Tag Archives: Zimbabwe

total madness

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Robert Mugabe and his men have been preparing for his 85th birthday. And it is going to be a big celebration. Reading this left me speechless. If the story is true (I still find it hard to believe) then a whole lot of people in the Zimbabwean government need to have their heads examined, after which they should be sent to the gallows. It is utterly unconscionable that anyone should be dreaming of such a grand party for an autocratic leader who has run his country’s economy aground. The only thing this monster deserves for his 85th birthday is a one way ticket to Pluto. He is a shame to humanity.

Also, shame on all those people who have donated money to these efforts. With millions of Zimbabweans living on food aid they should know better than to waste their money on Mugabe’s birthday party. I hope someone finds out who they are and makes public their names and the amounts they donated.

will someone please take this mad man away

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Robert Mugabe is a delusional mad man bent on destroying himself and his entire country. Ok, may be I am overplaying it, but what do you make of a man who is denying that there is cholera in his country while hundreds continue to die and flee into other countries? A man who continues to cling to power when the economy of his country is a total mess with super-hyper-inflation and no prospect of recovery? A man whose strongman rule and outright thuggery has sent an estimated more than three million people fleeing to neighboring countries and beyond? What do you make of this man than to conclude that there is something seriously wrong with his head?

12 million human beings should never have to suffer because of the selfishness and greed of one man. Humanity has failed and continues to fail in allowing Robert Mugabe to continue being the president of Zimbabwe. It is time someone in SADC or the AU or the UN or the EU or NATO grew a pair and sent this old man a serious message with details about his departure from the helm. Previously, I was of the opinion that he should be accorded amnesty in some country somewhere, far away from Zim but not anymore. This man should be arrested and tried for crimes against humanity. The international community should stop pretending and see the Zimbabwean political, health and economic crises for what they really are  – tools of war being used by this mad man Rob against his own people.

Why is Mbeki not being as serious as he ought to be about this? Where is Kofi Annan? Where is the UN on this? Enough with the toothless resolutions. Do something. Innocent people are dying.

And I am not being delusional myself. I am not in any way insinuating that the departure of Mugabe will be the panacea to all of Zim’s problems. Far from that. The damage has been done and it will take a generation or two to fix it. But the departure of Mugabe will definitely be the beginning of the end of the many ills that have plagued Zimbabwe since the mid 1990s.

these not so serious leaders of zimbabwe

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It has been ages since Zimbabwe held elections but until now Robert Mugabe (having stolen the elections) and his nemesis Morgan Tsvangirai (the supposed winner) are yet to reach a deal to form a government. This deadlock is not about policy. It is not about how these two men will stear Zimbabwe out of the mess it has found itself in. It has nothing to do with increasing school enrolment, creating jobs or improving post-natal care for rural women. The squabbling that continues to deny the people of Zimbabwe a government is over cabinet posts – posts that are to be filled with men who are as alienated from the struggles of the rural folk as that infamous French queen was. It is a tragedy. It is a total travesty.

The regional leaders are still calling for more summits. Opportunities to spend tax payers money while discussing how to divide that money among the same corrupt men who seem to have completely lost direction and the interest to serve their people.

Do these guys know the inflation rate in their country? Do these guys see how Zimbabweans are suffering in camps in South Africa or in the other countries in Southern Africa?

It is a shame. A big shame. Who cares about who holds what posts? As a the former president of Kenya would say: will this in any way increase the number of utensils in any ordinary Zimbabwean’s house? Whatever happened to policy?

zimbabwean leaders, stop acting childish

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Am I the only one tired of the antics of Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai? This struggle over which ministries to give to which party is turning into child play. How hard can it be to agree on which posts to take? This is not rocket science. And what gives these lunatics of leaders the idea that they can continue to mortgage their citizens’ lives as they leisurely engage in inane political fights??

Zimbabweans are hurting – no one needs a reminder about this. And I just read an article about the collapsing school system. This is particularly sad because education holds the key to the future. If Zimbabwean children lag behind they are going to have a hard time catching up and competing in the increasingly globalized labor market – if and when their economy recovers and sanity returns to their country.

Quite frankly, I am simply sick and tired of the circus that is the negotiations. Mugabe and Tsvangirai should be locked in a room without food or bathroom break until they come up with a deal that will work for Zimbabweans and stop the madness that has characterised this once promising African country.

after kenya, zimbabwe …. bad precedences?

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So the big news coming out of the continent today is the big signing of a deal between Robert Mugabe and his long-time foe Morgan Tsvangirai. The deal guarantees Tsvangirai, the legitimate winner of the last presidential elections in Zimbabwe, powers for the day to day running of the country while Mugabe still leads the military and the cabinet.

This deal is kind of the same that Kenyans adopted after the disputed presidential elections last December. While in Kenya’s case it wasn’t as clear as to who won the election, in Zimbabwe it was as clear as the springs of Nyandarua that Morgan Tsvangirai beat the senile Mugabe in the polls. The sharing of power with a political thief in the mold of Mugabe is an affront against democracy. The nature of democratic elections is that winners take it all. Losers should accept the results and wait for the next election cycle. This applies equally to incumbents and the opposition. I was mightily pleased with the poise by which UNITA handled its loss in the just concluded elections in Angola – although if you ask me I think they should pull up their socks and grants Angolans true democracy by being more competitive.

Anyway, as happy as I am for Zimbabweans, I hope this phenomenon – of presidents stealing elections and then appointing the real winners prime ministers – does not catch on on the continent. I hope that Kenya and Zimbabwe are the last to go through this weird electoral circus.

How much longer will the world sit back and watch?

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As usual, the news coming out of Zimbabwe are not good. Images of armed youth chasing and beating opposition supporters and reports of whole villages being overrun by government operatives for the simple crime of voting for the opposition are in the least very sickening. Robert Mugabe, the ancient independence hero of the republic of Zimbabwe has vowed to stay in power and told his opponents that only God can remove him from power. Perhaps it is time Zims remembered the Biblical note that God works through the hands of men and do the necessary. The old man should be removed from office and exiled to some island in the indian ocean, or better still he should be exiled to Britain – the land that he has grown to hate and blame for all the ills affecting his people.

The problem in Zimbabwean has again exposed the dysfunction that is the continent of Africa. The de facto leader of the continent, one Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is on record as to having said that there is nothing wrong with Zim and that the international media should tone down on the negative reporting. Mr. Mbeki must be mad. The other presidents on the continent couldn’t care less. A few of them have voiced concern but without offering any concrete solutions. For now they seem to be bent on protecting one of their own. A real dirty shame.

The wider international community has also bought into the tactic of all barks and no bite. It has been left to the BBC, CNN and the spokespeople of the state department in the US and foreign ministry in the UK to condemn the actions of ZANU-PF and their supporters in ZIm.

I think it is time civil society groups across Africa held demonstrations to force their leaders to step in and talk old Rob out of power. The man is 84 and has been in power since 1980. In this period Zim has descended from being a food exporter to a country where millions depend on international food aid. It is time for him to go. And it is a real dirty shame that Africa and the rest of the world continues to sit back and watch as old Rob continues to sink his country deeper into the ground.

time to rethink the idea behind sovereignty

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In the book The Bottom Billion, the author Paul Collier talks about the growing international apathy at the suffering of millions of people around the world. This, he says, has been reinforced by a general dislike of interventionist measures especially after the Somalia and Iraq fiascoes. Somalia made the US be wary of military interventions even in dirt poor third world countries like Somalia that hasn’t had a functioning government since Siad Barre was deposed in the early nineties. Enough has been said about Iraq.

But are these two cases enough to make the international community completely abandon millions of people to be tormented and killed by their own governments? I am thinking about the horrible situations that are currently playing out in Burma, Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and many other places where governments are killing their own citizens or letting them die for political or ideological reasons. This is unacceptable and should not be allowed to continue.

I echo Collier’s call that the international community set a precedence; that tyranny against civilians will not be tolerated anywhere on the globe. This is not a call for haphazard invasions all over the place. But there are extreme cases that should be addressed more forcefully. The genocide in Darfur should not be allowed to continue simply because Northern Sudan is a Muslim country with a potential for being jihadist. Thousands of people should be let to die in the jungles of the DRC simply in honor of that ungovernable country’s sovereignty. And does Mugabe really deserve to be sovereign in a country that he continues to drive deeper into hell? And what claim does the military junta in Burma have on sovereignty when they let tens of thousands die and hundreds of thousands without help even when the international community itches to help after a devastating cyclone hit the country?

All these extreme cases should be considered as exceptions. Somalia and Iraq should not stop the international community from ever acting again in an effort to save human lives. I am not calling for a neoconservative style democratization of the world, dictators can be tolerated, but only when they are not actively killing their own people or denying them food and other basic needs. Is this too much to ask of them?

Sovereignty should not be seen as an end in itself. Political leaders should know that the international community will only let them enjoy sovereignty when they act responsibly. I happen to believe that democratic government is the ideal but different places have different needs in different stages of their history. For instance young countries may not necessarily thrive as democracies, but this does not give their leaders a right to act like the Al-Bashirs and Than Shwes of this world.

how much longer can Zimbabweans tolerate Mugabe?

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A day after Zimbabwe’s March election there were already rumors that Robert Mugabe had lost and was trying to negotiate a graceful exit from power. But Rob was to have none of this. He ordered the electoral commission not to announce the results of the presidential election even though the opposition’s tallies confirmed their claim to victory. Meanwhile parliamentary results confirmed that Rob’s party, the ZANU-PF had lost its majority in Parliament to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In desperation, Rob ordered for a recount in several constituencies but even this did not overturn the original results.

With Mugabe having lost the election and his apparent resolve to stay in power come what may (evidenced by his failed attempt to purchase weapons from China) it remains to be seen just how much longer the people of Zimbabwe can put up with this crazy old man before all hell breaks loose and people pour into the streets. It has to happen at some point. Political Science theory says that revolutions happen just when things begin to get better and Rob may have initiated this process by allowing the MDC to win the elections. He could have simply rigged the vote to give himself a clear win – both for the presidency and parliament. But by allowing the MDC to win parliament and the presidency (although a run-off is in the offing) he has shown his people that he is indeed beatable and demystified himself.

The writing is on the wall for Rob and his cronies. But he still has support from a significant segment of the Zimbabwean population and thus any kind of uprising against him will almost inevitably be met with stiff opposition from his supporters. He may be a thug to most non-Zimbabweans but to his country people he is an independence hero who sacrificed a lot for his country. Because of this there is an increasing risk of conflict within the country.

As the international community continues to watch from a distance, (with South African president Mbeki makeing silly statements like this) Zimbabwe keeps moving even closer to the tipping point. I believe total collapse can be avoided by having Rob step down (forcefully if necessary) before it is too late. The alternative is to wait and send in peace keepers after the fact.

Mugabe nears exit

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The end has come. Judging from what I hear and the stuff I am reading online, it is apparent that Robert Mugabe has lost in last weekend’s general elections. The people of Zimbabwe have finally managed to send home their many faceted leader. Mugabe was at once a militant, a mild mannered gentleman with some class, the independence hero of the former British colony and a tyrant who killed and jailed many and drove his country’s economy deep into the ground.

The supposed winner of the elections, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, is playing it cool. He says that although he is confident that he won he is not going to declare victory until the electoral commission officially announces the results. If indeed the MDC has won then uncle Bob will have done a great job of diminishing my afro-pessimism.

The next few days are going to be critical for Zimbabwe, especially following remarks by it’s security forces that they would not serve under Mr. Tsvangirai. However, it seems that even this threat cannot muffle Zimbabweans’ cries for change. The Times of London is reporting that Mugabe is right now trying to negotiate a settlement that will guarantee him immunity from prosecution under the new government. I guess that is the least they could do for an independence hero.

zimbabwe opposition a let down

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You would imagine that with a president like one Robert Mugabe the Zimabwean opposition would do anything in their capacity to have him out of power. But you would be wrong. This power hungry lot (yes, this is what I think of them) has refused to come up with a coalition against Mugabe. Their leaders, Tsvangirai and Mutambara, have confirmed that talks between their rival MDC factions have “broken down irretrievably” – according to the BBC.

A divided MDC almost certainly guarantees the aging Mugabe a win in the March polls. Meanwhile, ordinary Zimbabweans continue to live their lives under the yoke of the wayward economic practices that the world has come to know the Mugabe administration for. Mugabe’s bad economics has also been served with a touch of human rights abuses and lack of respect for the rule of law. It is really shocking to imagine how he manages to get re-elected.

Tsvangirai and Mutambara owe it to their countrymen and women to form a united front if they really want to unseat Mugabe. They have no business running separate campaigns in March because this will guarantee the presidency to Mugabe. Knowing African leaders (yes, I think after all that has happened on the continent from Senegal to Somalia and Chad to South Africa I can make this generalization, but I digress) I don’t think these two power hungry men will let their egos and quest for personal aggrandizement take the back seat and let the plight of their countrymen and women take the front seat.

Sadly, this is yet another case of African leaders lacking true leadership. It also paints a bad picture of both Tsvangirai and Mutambara and makes one doubt whether these two really want to end the bad governance that we’ve come to associate with Bob or whether they just want to perpetuate the same old practices of rent-seeking, cronyism and over-the-roof inflations rates – but may be with less human rights abuses and the jailing of opposition supporters. Even this is questionable, after seeing what Kenya has turned into following the “bad” years of Moi rule. African leaders just have a way of making you look back and shock yourself by wishing you had the likes of Moi in power.

If Tsvangirai and Mutambara care about their international reputation thy ought to unite. Otherwise many reasonable people will question their vision for Zimbabwe and indeed their commitment to ousting Mugabe and bettering the lives of millions of hungry, sick and illiterate Zimbabweans.