In the early 1990s, there was a British comedy series, Desmond’s, where a character called Matthew had a catchphrase: There is an old African saying. He would say it then quote some proverb from the contient.
The old African proverb ringing in my head these last few weeks has been: The croaking of frogs does not prevent the cows from drinking water.
Ever since South Africa’s Constitutional Court found President Jacob Zuma violated the Constitution in upgrading his Nkandla home, the opposition and some of the President’s erstwhile supporters have been saying Zuma must go, but to no avail.
As far as the president and his supporters are concerned, the President apologised to the nation after he was told off by the court and it is now time to move on.
A sixth sense I have about politics in Africa tells me no matter how loud the chorus against him gets, the President is prepared to Keep Calm and Carry On until such a time as it suits him.
As evidence, just a week after his TV apology, amidst mounting pressure for him to quit, the President told a meeting of traditional leaders that instead of turning to the courts, African problems should be solved in an African way.
This stance reminded me of another stubborn African leader, Kenya’s retired President Daniel arap Moi.
Moi often called for “African solutions to African problems”. He resisted calls to go until such a time that it suited him and his interests and nobody else.
Of course, he was helped along by a divided opposition, a pliable electorate and a suspect electoral commission.
Unlike in Kenya, South Africa’s local government elections are held at a different time from parliamentary elections. This year, they are due in August.
Many of Zuma’s opponents are hoping their supporters will use that as an opportunity to give Zuma and the ANC a bloody nose. However, I am willing to bet that the ANC and the President are hoping that by that time, people will have moved on and the backlash will not be as bad as it might have been had the local government polls been held in May, as many expected.
Ann Latham, the founder and president of Uncommon Clarity, a management consulting firm, lists five aspects of a stubborn leader on her website.
She says stubborn people doggedly hold on to a single position or course of action; they repeat themselves whether anyone is listening or not; they ask few questions and can be quite vocal about how little they care for the opinions of others; they have no intentions of learning, hearing new ideas, or moving away from their firmly stated position or plan; and they will drive people crazy with their inability to hear, learn, and change in any way.
All of this has helped convince me that I might never be president.
To begin with, I am really quite hopeless when it comes to the exercise of threats, force and violence, and without that aspect of personality, I could never be an African strongman in the way that so many of our continent’s leaders are.
Secondly, I am not very good at being stubborn in the face of mass appeals to reconsider. I always tend to see the other side of the argument and, if there is merit in it, I will even change my position on an issue.
All the same, please follow me on Twitter @MwangiGithahu