The Zim: A postscript

The Tanzanian Daily Post (24 May) ran a feature on Zimbabwe written by an IRIN correspondent. Oddly, the Zim gets a lot of press in all the neighbouring countries. Maybe I've got it wrong, I sense 'the people' don't agree with what goes on there but their leaders don't do much.

The alarming stand outs of the story were: a school teacher who was earning Zim$300,000(US$7.50) per month quits and now, as a prostitute, earns Zim$500,000 (US$12.50) per night, at least. A woman police sergeant (Zim$400,000 - US$10 per month) quit to become a house domestic - laundry and cleaning for young professionals and ex pats for Zim$3 million (US$75) per month: more than 5000 teachers failed to report for duty when school opened two weeks ago: the government has said 15,000 public servants have resigned in the last 12 months and over half of all government posts were vacant: an average public servant earns about Zim$300,000 a month, while the cost of living for a family of six for the most basic requirements, such as rent, food, and school fees, is estimated at about Zim$2 million (US$50) a month.

What is the problem in The Zim? Not a dead easy question to answer. But here lies some of the issues, as I understand.

It's based on history. Two presentations of the background as I have come across them are: firstly, in 1931 half the land was assigned to whites - not 2,500 of them (Meredith) and secondly by 1980s over 50% of land was owned by less than 2% of population - whites, ex-Brits (Kinyajui). Have no doubt, this was the result of 'land grabs'. But it's the putting things right, that matters.

Land is an economic asset, a tool of political and economic power. Universally, it has always been a flash point between the subdued and the subduing.

Independence came with a promise to repatriate land ownership. Mugabe promised war veterans land for their part in the independence fight. The Brit government paid out for both buying available land and to pay out farmers (white Zims) prepared to give up land. But, Mugabe's cronies took most of the land and British payments to the government vanished into the ether. So disgruntled vets started walking onto farms and taking over violently. Once fertile, productive, agricultural enterprises were quickly reduced to shambles of small subsistence farming plots of maize and not much else. Zim (Rhodesia), once considered one of Africa's success stories, lost huge export revenues, infrastructure collapsed, foreign investment withdrew under the threat of robbery, forced takeover or nationalisation. This happened in terrifyingly quick time. And now of course, there are imposed sanctions intended to set right the wrongs, but adding to economic distress.

Glibly, we can say the Zim needs democracy. If only. Democracy has taken hundreds of years to evolve in the western world. And there's democracy and democracy. It's only in the past 100 years, or a tad more, that women have voted. I recall my first voting elections and the gerrymander that existed in Queensland. Was it only the 1978 election in New Zealand that saw the party with the most votes not win power?

Voting at elections is almost the last stage of a democratic process. There has to be education; communication; free thought; free speech; free press; organised, encouraged, flourishing opposition parties; open electoral process; and robust legislation. And it doesn't happen overnight.

However, I was alarmed, almost distressed, by a full page feature in Tanzania's The Guardian (reproduced from the East African) titled 'Mugabe: Despot or martyr?' It was written by a Harrison Kinyajui, and advocate of the High Court of Kenya. While he does infer Mugabe has probably overstepped the mark with his clampdown on the oppposition, in a piece of the most kak-eyed logic I've come across, he claims it's all the US and Britain's fault. He suggests Mugabe is only considered a dictator because his land reform programme (?) is unfavourable to western thinking. Infuriates me too much to pull the whole article apart but I cannot let one piece go. He suggests that if opposition leader Tsvanigirai believes Mugabe is a dictator and the electoral system rigged, the whole system tainted, he should do the honourable thing and get out of politics altogether - have nothing to do with it. What are opposition parties for?

But African support for Mugabe is not isolated. The African reported the 'hearty applause' Mugabe received at the 12 day Common Market for East and South Africa (COMESA) summit under the heading 'Mugabe intensifies hatred for Britain, US'. '"Hands off Africa," Mugabe said, to clapping from heads of state. "We say no to imperialism, keep away. Britain, Europe you have your territory. US you have your territory."' COMESA is made up of Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagasca, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Can you truely imagine any of this lot, with all the skeletons that must rattle in their closets, pointing the finger at someone else? Applauding a lunatic amongst a crowd will help keep away any focus upon yourself.

But I feel inadequate. I don't have answers. Could you imagine the stink at home if John Howard started telling Helen Clarke how to run her country. How does Mugabe get influenced to change his course? (and wouldn't his cronies just step into the breech?) International detente? Prayers? Or a stroke of good fortune?

But one thing is for sure. Enough of Mugabe. His cliched rhetoric of freeing his country from the grips of imperialism, from neo-colonial conspiracies, has worn thin. He has no action plan - appears to have no strategies. In super quick time he has ruined a country.

This is all getting too big for me. The end.

Meredith, M. (2005) The State of Africa: A history of fifty years of independence. Jonathan Ball: Jeppestown.
The African (May 25, 2007) Africa News: Mugabe intensifies hatred of Britain, US. p.6. HCL: Dar Es Salaam.
The Guardian (Friday, May 25, 2007) Features: Kinyajui, H. Mugabe: Despot or Martyr. p.10. The Guardian Ltd.: Dar Es Salaam.
The Tanzanian Daily Post (24 May 2007) Africa Features: Teacher yesterday, sex worker today p.11. Tanzania Standard Ltd: Dar Es Salaam.