The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. - Peter Drucker
A lot of crimes go unpunished in the world. It has happened long before I was born and will continue to happen long after my death.
As I’ve stated many time, we all have a belief that the further away something is, the less we are bothered by it. With that in mind I give you Zimbabwe under the ‘leadership’ of Robert Mugabe.
The 83-year-old President has been head of the government since 1980 and since then his administration has been criticised for suppression of political opposition, mishandling of land reform, economic mismanagement, deteriorating human rights and corruption in Zimbabwe. One would have thought it was a label a government would be keen to be rid of, but during his reign these problems have steadily increased.
His political battles with former Prime Minister, of the country then known as Southern Rhodesia, Ian Smith more then likely shaped his views for complete control. In 1964 he was arrested for “subversive speech”, spending the next 10 years in prison. During that period he earned three degrees, including a law degree and a bachelor of administration from London by correspondence courses.
Having been a part of the creation of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1963; Mugabe then staged a coup from prison in 1974 in which he disposed the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole as leader of the party.
During the incarceration, Prime Minister Smith did not allow Mugabe out of prison to attend the funeral of Mugabe’s four-year-old son. It was also around that time were the militant wing of Zanu was formed. Following this many of the opposition leaders died in mysterious circumstances and an opposing newspaper’s printing press was bombed and its journalists tortured.
We pride ourselves as being top, really, on the African ladder … We feel that we have actually been advancing rather than going backwards
Robert Mugabe
Fast forward to today and the situation that Zimbabweans face is nothing shorts of horrifying. The World Health Organisation has stated that life expectancy at birth for Zimbabwe men is 37 years for men and 34 for women. These figures are said to be the lowest for any nation in the world.
In June 2006, inflation was said to be at an incredible 11,000%. Basic items such as bread, sugar, petrol are often not available in local shops. Many of the population have tried to grow their own food but with poor weather conditions, hampering their efforts, hundreds of thousands are left starving.
The opposition says that Mr Mugabe’s seizure of most white-owned farms since 2000 has wrecked what was once one of Africa’s most developed economies. Zimbabwe’s Roman Catholic Bishops have spoken out in favour of Mugabe’s staunchest critics, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube.
Ncube describes Mugabe as a “megalomaniac” and feels that conditions have reached “life-threatening proportions”, with regional political intervention needed. However South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki has stated that he will not try and change the regime in Zimbabwe.
In retaliation to Ncube’s protests, it has been claimed that he had an affair with a married woman and that the husband has a filed a lawsuit seeking damages of 20bn Zimbabwe dollars (around €120,000).
Whether an uprising or Western intervention would solve the problems remains to be seen. The situation in Iraq would seem to indicate that not everyone is ready for change no matter how bad the quality of life is.
President Mugabe has been in power for so long it is hard to see him losing the leadership. Loved by some for his rebellious nature and ability to seize power in his younger days, he must be equally detested for the way he has treated his people.
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 and is filed under Pain and suffering, Thoughts & Questions.
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