A Loss For Zimbabwe
Posted on June 22, 2008 - Filed Under Africa, Elections, Zimbabwe |
Change, real change for Zimbabwe seemed to be only days away. After years of running this once proud nation into the ground, President Robert Mugabe finally had a challenger worthy of the succeeding him. All that needed to happen was for a free and fair election to take place on June 27th. But now, that is not going to happen and as long as Mugabe is in charge, it never will.
Mugabe’s war veterans and stalwart supporters had already launched a campaign of violence against all persons affiliated with the opposition party and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The accounts of arrests, detentions, even murders are well documented. Last week the Mayor of Harare’s wife was killed. Her crime was her support for Tsvangirai.
On June 27th the people of Zimbabwe had a choice. Go vote and risk your life or stay home. It was going to be an arduous choice and there is no doubt that some would have died at the ballot box. Rather than force people into that terrible choice, Tsvangirai decided today he has seen enough and he ended his campaign.
This gives the Presidency back to Mugabe and his murderous corrupt regime. It would have been admirable for Tsvangirai to stay the course and challenge Mugabe on election day, but the outcome was already clear. Mugabe was going to steal the election anyway, so why risk the lives of so many when the outcome was a fait accompli?
Even in Zimbabwe there is political spin. One of Mugabe’s political hacks declared that Tsvangirai had quit the race because he knew he was going to be soundly defeated on election day. This belies the truth that yes he would have lost, but only because the election was to be rigged. In the first round of voting earlier this year, Tsvangirai thrashed Mugabe at the polls only to have his victory overturned by election chicanery.
So now what? First, the international community must come down hard on the tyrant Mugabe. He must not be allowed to share the stage with the international community like he did in Rome last month. He must be isolated, repelled and decried. It is doubtful his people will read about his actions in the newspaper or television since the state controls the media. In Zimbabwe you need a license to be a reporter.
Just how bad is it now in Zimbabwe? If you live in Zimbabwe you are a victim of hyperinflation by a government that is so mismanaged and corrupt it has eviscerated this once strong and proud economy. People walk around the street carrying heavy bricks of cash that are wrapped in thick rubber bands. If you want to buy a coke, it will cost you 30 million Zimbabwean dollars. On your way home from work you can stop off at your local supermarket and pickup a chicken for dinner (if there is even any chicken in the supermarket) for a mere $20 million. If your car is low on gas, the refill will run you about $1.8 billion.
Just before the first election, Mugabe quadrupled the salary for all government employees. Normally that would be greeted with much happiness, despite it being an obvious election tactic. It didn’t work. Even with the increase, their income was so low when compared to their expenses, that it didn’t cover bus fare to and from work.
The events of today are the end of one campaign but should also serve as the catalyst for another - the international campaign against Mugabe. It’s a campaign that must be won, or Zimbabwe will be lost.
Sphere: Related ContentComments
One Response to “A Loss For Zimbabwe”
Leave a Reply
In order for there to be a lasting, stable and just government in Zimbabwe, Zimbabweans must be willing to seize it for themselves and have the wherewithal to hold it. They need what the opposition has - numbers and a willingness to fight. Sure, the international community can come in and tear everything up, but if that has to be the case, was Zimbabwe not better off under the British? I’m sorta of the opinion that society produces its best and gets no more or less than what it deserves. If the US pulled out of Iraq, for example, and the people chose Shariah law, then there’s my point made again. The sum will not be greater than its parts, and even though we might be able to rectify the situation short term, its another thing altogether to program people into our way of thinking. Zimbabwe has this racist pride thing going on where they’re free of the British, killing off whatever whites are left, and now they’re reaping the benefits of that ineptitude. The west is probably holding back military intervention because Zimbabwe didn’t like Imperialism Part One, and they figure they wouldn’t appreciate Part Two either. Its almost as if Zimbabwe in a round-about way ASKED for the freedom to create this current situation, so why convolute matters by interjecting the west again? Does anyone think if the US went in and removed Mugabe ( Saddam-style ) that Zimbabweans would not eventually peg us for the source of their problems instead of the solution?