by Daniel Molokele

Words alone can never be sufficient to describe the absolute feeling of hope and optimism that has engulfed my spirit right now. I am completely overwhelmed to say the least.

I have just witnessed one of the shortest public speeches ever given by a public in my entire life. I have just been watching from the comfort of my Geneva residence the live broadcast of the great icon Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday speech.

His speech was typical of him in his latter years. Terse. Concise. Precise. Just straight to the point so to speak.

The birthday boy simply accepted that he had been privileged enough to be part of an arduous fight for his generation. His generation had its own demons that threatened to disfigure the entire moral concept of humanity.

In 1948, a youthful Mandela had witnessed the rise to power of the Nationalist Party.

The new ruling party had surprisingly won the elections on its clear vision predicated upon the racial superiority of the white part of the South African population. This is the party that engineered and implemented the racist and discriminatory apartheid policy.

This then became the clearly defined challenge of Mandela’s generation.

It so happened on the day he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment during the now infamous Rivonia treason trials, Mandela had defiantly uttered the following resounding words:

“"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

And so tonight at exactly 60 years after the fateful events of 1948 that shaped his entire generation, Mandela gave his swansong, his final key public words to humanity.

Essentially, Mandela was simply saying we need to use our own hands to also grapple with the critical issues of our own times. As he celebrated his 90th birthday evidently had this feeling of fulfillment and mission accomplishment. He had successfully completed the task that history bestowed upon his generation. Madiba’s long walk to freedom was finally over.

Apartheid is gone now. Hopefully forever!

But how sad it is that after Mandela was joined by thousands upon thousands young people from all over the world at London’s Hyde Park, another would be great man in human history was cutting across as alone figure somewhere in Harare, Zimbabwe.

While Mandela had spent his week being walked across from Buckingham Palace, No. 10 Downing Street up to the lush green grounds of Hyde Park and so on.

Another would-be great man was criss-crossing Zimbabwe from Gwanda, Mutare, and Bulawayo up to Harare, desperately fighting for attention from a nation that has learnt to ignore him and live through the ordeal of the curse of ever having him as their so-called President.

The difference of the night of 27th June 2008 to these two men is so astounding!

Mandela old as he is is now a much sought after global citizen. Everyone wants Mandela to wine and dine with them. Everyone! I mean absolutely everyone! Everyone from Queen Elizabeth, Naomi Campbell, Oprah, Will Smith, Bono, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Gordon Brown, George Bush and maybe even Barrack Obama and John McCain. Not to forget the unforgettable feisty Hillary Clinton!

But then Robert Mugabe had an embarrassingly strenuous week of increased isolation. Everyone who mattered in Africa and the rest of the world was desperate not to be remotely seen to be associated with him. Even the usually reticent Mandela himself was forced to protect his 46664 brand from the dusting effect of Mugabe’s worsening unpopularity.

While Mandela was counting his 90 years of so many blessings; Mugabe was busy trying to count and make political sense of the few ballot papers of the few terrified Zimbabweans who had bothered to participate in his Muppet show he dared to market as a run-off election. Few people had bothered to give credence to his desperate clutch to some form of legitimacy via this sham of an election.

And so finally it had to dawn on him that after 28 long years in power, Mugabe long journey to ignominy had finally reached its dead end.

While the excited crowds sung in unison at Hyde Park, “Free Nelson Mandela!” I was also glad to sing along but with my own hastily composed lyrics. I was singing that “FREE ZIMBABWE!!!”

Like Mandela, I am so confident that sooner than later my beautiful motherland Zimbabwe would also be free at last too. Freedom is coming tomorrow. So get ready!!!

Daniel Molokele is a Zimbabwean born human rights lawyer who is now based in Geneva

Mr. Daniel Molokele
Geneva