Bob Takes Time to Reflect

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President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe speaking at the ruling ZANU-PF national conference on December 19, 2008., originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos.

It was reported yesterday that Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is going on a month long vacation . Of course, it’s not really a vacation now is it Bob? According to his official spokesman, this is going to be a working vacation where he will tackle the power sharing agreement between his Zanu-PF party and the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and reflect on the country’s economic sanctions. Okay, whatever!

Mugabe has been on vacation for quite some time now so announcing it is just a formality. He presides over a country with a growing cholera epidemic, widespread hunger and unfathomable suffering and human misery And now he’s taking time off to reflect?

The people of Zimbabwe need a vacation, Mr. Mugabe. I’m certain they’d like to have clean water, food and jobs. It’s time you thought of them of instead of yourself. Tyrants who oppress their people can’t really afford to leave the country because they may not have a country to return to. It happened to the Shah of Iran and also another esteemed African leader, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire.

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Zimbabwe is Mine and Other Delusions

“I will never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean.
Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans.”

-Robert Mugabe

That’s the problem with Bob and most of the leaders of African countries. They get elected President and the country becomes their own personal fiefdom to rule as they see fit. They have no regard for human rights, the suffering of others or their own people. All of this in spite of democratic elections and other pretensions. They quickly set their sights on getting rich and richer.

The country’s treasury usually becomes their own personal ATM, so most of the aid sent by well-meaning organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gets lifted before it can be used for it’s designated purpose. The no-strings attached aid from international aid organizations and Western countries to African countries has got to stop. For once, African leaders need to put their people and country first instead of their greedy selves.

According to Transparency International’s chairman, Huguette Labelle, in the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play. TI goes on to say that continuing high levels of corruption and poverty plaguing many societies is creating a humanitarian disaster that cannot be tolerated. As true as this may be, who is going to speak for the masses?

In Zimbabwe, life is extremely hard and people are hungry and desperate. The suffering is unfathomable. To add insult to injury, the average Zimbabwean can’t afford a loaf of bread, prices rise daily with an inflation rate that is a mind-boggling, 2,300,000%. They are desperately short of food, health care, clean water and safe sanitation.

Oxfam reports that cholera, a water-borne disease, has surged in Zimbabwe due to the breakdown of city sewerage systems, poor maintenance of water supply systems including hand pumps, severe drinking water shortages, and the lack of basic hygiene items such as soap. When news of the outbreak was first reported weeks ago, Bob said it was under control. Then he said it was introduced by Western forces as germ warfare against his country and people. Enough already!

So yes, Bob, Zimbabwe is yours, you’ve officially run it into the ground, so now what? It is easy to blame the West, your official boogeyman, but what are you going to do to alleviate the suffering and misery of your own people?

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Breaking Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe President Robert (Bob) Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Photo: AFP/File/Alexander Joe

I’ve always been a proponent of African solutions to African problems. Botswana’s Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani has come up with an ingenous idea to shut down Zimbabwe’s President-for-Life Robert Mugabe. Skelemani appears to be ahead of his peers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) who have silently stood by and watched Zimbabwe’s demise at the hands of their crony Mugabe.

Skelemani wants a blockade of Zimbabwe’s borders to force out Mugabe. For months, efforts to negotiate a power sharing agreement between Mugabe and his rival, Morgan Tsvangarai have been unproductive. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the SADC-appointed mediator, has done nothing to bring the two sides any closer but neither have the SADC or the African Union.

In the meantime, Zimbabwe continues on its downward spiral with the obstinate, trash-talking Mugabe who continues to be oblivious to the suffering and misery he has put his own people through. But don’t blame Mugabe, blame the British, even he will tell you that. If the British were ever trying to claim that Africans were incapable of self-rule, Mugabe and what he has done to Zimbabwe would be classic textbook example of this.

Besides a sinking economy, Mugabe also faces serious challenges to the country’s education and health care systems. School enrollment has shrunk from 90% to 20% because few teachers can afford transportation to school and even fewer parents can afford the tuition. Zimbabwe once had one of the highest literacy rates on the continent. A recent cholera outbreak has spread to the neighboring countries of Bostwana and South Africa because Zimbabwe lacks the health care facilities and personnel to address the epidemic. It can only get worse.

If I could wave my magic wand and make it better for those suffering in Zimbabwe, I definitely would. I know Zimbabwe’s problems cannot be solved overnight nor will they disappear if Mugabe were to step aside today but for once, I’d like to see an African leader put their country and people before their own greed. Perhaps Skelemani is on to something, if Mugabe’s peers put pressure on him, maybe he’d be more inclined to step aside, negotiate or change his evil ways. We already know the suffering and misery in his country isn’t enough to do it.

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Leaving Africa

Photo: Human Rights Watch

It’s been a while since I’ve written about political events and other happenings on the continent. I used to be quite the arm chair diplomat and critic when it came to African politics but I quickly burned out. Africa’s problems, it seems, are never ending and ever evolving.

Part of my frustration has to do with my inability to change the fact that children are being kidnapped from schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight in the civil war and that a 13 year old gang rape victim was stoned to death in a Somali stadium while more than 1,000 people looked on. If the most angry you can be on a scale of 1 – 10, then my anger clocks in at about 20 and I can’t do a damn thing about it.

The way in which some of us can go about raping, brutalizing and slaughtering one another knows no end and Africa is no exception. You can blame colonialism but you can also blame the West (in my book this is the U.S. and Europe) because they hand-picked African rulers based on political ideology and their own selfish needs. Some of these hand-picked leaders ended up being presidents-for-life, came to power by coup d’etat or were “democratically” elected through rigged elections.

Not only were these leaders dupes, pawns and sell-outs but they pillaged and looted their own treasuries and profits from natural resources and got very, very, very rich while the majority of their own people got very, very, very poor. The majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa eke out a living on less than $2 a day while their leaders are multi-millionaires and billionaires. If you’ve ever been to any country in Africa or the developing word, a million dollars might as well be a zillion dollars. It doesn’t matter.

The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between Joseph Kabila’s government troops and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s army has caused thousands to flee their homes for the countryside creating yet another humanitarian crisis and more human rights violations. The people living in the eastern part of the DRC are catching just as much hell as those fleeing attacks in Darfur, Sudan or gunfire in Mogadishu, Somalia. This is no joke.

Another looming issue further south is the impasse between Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangarai. Previous attempts to work out a power sharing agreement between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and the Tsvangarai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have failed on numerous occassions. Meanwhile the country is sliding further and further into the economic abyss. Sadly, those who have power are rarely willing to relinquish it let alone share it even when their time has come and gone; just ask Robert Mugabe.

While it is often difficult to get sitting presidents in Africa to leave office, it is more difficult to get them to negotiate with their rivals once they’ve outgrown the usefulness. In the meantime, people suffer because their basic needs aren’t even being met. Think food and water because jobs are very, very scarce. In Zimbabwe, while some people are scratching about for food, a team of mediators is trying to get Mugabe and Tsvangarai to come to terms. I would be willing to bet that neither Kabila, Mugabe or Tsvangarai go hungry, ever. Now that’s what makes me mad.

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Link of the Day: Thy Glory O Nigeria…

My friend, Adeola Aderounmu has written about Zimbabwean President-for-life, Robert Mugabe from a Nigerian perspective. You can read it here.

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He Might As Well Be King

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Robert Mugabe, originally uploaded by Siegfried Woldhek.

After the first presidential election in March, the only people surprised about the results of Zimbabwe’s election were Mugabe and the Zanu-PF. Since the one-sided run-off election was held a few weeks ago, Mugabe installed himself as the obstinate ruler and has turned a deaf ear to his critics, even on his side of the world. He ignored Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu and a host of other African leaders who have criticized Zimbabwe’s recent election as a fraud. Unfortunately, criticizing Mugabe only makes him more obstinate.

After his landslide ‘victory’ a few weeks ago, some members of the African Union have finally stepped forward to criticize Mugabe for his heavy-handed rule, namely Nigeria, Bostwana and Liberia, whom Mugabe quickly branded “western stooges”. Oblivious to the sage advice of Nelson Mandela and criticism by other African leaders, Mugabe left last week’s African Union meeting in a huff. While all of us in the west can “go hang”, what happens to the people of Zimbabwe?

I am surprised that African leaders have step forward to criticize Mugabe because I believe African solutions to African problems in this case have always meant mollycoddling the dictator. I haven’t figured out what it is about some African leaders who never want to yield power, ever. Reminds me of Mobutu Sese Seko, former president of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unlike Mobutu, Mugabe has run one of Africa’s most profitable economies into the ground. The same man that brought an end to British colonial rule has also brought on starvation and one of the lowest life expectancies in the world.

Like previous despots and dictators, Mugabe is intent on either having his dead corpse dragged out of office or being run out of office in disgrace. He can blame the west for his country’s travails all while creating more violence and intimidation against his critics and the opposition. While I don’t rule out some kind of covert influence by the British and possibly the Americans, only Mugabe is to blame for the abysmal state his country is in. It’s official, Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF cronies have run the country into the ground.

Stuck between a hard-headed ruler and a salty former colonial power, the people of Zimbabwe are the ones who suffer. Mugabe’s move to suspend food aid distributed by the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) ahead of the run-off election was the most callous and heinous act he could possible impose and sounds like a page out of the colonial master’s playbook.

With all this said, I’ve concluded that democratic elections in Africa are only democratic when those already in power get to keep it. And for rulers like Mugabe, to keep that power, they will do anything and everything.

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Mugabe Digs His Hole Deeper

Zimbabwe is a mess. Mired in hyperinflation and totalitarian rule, the country continues its downward spiral into the political and economic abyss. The blockheaded President Robert Mugabe is just as obstinate and ornery today as he was last year. South African President Thabo Mbeki has spent most of the year on quiet diplomacy in an attempt to persuade Mugabe to loosen the reins on power and negotiate with the opposition but there hasn’t been any progress. So much for African solutions to African problems.

Mugabe is quick to blame the west for all of Zimbabwe’s woes; he’s partially right but like any good tyrant, his country’s problems were created by someone else. Whether he wants to believe it or not, the blame for Zimbabwe’s demise rests squarely on his shoulders. No matter how high the inflation rate gets or how many people flee the country for better opportunity in South Africa and elsewhere, Mugabe never waivers.

In sub-Saharan Africa, a fraternity of insolent, callous and greedy leaders have mollycoddled Mugabe through his ongoing crises. Preferring solidarity to candor, not one leader wants to remind Mugabe that his time has come and gone. Zimbabwe has one of the world’s lowest life expectancy rate at age 38 and it’s difficult to overlook the country’s inflation rate which hovered near 8,000% in September. With these distinctions also comes high unemployment, food shortages and of course, tyrannical rule.

Mugabe has always rested on his African nationalist credentials but refuses to pay deference to two African leaders who could offer him some much needed advice. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and former South African President Nelson Mandela have both made attempts to meet with Mugabe but he has ignored them. If neither of these men can meet with Mugabe, the worst is yet to come.

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Link of the Day: This is Zimbabwe

This week Zimbabwe’s inflation rate hit a mind-boggling 7,600% this week. Defying basic economic principles, the government of Zimbabwe continues to print money and brow-beat businesses into keeping their prices low in spite of the fact that the average Zimbabwean can’t afford basic necessities. Being an African nationalist at heart, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe can’t help but blame the U.S. and Britain for all the ails his country. While I agree African leaders should find solutions to their own problems, Mugabe has yet to take responsibility for his country’s economic demise.

A big “up”to This is Zimbabwe, a blog devoted to human rights and democracy for the people of Zimbabwe.Sadly, Mugabe’s allies in the South African Development Committee (SADC) can do nothing but stand in solidarity with this octegenarian maniac which means bad news for the people of Zimbabwe.

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What Is Robert Mugabe Smoking, Part 2?

Zimbabwe is sinking further and further into an economic abyss. Although I’ve been predicting the demise of Robert Mugabe’s government for months now, desperate attempts by the government to avoid the inevitable, an economic, social and political implosion are destined to fail. I’m wondering just what Mugabe’s men are passing around in cabinet meetings, it could be the choke or the smoke, but these men are dispensing some very bad advice.

Last week my favorite Nobel Peace prize laureate, Desmond Tutu said that Mugabe needed some kind of “face-saving measure” so that he could leave office. It’s been clear for quite a long time that Mugabe isn’t leaving office unless he is dragged out or carried out. Forget about preserving his self-respect and dignity, the people of Zimbabwe have suffered enough. They’ve endured numerous indignities: food shortages, the world’s highest inflation rate and extreme poverty while being treated with indifference and disdain by their government.

Mugabe, an African nationalist, is quick to blame the British for meddling and the rest of the world for sanctions but he and his men have run Zimbabwe into the ground. Through all of his machismo and posturing, no one has treated the people of Zimbabwe worst than Mugabe. He joins an elite group of African leaders who has exploited his people for financial gain and used his power to intimidate and silence his critics. From shutting down the NGOs operating in his country to threatening to take over businesses who refuse to follow his economic edicts, Mugabe is very desperate man. Forcing businesses to cut prices by 50% while the country is in a state of hyperinflation is an unwise decision.

Feigning concern for the poor masses will not save Mugabe. One of his henchmen, Vice President Joseph Msika said that shops and businesses who refused to comply with the government’s decree to cut prices were “sell-outs” working with outside forces to destabilize the economy and topple Mugabe. Mugabe and his henchmen are getting desperate; they’ve been selling out their own people for years now. Lowering prices and beating up shop owners who refuse to comply is an attempt to curry favor with Zimbabwe’s suffering masses.

The best thing Mugabe could do at this point would be to step down as the country’s president. Sadly, none of his henchmen are honest enough to give the man some good advice.

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Hubris 2.0: The Robert Mugabe Version

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is facing the prospect of having his honorary degrees yanked. Online petitions are circulating at the University of Massachusetts, Michigan State University and Edinburgh University to strip Mugabe of his honors that were awarded back in the early days of his rule. Back in the day, Mugabe wasn’t nearly as much of a tyrant as he is now. The 80′s were glory days for Mugabe the freedom fighter and African nationalist.

A once prosperous Zimbabwe is now in social and economic ruin because of Mugabe. His cadre of Zanu-PF henchmen continue to fill his old grey head with lies and he believes them. George Charambra, one of Mugabe’s spokesmen quoted in the Mail & Guardian Online had the following response when questioned about Mugabe’s honorary degrees:

If anything, those Western universities improved their international profile by associating themselves with the president.

With an ego as large as the African continent itself, Mugabe refuses to take any blame for what has happened to his country. Zimbabwe’s ills are some else’s fault. He blames the West for his failed economic policy, bloodies those who dare speak out against his iron fisted rule and curries the support of his African cronies in the South African Development Commission (SADC).

I remain optimistic that the people of Zimbabwe will overcome Mugabe much like that overcame white minority rule when Zimbabwe used to be Rhodesia. I only hope that the opposition does not throw up another dictator like Mugabe. Pride is one thing but hubris is what brought down all of the great empires throughout history, Mugabe is no exception.

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