On Friday, 27 June 2008, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, also known as Comrade by his camaraderie of marauding thugs roaming about the breadth of Zimbabwe, will preside over his own election, uh again, as president of Zimbabwe.
Declared a sham, even a mock of an election, by the common voice of the international community and his neighbors in southern Africa alike, that has not stopped Mugabe’s men, or freedom fighters as he calls them, from baying for the blood of whomever Zimbabwean cannot correctly pronounce “Zanu-PF”, his machine to run roughshod over his hapless countrymen.
His perennial rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, having backed out of the presidential run-off, the 84 year old despot kicked a soccer ball high up into the air at a sports stadium this week as a show of virility to those who still doubt his undying resolve to cling on to power no matter what – and “only God can remove me from the presidency of Zimbabwe”.
Now that formally leaves Mugabe only at the mercy of zealous cartoonists who love to caricature him as a gorilla. And for good reasons. If looks alone was the reason for this, one could say they have been overdoing themselves but the man’s intimidating appearance, extreme strength, and chest-beating displays mimic the hairy animal to a great detail, and he loves it that way.
To him, Mugabe as an ape gives him a ferocious look backed up by his unleashing of machete-carrying war veterans on his rivals, which is rather unfortunate because ordinary Zimbabweans have grown increasingly timid about him.
Or it could be that he has sank so low that he has not any human feelings or morals left in him that he cannot see the suffering of his people. Zimbabwe, whose agricultural mainstay is all but collapsed, has one of the highest rates of HIV/Aids infection on the planet, and life expectancy has fallen to just 42.7 in 2006, according to World Bank figures.
In real life, the gorilla is not savage as thought even in the wild and is a very gentle mammal. But Mugabe has already run away with the prize, after an orgy of violence meted on his own people.
Speaking of running, Zimbabwe hyper-inflation figures are roaring too, even The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have lost track and do not have current figures. The economy of Zimbabwe is collapsing under the weight of economic mismanagement, resulting in 85% unemployment and spiraling hyperinflation. Consider this: a single sheet of two-ply toilet paper costs ZN$4000. People can not afford to buy a roll of toilet paper any more.
The economy poorly transitioned after Robert Mugabe’s leadership, deteriorating from one of Africa’s strongest economies to the world’s worst. By the latest count, inflation has surpassed that of all other nations at over 2,000,000%, with the next highest in Burma at 39.5%.
Zimbabwe is rapidly issuing new currency denominations by the day in a frantic but hopeless bid by the Mugabe government to beat prices of basic commodities. According to Wikipedia, attempts to control hyper-inflation have been proven futile as prices continued to rise.
More denominations ranging from ZN$5,000 to ZN$500 million had been issued by May 2008. In addition, in May 2008, special Agro Cheques with parallel functions of a Bearer Check were issued in denominations ZN$5 billion, ZN$25 billion and ZN$50 billion as the currency exchange rate was floated.
India’s Deccan Herald newspaper says: The European Union is said to be considering fresh sanctions against Zimbabwe. But experience shows that sanctions do not work in getting leaders to mend their ways. The only impact that years of sanctions has had on Zimbabwe is to impoverish its people.
But apparently the cries of desperation of the Zimbabwean people have failed to ring in the ears of Mugabe’s friends. Last month a UN resolution on the human rights situation failed because a group of African nations, including South Africa, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Nigeria put forth a No Action Resolution with heavy backing from Cuba and China, and urged the “opening of real negotiations with Zimbabwe.”.
According to the New Zimbabwe website, the Cubans and the Chinese said the resolution had nothing to do with human rights but the polarization of International Standards. This is how low the world has sank with Mugabe and continues to prop up a despot unto his death. Well, it’s an ape world…
Images courtesy: Wikimedia Commons and Blenderartists.org
The situation in Zimbabwe is quite serious and depressing, and indeed there are Zimbabweans like myself who have been trying to get support to get in the country and do some peaceful engagement especially with young people.
However, the outside world has been reluctant to support the Zimbabwean cause, with today, young people being made to pay for the sins of their liberator-fathers.
There are many ways to interpret the crisis in Zimbabwe.
But as a Zimbabwean, what has absolutely struck me is how truncated the version of history President Robert Mugabe and his cronies have been feeding to the people.
We have been made to believe that the history of Zimbabwe began with the bush war. Everything in Zimbabwe is seen through the lens of the bush war.
But, of course, the facts of the matter are that we have a larger history than that, and this truncated version only serves to propel the selfish interests of the incumbent regime.
As I have stated, there are many other mirrors to look at the Zimbabwe crisis, including missed opportunities to address institutional inequalities in 1980. Our Independence was negotiate in Lancaster, and as happens with any negotiation, there are bound to be compromises. One of the things that was compromised at Lancaster was the land question, and this issues always hung above the nation state like a virile serpent, and indeed exploded in 2000.
Also, in 1980, the people of Zimbabwe were never given an opportunity to determine their own constitution.
Only history will record who really failed the people of Zimbabwe.