Embassy Comment
Zimbabwe Situation

8th August 2001

After 20 years of Mugabe and ZANU PF's Marxist rule and economic mismanagement, the once prosperous, politically evolutionary and vibrant nation of Rhodesia, has been reduced to the pauper state of Zimbabwe. Relentless corruption, nepotism, tribalism, racism and crackpot Communist economic policies have destroyed a once thriving society.

In February 2000, Mugabe and ZANU PF put a new Draft Constitution to the people of Zimbabwe in a referendum, this Constitution would have guaranteed the 76 year old Mugabe another ten years in office as President, secured ZANU PF in power as the only party, and allowed for the seizure of white owned farms without compensation. Thus totally destroying the forex earning capacity of an already bankrupt country, by decimating the very farms which produced the bulk of it.

The increasingly out of touch and despotic Mugabe, and his ZANU (PF) government, fully expected the New Draft Constitution to be accepted as a matter of course, after all, they were past masters at rigging ballots and intimidating voters. It was an unexpected shock when the people, at the end of their tether with a government which had destroyed the value of their savings through rampant inflation, and produced a 60% unemployment rate, resoundingly voted NO. Even Mugabe´s own people, Zimbabwe's majority Shona tribe, had delivered him a crushing rejection.

In March 2000 the invasions of white owned farms began. Mugabe, desperately looking for excuses, blamed the 4,000 white commercial farmers for his referendum defeat, quite what effect they could have had in a nation of 12,000,000 people is difficult to understand. Mugabe has always wanted to dispossess the white minority, the pretext of redistributing land to black Zimbabweans has provided a convenient platform from which to achieve his aim. 

The Shona, the majority tribe in Zimbabwe, had themselves driven the gentle and ancient Kung San people (Bushmen) from the land, and colonized it, so it is an interesting historical point as to who the land should actually be redistributed to! The white commercial farmers and white population generally have always accepted the need for land reform, and long before 1999, more than enough land had been acquired by the Mugabe regime for its stated land reform programme.

Unfortunately, as of August 2001, most of this land has only been redistributed as far as Mugabe's family and political cronies, and not to the ordinary people of Zimbabwe for whom it was acquired. Funds had been provided by the UK government with which to purchase land from its white owners, the UK halted the funding once it became obvious where the land was going.

Mugabe has used the land issue as a means of whipping up racist sentiment in Zimbabwe, and has encouraged ZANU PF activists and its paid thugs to invade white owned farms. This was in direct contradiction to a court order declaring the invasions illegal, and which ordered the police to remove the invaders. In direct defiance of Zimbabwean law, President Mugabe ordered the police not to intervene and refused to order the so-called 'war veterans' to leave the occupied farms.

This Presidential and Government sanctioning of lawlessness, anarchy and racist violence, has led directly to the brutal deaths of many black farm workers and white commercial farmers, whom Mugabe has branded as 'Enemies of the State', presumably because they have been producing the bulk of the foreign earnings which have kept Zimbabwe afloat since 1980! 

With parliamentary elections looming in May 2000, it was suspected that Mugabe and ZANU PF were seeking to provoke a situation, which would give them an excuse to declare martial law and cancel the elections. Growing world outrage at Mugabe´s blatantly racist and oppressive actions prevented this declaration from being made. However, Mugabe and ZANU PF yet again delayed the elections, and stepped up their campaign of political violence and intimidation. This was in order to cow the poor and uneducated rural populations into voting for ZANU PF candidates at the elections, which took place on the 24/25th June, and to frighten off any opposition candidates.

Despite the rampant ZANU PF inspired political violence and gerrymandering, the opposition MDC alliance won many seats. The violence and intimidation in the rural areas ensured a ZANU PF victory, but with an unexpectedly slim margin. Given free and fair elections, which these certainly were not, it is estimated that the MDC would easily have formed the new government of Zimbabwe.

In late May 2000, the ZANU PF parliament voted to change Zimbabwean law, in order to allow the government to seize commercial farms without compensation to the owners. A list of 841 farms was published, with Mugabe warning that he may decide to seize all white owned farms. This outrageous legislation, which contravenes all accepted international standards of democratic and civilized behaviour, is in effect legalized theft. Mugabe, true to his word, increased the amount of farms he would seize, without compensation, to over 3,000. 

As of 8th August 2001, Mugabe has made it clear that he intends to seize all white owned farms. This is all part of his Presidential election campaign, in which he intends to play the race card to the full, in order to cling onto power.

These land seizures mean that a very real threat of famine sits over the country, and indeed, maize shortages are already occurring. It is expected that without large amounts of foreign food aid, there will be mass starvation in Zimbabwe later this year. Not that this will personally effect Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF elite, who all have their snouts in the trough of privilege and plenty.

Even more unacceptable is the racial motivation behind these government land thefts, reminiscent of Uganda's persecution and expulsion of its Asian community. This was itself based upon the actions of both Kenya and Tanzania, who had also forcibly dispossessed their white and Asian populations during the 1960's. These actions, just like those of Idi Amin in Uganda during the 1970's, are aimed at maintaining an increasingly hated dictator in power, by appealing to the lowest form of populism, and in the process, condemning the country to lawlessness and famine.

By diverting the attention of the poor and uneducated masses away from the real reasons for their poverty, namely the rampant corruption of Mugabe and ZANU PF, Mugabe hopes to cling onto power for life, in the long and well trodden tradition of African dictators and despots. Or to put it another way, and as African politics has often been described, one man, one vote..............once!

A smoke screen has been laid over the personal benefit gained by Mugabe and his cronies, in the squalid DR Congo civil war. These benefits come from lucrative diamond concessions ceded to Mugabe by the late DR Congo leader, Laurent Kabila, in exchange for Zimbabwean troops helping to prop up his regime. 

Mugabe's diamonds are drenched in the blood of young Zimbabwean soldiers, forced to fight in a war they do not understand and care even less about. The Mugabe regime has consistently refused to issue the true casuality figures for this military adventure, but they are depressingly high.

It was out of this increasingly desperate situation in the country that the immensely popular Movment for Democratic Change (MDC), under the capable leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai, a formidable multi-racial, inter-tribal opposition grouping was born. 

With the new Zimbabwean parlimentary session now open, there have been some signs of discord in the MDC structure, which is only natural given its broad base. The alliance contains many different groupings from left wing trade unionists, to right wing business interests. Mugabe and his henchmen will doubtless work on these pressures and hope to split the grouping, in time for the Presidential elections of 2002, when Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to stand against the increasingly senile and despotic Mugabe.

The MDC are proving resistant to these potential internal pressures, and Mugabe has now resorted to passing draconian and anti-democratic laws in the ZANU PF controlled parliament, in order to try and crush the MDC. It has rushed through a law making it illegal for political partries to receive overseas funding, although doubtless this will not apply in reality to ZANU PF itself.

ZANU PF are attacking the urban populations and businesses, especially in Harare where the MDC has a solid majority, and sending in the 'war veteran' storm-troopers to beat up and murder members of the MDC and its supporters. What remains of the free press is under government attack, with journalists being arrested for daring to expose the rampant corruption and excesses of Mugabe and ZANU PF.

A cynical and violent attack against whites occured in the town of Chinoyi, close to Harare, on the 8th August, when a rampaging ZANU PF mob set upon anybody with a white skin. It is appalling in the extreme, that not even elderly pensioners were exempted from this cowardly violence.

Since 1980, Mugabe and his Marxist regime have been responsible for many odious crimes against the people of Zimbabwe. These crimes range from the cold-blooded massacres of defenceless men, women and children by Mugabes 5th Brigade, a band of Korean trained ex-terrorists, in Matabeleland during the early 1980's, to the theft of national assets and foreign aid money. In addition, there are the recent and future land grabs with their violent and savage murders of farmers and farm workers, which will devastate the economy of the country, as the nation is unable to meet its need for maize or grow viable forex earning tobacco crops for export, to pay for food imports.

No more evil a dictator can there be, than one who sacrifices the lives of millions of people, in pursuit of his own personal financial gain and lust for power. It is to be hoped that the new century will bring with it an understanding in Africa, as well as in the Balkans, that this kind of depravity is no longer accepted by decent and civilized people in the modern world.

Zimbabwe will not even begin to recover from its current dreadful state, until the cancer of Mugabe and ZANU PF is cut from the country. This major surgery needs to happen very soon, if Zimbabwe is to have a future and regain the respect of the civilized world. 

In a recent study, world aid agencies listed the three countries in Africa most likely to suffer famine in 2002, they were, Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe. What a disaster for a country which was known as the 'bread basket of Africa' when it was the Republic of Rhodesia, and what an indictment of the corruption and mismanagement of the odious Mugabe and ZANU PF regime.