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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| Zimbabwe future |
| 2005-08-24 |
| Like a reverse King Midas, everything Mugabe touches is changed into waste. The latest of his blunders is changing the constitution â yet again â so that the rightful owners of the farms he has stolen cannot challenge the confiscations in court. In May, parliament announced that it was seeking another constitutional amendment: the abolishment of freehold land tenure, conveniently forgetting the fact that lack of land property deeds has been the bane of African agriculture both traditionally and under colonial rule, as land is not cared for, farmers cannot obtain loans from the banks for development, and cannot afford to improve the infrastructure. His deadly touch is evident and abhorrent to the meanest intelligence, with the exception of those of his neighbours who might wish to imitate him sooner or later, and it has transformed a rich and self-sufficient country into a failed state. Mugabeâs childish rants against âcolonial mastersâ, âimperialist puppetsâ and the like, do not impress anyone anymore; what was seen before as a political ploy (albeit naïve) is now correctly interpreted as the babbling of an old man, no more in control of his mind than of his bodily functions. What is really puzzling though, is that amid the total collapse that Zimbabwe is experiencing, no one has emerged to forcibly take his place. Is he so entrenched, has he corrupted so many, does he put so much fear in his would-be successors? The MDC is rattled by internal feuds and, despite its claims, does not seem to be able to mobilize enough people to make a difference. Moreover, they badly underestimated the painstaking measures ZANU PF took before the elections to make sure they would win. Mugabe, in his rare moments of lucidity, must be looking for a way out. South Africaâs âloanâ, at long last, seems to have some teeth in it (despite Zimbabwe face-saving protestations, it will have some strings attached). Chinaâs support at the Security Council can be a consolation but not a substitute for the billion dollars requested, and the âprofessorshipâ bestowed on Mugabe by the Chinese is looking more and more like a not so subtle sign of oriental contempt. One way out for Mugabe, perhaps the only one (short of suicide) at this point, is to provoke a crisis that would justify the introduction of martial law, immediately followed by a military coup (his support in exchange for protection). His recent promise to allocate stolen land to 6000 members of the armed forces hints at some kind of agreement. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe armed forces do not have a Rawlings, and the cure (for ordinary Zimbabweans) could be worse than the sickness. |
| Posted by:Snaiting Spinemp1951 |
| #2 What is really puzzling though, is that amid the total collapse that Zimbabwe is experiencing, no one has emerged to forcibly take his place. Is he so entrenched, has he corrupted so many, does he put so much fear in his would-be successors? The MDC is essentially incompetent. What intelligentsia there is, is mentally incapable of fomenting revolution. The rest are either impotent amd hanging on hoping things will get better, or do-gooders who are more concerned about the 'unfortunates' and their present condition than in what caused it. Sad all the way around. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-08-24 23:36 |
| #1 What future? |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-08-24 14:13 |