Somebody just pitched scrapping Zimbabwe's entire democratic setup and crowning Emmerson Mnangagwa king, and he means it literally.
Joshua Maponga, an author and philosopher, wants a fresh constitutional amendment he calls CAB4. His logic runs like this. Democracy arrived from the West; it never fit African soil, and Zimbabwe could be the continent's first country to formally ditch it for a throne. He points out that Zimbabwe led on land reclamation, and figures it can lead here as well.
His target is CAB3, which already became the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act. That law stripped voters of picking the president directly, handing the job to a joint parliamentary sitting while stretching terms. Rip it up, he says, and run the same legislative machinery toward a monarchy instead.
Educated Zimbabweans caught the worst of it. He branded them parrots recycling imported ideas and challenged Tendai Biti, Fadzayi Mahere, Gift Ostallos Siziva, and Nelson Chamisa to face him.
Donald Trump is his Exhibit A for democracy working badly. Bombed countries and a dead Muammar Gaddafi round out the argument.
Joshua Maponga, an author and philosopher, wants a fresh constitutional amendment he calls CAB4. His logic runs like this. Democracy arrived from the West; it never fit African soil, and Zimbabwe could be the continent's first country to formally ditch it for a throne. He points out that Zimbabwe led on land reclamation, and figures it can lead here as well.
His target is CAB3, which already became the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act. That law stripped voters of picking the president directly, handing the job to a joint parliamentary sitting while stretching terms. Rip it up, he says, and run the same legislative machinery toward a monarchy instead.
Educated Zimbabweans caught the worst of it. He branded them parrots recycling imported ideas and challenged Tendai Biti, Fadzayi Mahere, Gift Ostallos Siziva, and Nelson Chamisa to face him.
Donald Trump is his Exhibit A for democracy working badly. Bombed countries and a dead Muammar Gaddafi round out the argument.
