Vagrant Valentine

The New Statesman cover story this week carries a cautionary tale about the dangers of being crowned too early. As object lesson, the writer, Simon Akam, cited the case of Captain Valentine Strasser, former military leader of Sierra Leone, who now is reduced to drinking gin by the roadside in front of his mother`s house: "The Vagabond King" http://www.newstatesman.com/africa/2012/01/sierra-leone-strasser-war

But I don’t think that the lesson to be learned lies in the danger of being crowned too early. That might be the case if kingship was a preferred mode of government. But it is not. Modern leadership is something else. I am sure the NS knows that leadership is earned through persuasion in a democratic process. It is irrelevant whether you do it by force of character or by virtue of being able to outspend everyone else, as is the case in America. But persuade you must. Ancillary props like AK47s and RPGs are not allowed. And once you are in, you are still expected to earn your keep and make sure voters would want you back for as many times as the constitution allows.

In the case of military leaders, the arrangements are somewhat different. Entry is usually precipitate and exit may be equally so. But frequently, the desire to stay entrenched is overpowering in every sense and, unless the rest of the civilized world raises a stink, they hang in for an extended occupancy. Strasser’s tragedy was that he was not ruthless enough to keep himself safe-and long enough- from the predatory instincts of those around him.

       The African landscape is littered with usurpers of the people’s power who have remained in situ (office, I nearly said) for periods of up to four decades. The difference between them and Strasser is that they know how to ensure that those around them dare not bite the hand that feeds. Sooner or later, however, go they must. The going is never pretty. That is an outcome that all dictators must have bad dreams about.

Strasser’s predicament looks even worse than it should be because, at 45, he has probably another 30 years or so to live, unless the gin gets him earlier. Had he been 60 or 50 or even 40 years when he and his band of unhappy warriors seized power, the arrangements for his exit would almost certainly not have involved retreat to a university campus where, we know, there is very little tolerance for ex-dictators...

…Picture the soon-to-be ex-dictator, Robert Mugabe being offered an opportunity to improve his mind, say, at Harvard or Oxford, as inducement to relinquishing power without the shedding of blood. First off, you can be sure that you wouldn’t be able to afford his monthly stipend. And then, the cries of ``Occupy Harvard” or ``Occupy Oxford,” would be enough to drown those from the occupiers of the epicentres of world finance. Moreover, pushing 90, Mugabe’s shelf-life is limited, anyway (we hope), so whatever small pension fund he might have managed to put together over the last four decades should ensure that his declining years are comfortable and that attractions such as the student life remain non-competitive. And even if, through some seismic event, circumstances were to force him to resort to gin drinking he would at least be able afford a splash of tonic water to take the edge off the liquor’s tartness as he drains a Tot-a-Pac.

Thus, the picture of a Mugabe type slowly decomposing by the roadside in an alcoholic fog is, somehow, improbable. His is not the type to worry about.

Strasser’s case, however, might be a special one. To be sure, he would not pass the Mo Ibrahim test, but his history could still warrant consideration for more generous state help. But the political fallout from that cannot bear thinking about. The alternative, already under consideration in some quarters, of raising a private subscription, might have legs, but the challenges could be enormous and would require much discussion and delicate handling behind closed doors.

Unpalatable as that might be, it would be a small vote of thanks to someone who intervened at a dangerous time in the nation’s history.

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