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Robert Mugabe Vs Patrick Manning
| Education | Both politicians are university educated; Mugabe, however, currently has seven earned university degrees more than Manning. [1] |
| Unity and integration | Mugabe promoted Pan-Africanism and unity throughout his career; Manning proposed his idea of regional integration, specifically with Barbados and Jamaica in 1992, via the “Manning Initiative.” [1,2] |
| Abolition of position of PM | Mugabe abolished the position of Prime Minister and assumed the position of President in 1987; Manning now proposes a change in the constitution for the establishment of an Executive President. [1] |
| Moral Campaigns | Mugabe promoted a “moral campaign” against homosexuals; although never quoted as being explicitly bigoted, Patrick Manning refuses to implement the Draft Gender Policy because according to him, “there are certain recommendations in the document to which the government does not and will not subscribe,” and “my religious beliefs do not allow for a flexible interpretation of gender.” He also has made no change to the Equal Opportunity Act 2000, which fails to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, age, HIV/AIDS and other grounds. [1,4,5,6] |
| Inflation | Both have reigned over periods of unexpected increases in inflation. [1,7] |
| Land reforms | Land reforms in Zimbabwe allowed for the confiscation of land from 4,000 white farmers without compensation; the closure of Caroni Ltd. displaced 9,000 employees directly, and 20,000 small farmers in total, without adequate compensation or provisions to prevent hardship. [1,8] |
| Food imports | Zimbabwe depends on food imports and food programs from outside to feed its population; in the last twenty years Trinidad & Tobago has seen its imported retail food products rise to 70-80% of all retailed food products. [1,9] |
| Arrests of leaders | Trade unionists, church leaders, and other individuals opposed to Mugabe’s policies have been arrested for allegedly meeting without first seeking approval from the police; an imam, a pundit, two politicians, and an investigative journalist were arrested for participating in a public march, protesting rising crime, without police permission in Trinidad. [10,11,12,13,14] |
| Message to ethnic groups | Both have told other ethnic groups “not to fear” them. [1,13] |
| Chief Justices charged with criminal offences | Under Manning's watch both the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice have been charged with criminal offences. The only other country in the Commonwealth to have done the same is Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. [15] |
References
1. “Robert Mugabe” and “Patrick Manning;”http://Wikipedia.com
2. Ricky Singh, 20/06/2003; Jamaica Observer 2003
3. Patrick Manning, 18/07/2006; http://www.opm.gov.tt/news/index.php?pid=2001&nid=sp060818
4. Trinidad and Tobago Humanist Association, 04/10/2005; http://www.humanist.org.tt/forum/comment/2005/budget.html
5. Trinidad and Tobago Humanist Association, 28/03/2006; http://www.humanist.org.tt/forum/comment/2006/secular_manning.html
6. Trinidad and Tobago, Reports to Treaty Bodies, FOR THE RECORD 2002 - THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM, Human Rights Internet; http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2002/engtext/vol4eng/trinidadtb.htm
7. BBC News; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/643737.stm
8. Response to the 2006/7 Budget by the Hon. Leader of the Opposition; http://www.guardian.co.tt/response.html
9. Trinidad and Tobago: opportunities abound in food service and retail sectors; http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3723/is_10_14/ai_94778874
10. Zimbabwe union leaders released on bail, afrol News, 9 August; http://www.afrol.com/articles/13655
11. Police arrest nine church leaders in Kadoma, Zim Online (SA); http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=15927
12. Zimbabwe police arrest church and civic leaders, confiscate nonviolence materials -29/01/07, News briefing from Ekklesia; http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_070129zimb.shtml
13. Police assault of people protesting against crime: the october 6, 2003 arrests in trinidad and Tobago, Dr Kumar Mahabir – anthropologist, department of communications, COSTAATT (community college), mt hope medical sciences complex; http://premkahani.tripod.com/Dr_Kumar_TT.html
14. Trinidad Guardian, Saturday 28th May, 2005; http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/2005-05-28/news3.html
15. Patrick Manning; http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Patrick_Manning
Acknowledgement: http://mahatma-g.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E6E3258381D55C65!173.entry
- 2626 reads
The similarities are striking. Someone took much time to investigate this. The findings appear a fair comparison. I hope we have some dissenting views as well.
Thomas Paine said, “a constitution is not the act of government, but of a people constituting a government, and a government without a constitution is a power without a right….A constitution is a thing antecedent to a government; and a government is only a creature of a constitution.”
I've always been concerned about tinkering with the Constitution. It is the highest form of law for a Nation. I liken it to the CPU or the 'brain' of a country. Before you decide to tinker with it, you better be sure problems meant to be fixed by tinkering at that level, cannot be solved by interventions at lower levels. Brain surgery can cure big-toe pains, but not many people will opt for the former as a solution to the latter.
In the light of Paine's reference to the people in relation to the Constitution:
I wonder if there has been any public consultation on the need to change the constitution. Some of us from thousands of miles away may have missed it.