degree in violence!” (He never said from which University!) He has a degree in economics but to look at the mess he has made of Zimbabwe’s economy one would doubt if he ever grasped even the most basic concepts of that subject. For some of his economic blunders defy common sense. But he sure understood the ethos of violence and how to how to be gangster leader.
Mugabe, in his own way, has copied and exceeded Al Capone. Like Al Capone Mugabe has wielded a stick to beat and murder his opponents and public alike into cowed submission. And like Al Capone Mugabe has used his ill got wealth to bride those helping run his lawless and ruthless empire.
Whilst Capone never held any public office Mugabe has occupied the top job in Zimbabwe for three decades. The former had to content with bribing the Police; Mugabe commanded the Police, Army and other public security organs giving him unparalleled access to outwardly legal institutions to perform his dirty work. Mugabe has used, rather abused, his public office to completely undermine the electoral process; recently he deployed the Police and party militia to literally herd the electorate like sheep to vote for him. His public office position has also allowed him to commit human rights violation at a grand scale; he has murdered 20 to 30 000 people in the mid 1980s alone!
Al Capone’s mimesis was the Federal Treasury Officer, Elliot Ness ably assisted by three others. They succeeded in disrupting Capone’s illicit business dealing, end his reign of terror, intimidation and murder because they were determined to do just that and would not given to Capone’s threats nor brides – they were untouchable!
Mugabe’s mimesis for the last eight years was, supposedly, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party. One has to say, supposedly, because of the level of sheer incompetence and lack of focus shown by Tsvangirai and his MDC is such that one can not view them as anything more than just an annoyance to Mugabe. Something a lot worse, after the power sharing talks- the individual responsible for the rehabilitation of Mugabe so that he could carry on with his thuggery and brutality for a few more years. In the last 28 years Mugabe had worked himself and the country into a corner out of which there was no getting out without help. No doubt Tsvangirai has accepted the dubious role of rehabilitating Mugabe because he too would, at last, be given a cut of the wealth Mugabe has.
Unfortunately, in Zimbabwe politics there is no such thing as being untouchable. Everyone of our leaders have shown they have a price, pay it and they are yours to do as you please- Mugabe, the cunning old fox, has repeatedly he would not negotiate and beat down his opponents when he is forced to. The present position in which Tsvangirai is in a power sharing deal with Mugabe is nothing more than Mr Ness becoming Capone’s man.
There are certain things that one should be willing to give up or sell and others one must never ever give up or sell. In Africa, we have yet to reach that point; at present everything is up for grabs!
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