He was a friend of Rwanda, an early member of the Paul Kagame team to reform the African Union. A frequent visitor to Kigali, and one of the last pillars of the fragile relationship between the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and the African National Congress (ANC). Tito Mboweni was only 64.
A close friend of fellow prominent Economist, Rwanda’s Dr Donald Kaberuka, who must be devastated. He currently chaired the AU Peace Fund that the latter helped set-up. Together they made sure that a fund set-up by Paul Kagame and Donald Kaberuka, doesn’t aid a SADC force that has coalesced with the very people who proclaim death upon their country, namely the FDLR. With his demise, nothing is guaranteed.
Mr. Mboweni’s untimely death throws open the question of Rwanda – South Africa relations, as the new comers within the ANC, due to their lack of culture and little knowledge of history, seem drawn to genocide perpetrators, FDLR, and Rwandan opposition exiled in their country.
Why was he, with Thabo Mbeki, the last friends of Rwanda in South Africa? Because they were both ideologised. They were true disciples of Nelson Mandela, who, in his time, understood the cause of the RPF and supported early on, the fledgeling government that had just stopped the genocide in Rwanda. Mandela endorsed the RPF pursuit of genocide perpetrators who had set-up a base in former Zaire and launched attacks on the Rwandan territory.
After Mandela and Mbeki who maintained excellent relations with Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, their successors were more interested in mining deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Elder Mboweni’s passing poses a pressing matter, here. It is time to renew statesmen of his caliber within the ANC and most historical parties, including our own RPF. We need to bring back ideologues and give them center stage in our political families, which seems to have been taken over – by populists in the ANC, and technocrats in the RPF.
Many of the frontline parties – including the RPF seem to have rejuvenated, by gradually replacing the revolutionaries with children of the revolutions. The RPF has a system of electing Youth Commissioners who co-chair commission work with their senior Commissioners. At times, the seniors voluntarily take the back seat and let the youth, lead. Others, including the ANC, have “Youth Leagues”.
The FRELIMO, MPLA, SPLA, NRM, ZANU-PF, SWAPO, ANC and RPF have all managed maintained stability in their respective countries. Although being increasingly challenged by emerging oppositions, I think liberation political parties will remain in power for a long time.
The problem, in my view, is lack of ideology. Young cadres do not read history. They all read: “the seven rules of power”, “the ten rules of a highly efficient leader”, “the twenty rules of getting rich”, and any such comercial, instant satisfaction, self-evident truths, profusely dished out by modern-day gurus…
“in ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ by Edward Gibbon, where he explores the multifaceted reasons behind Rome’s decline, emphasizing moral decay and loss of civic virtue. He asserts: “The rise of a city, which swelled into an empire, may deserve, as a singular prodigy, the reflection of a philosophic mind. But the decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest”, a colleague reminded, in relation to this conversation.
I frequently met Late Tito at RPF events and each time asked him for a cooking recipe. He was an excellent cook – or so he believed, since he shared his daily dishes online; a lover of life. I’ll miss his daily recipes of dishes, humor and wit!
May he RIP. My condolences to his family, to the RPF and to Dr Kaberuka.
