Zimbabwe’s Catastrophe

Once the second most industrialized nation and the most robust agricultural industry on the African continent, Zimbabwe has deteriorated into a poorhouse and is near a total collapse. Mugabe fought against the British racist tyranny and led his country to independence in 1980. But over the years he replaced it with, arguably, even worse and definitely deadlier tyranny for his people. 

Once the second most industrialized nation and the most robust agricultural industry on the African continent, Zimbabwe has deteriorated into a poorhouse and is near a total collapse. 

Today, over 80% of Zimbabweans are unemployed. The World Food Programme says half of the population is suffering chronic malnourishment. It is estimated that over 3 million citizens, one fourth of the population, have left the country in recent years. For those who remained, life expectancy is 34 years for women and 37 years for men.  In 1998, Zimbabwe had the second highest GDP in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, the annual inflation rate in the country is over 100,000%, a new world record.  

The International Crisis Group maintains that the policies, repressive governance, and corruption of President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party are “directly responsible for the severe economic slide, growing public discontent and international isolation of the country.” According to The Economist, the seizure of commercial farms and the collapse of the rule of law have led to a dramatic slump in agricultural output, a sharp contraction in industry, and a flight of investors. 

Since 2000, the overall food production in Zimbabwe declined by about 70%. The Economist notes that the country under Mugabe experienced “the most dramatic peacetime collapse of any country since Weimar Germany.” 

Despite all this, African countries are still reluctant to openly criticize Robert Mugabe, who is widely respected on the continent as a hero of the fight against colonialism. German Spiegel writes that “hardly any African politician ever so much as voices a word of criticism about Mugabe” and his current disastrous policies.

Mugabe fought against the British racist tyranny and led his country to independence in 1980. But over the years he replaced it with, arguably, even worse and definitely deadlier tyranny for his people. 

The majority of Zimbabweans today suffer because of Mugabe‘s history as a freedom fighter. Yes, he led the country to independence, did some great things in the past. He deserves a medal for this, not the immunity to inflict misery and pain on his own people today. 

How far the respect for Mugabe goes in Africa shows an example from May 2007, when Zimbabwe was chosen by other African nations to head the United Nations’ commission on sustainable development and help the world meet the human needs of the present and prepare for the future. 

It didn’t matter to African leaders that Zimbabwe cannot meet its own basic human needs.  On March 29, Zimbabwe will hold local, parliamentary, and presidential elections. Robert Mugabe, who is in power since 1980, recently began his re-election campaign by calling his opponents “witches, prostitutes, charlatans, traitors, and two-headed creatures.” 

Analysts think that Mugabe, now 84 years old, could win another five-year term in office due to divisions in the opposition and an unfair political playing field, especially since he is using state funds and media to fuel his campaign. 

Mugabe’s party recently distributed millions of US dollars worth of imported agricultural equipment, vehicles, generators and cattle to potential voters. The equipment and cattle were purchased with state funds. 

 “Your vote will ensure you benefit from the agricultural mechanization program,” Mugabe told the voters. Two credible challengers running against Mugabe are Morgan Tsvangirai, one of the opposition leaders, and Simba Makoni, an independent candidate. Makoni, the former finance minister who was sacked by Mugabe after disagreements over the economy, is backed by many who until recently supported Mugabe. A fraction of the opposition also supports Makoni. 

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a coalition of civic groups involved in providing voter education and monitoring of the electoral environment before and after elections, has said that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission does not have the logistical capacity to run the multiple elections. 

It is possible that a week or so will pass before the election results are announced. ZimOnline writes that opposition parties and election observers “have in the past argued that delays in announcing poll winners allow time to tamper with results.”  

The government has recently instructed the police to use firearms against opposition activists if they start street protests or “Kenya-style riots” believing that the outcome of the elections was rigged. Zimbabwean army chief said that the army will not support anyone other than President Mugabe, while the police chief warned he will not let opposition “puppets” take power in elections.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum says that a “relentless wave of political violence over the past year, in which state security forces played a major role, had already tainted” the elections. 

What will happen if Mugabe loses the March 29 elections but decides to steal the victory?

The Economist notes that Mugabe’s regime is “certainly willing to resort to force when cornered.” After “the nakedly crooked” elections in 2002, Mugabe’s troops took to the streets to deter protests and hundreds of protesters ended up in hospitals after being beaten by the security forces.  

Will Zimbabwe go down the path of Kenya? Hopefully not. But many in Zimbabwe have nothing to lose and fighting for their vote and human dignity by any means should not come as a surprise.

Savo Heleta*
Port Elizabeth - South Africa

* The author a postgraduate student in Conflict Transformation and Management at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is the author of Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia (AMACOM, March 2008).

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