The crisis is Zimbabwe has been going on for almost 10 years now (depending on when you started counting) and one of the "confusing" aspects of this matter is the message constantly being communicated by ZANU-PF (the party led by Robert Mugabe) that this a conflict between Zimbabwe and Great Britain (the former colonial master of Zimbabwe). In as much as Britain might be considered to have something to do with the Zimbabwe crisis, it must however be mentioned that the ZANU-PF government has over the past decade exaggerated the role of Britain in the whole saga. The Mugabe government has used this argument to appeal to the broader victim mentality of the African continent, which has suffered from colonialism and to deflect attention from the big mistakes, corruption and misrule the Mugabe government committed. The greater blame for the Zimbabwe crisis must be put squarely and fairly at the feet of the Mugabe government. When Mugabe took over power in 1980, he inherited one of the best economies on the African continent. Zimbabwe had an excellent basis and fundamentals to become one of the most flourishing nations in the world. But as ZANU-PF became lulled by the fact that there was no other political party threatening to replace them (there was no opposition worth talking about), they ignored to work on a framework for a land retribution program that at the same time ensured that the commercial farms (white and black) still flourished and continued to feed the nation and even export food. There was indeed money given to them by the British government to buy some land for redistributing to the landless blacks, but many of this land never got to the needy blacks. It is fact that the land redistribution program in the 1980s was marred by corruption and cronyism. The Mugabe government also mismanaged almost all the parastatal (government was majority shareholder) companies in Zimbabwe, such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Grain Marketing Board, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority etc. Virtually none of them performed well because of poor management (politically appointed incompetent managers). The fiscus had to bail out these companies regularly and thus drained the state of the resources needed somewhere else. There were commissions of enquiry galore to investigate these state companies, but nothing came out of them.
Then the Mugabe government went into the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Up to today, it is not clear why Mugabe sent the Zimbabwe Army into this expensive war although there was no clear mandate from SADC or AU/OAU to get involved. This war costed the Zimbabwe economy much in terms of resources and human lives. Zimbabwe never recovered from that war.
Another phenomenon which surfaced was the sudden demand from many people to be compensated for any physical and psychological damage they might have received during the liberation struggle. Of course the majority of these people were from ZANU-PF. The government allocated money and people could claim (on producing medical certificates) financial compensation. And this happened over 10 years after independence. This fund was abused by many top ZANU-PF leaders e.g. the infamous Dr. Chenjerai Hunzvi. He was a medical doctor with ZANU-PF links, and he claimed huge amounts for compensation.
Dr. Hunzvi also issued medical certificates that exaggerated the disability of many of the "comrades" (for a fee of course), and based on these dodgy documents many people went to claim compensation. There are reports that some leaders even claimed 90% disability and got paid for it, although they were fit enough to hold very high offices. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising, given the culture of corruption in the ZANU-PF clique) no serious investigation was ever undertaken by government to bring these people to book. Dr. Hunzvi was even "promoted" to become one of the leading War Veterans championing the farm invasions in the early 2000s. And when he died, he was even buried at "Heroes Acre", a place reserved for the liberation struggle icons. That just goes on to show the corrupt culture of ZANU-PF. As long as someone could be used to prop up the regime, they could get away with anything. This has been happening over and over again in the last 28 years. No one is held accountable as long as they tow the party line. No wonder the party managed to run the state into bankruptcy. This culture of corruption had nothing to do with the British.
Then a group calling itself "War Veterans" came onto the scene. These were people who had been involved in the liberation war of Zimbabwe in the 1970s. It must be mentioned that after the end of the 1970 war, those fighters who were not integrated into the army of the new Zimbabwe were given some financial assistance to help them find their place in society. Some of them used it to further their education.
Then in the 1990s the War Veterans suddenly approached the State president and threatened that unless they get money, they will not support him and his party. President Mugabe decided (maybe under pressure and fearful of losing the support of his foot soldiers) to give them money. This money was not budgeted for. Many believe that this huge demand on the Treasury was the beginning of the slide of the Zimbabwe dollar to the US dollar.
There was a huge outcry from many quarters about this decision and its effect on the economy. This and other factors led to the formation of an opposition group (coming out of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions) that finally became the MDC in 1999.
When Mugabe realised that there was growing opposition, he decided to "pull the joker out of the hat." He decided to use the land issue to "mobilise" the masses. The land issue was a legitimate issue but Mugabe abused it as a weapon to stay in power.
Then of course he organised the War Veterans to invade farms and pretend it was a popular uprising. Of course the whole world took notice of the issue and in order to justify the so-called "mass uprising over land", the Mugabe government started talking about Britain reneging on its promise to fund land redistribution after 1980. It is true that Britain reneged on some of its promises (but Britain argues the land never go to the needy but to the corrupt leaders), but the main cause of Zimbabwe's economic collapse and subsequent crisis is to an overwhelming percentage Robert Mugabe's fault.
To blame Britain entirely is a red herring being used by a leadership refusing to take responsibility for its own mistakes and accepting the fact that it is has an endemic corrupt culture at its core.
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3 comments:
I was reffered by a friend to your site. Insightful stuff about Zim, some suggestions
1. enhance readability by using paragraphs
2. keep articles 3/4 page long, a page at a push.
Looking forward to great insights from you.
Pfungwa
-Professori but what happened in Lancaster, right there at the 'compromising' negotiation table for I am told Mugabe is only doing what he wanted to do in the 1970s before he was cornered to go for 'win-win' situation in 1980?
-How come some research indicate that it is the peasants, not the rich (white/black) commercial farmers, who fed Zim and its neighbours when it was the bread basket back in the heydays?
-What about radical news that a lot of negative things happening in Zim are conventionally staged for the sake of feeding the western/global media with what it does best, demonizing Africa and Africans?
- Why is Mugabe still the 'darling' of, may I say, at least 50 percent of Zimbabweans or are they forced to 'love' and 'vote' him by any means necessary?
Response to Chambi (from Alvin):
1. Of course the British reneged on some of their promises but there is enogh evidence that even at the time they paid for the purchasing of land, Mugabe gave some of the farms to cronies. Secondly, Mugabe ONLY used the land question to "fix" the white farmers who supported the MDC. I can assure you, that if the MDC had not come to the scene and threatened Mugabe's position, there would still be white commercial farms in Zimbabwe today. NO ONE disputes the need for land redistribution in Zimbabwe, even the MDC complained that it was not happening fast enough. The problem is that Mugabe hijacked a good thing (land) to protech himself.
2. If you doubt that the negative things from Zim are real, go and visit. As a matter of fact, the real tragedy is worse than what you hear and see on TV. Many kids no longer going to school, because teh teachers were beaten up and ran away (because ZANU PF accuses them of supporting MDC). People can't afford food, there is no food for an average person. A doctor earns equivalent of US$25 a month. Most goods available come in from South Africa and Botswana and they sell at South African and Botswana rates. US$25 for a doctor is not enough for basics, transport, rent etc. What about the unemployed, or domestic workers ro farm labourers.
3. Mugabe uses violence to force people to toe the line. If people loved him, why doesn't he have a free and fair election? Why does he stop all state run papers and radios and TV from running MDC adverts? Why did he arrest MDC leader 5 times in one week, just before June 27 election? Many people vote for him because he constantly tells them, that if he loses there will be a war. Zimbabweans still remember the war. Army Generals come up and sy they will go to war if Mugabe loses. The 40 or 50% which votes for him is not an indication that he has the support of 40 or 50%. He knows it and that's why he uses violence. We should not have a short memory.He use violence in the 1980s to neutralise Joshua Nkomo and ZAPU. He used violence in the 2000, 2002 and 2005 elections.
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