Zimbabwe: Liberation hero turns dictator
M Abdul Kabir | Friday, 18 July 2008
FEDERATION of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in South East Africa, 1953-63, comprised the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The capital was Salisbury (now Harare) in Southern Rhodesia. The federation, also called the Central African Federation, was formed on Britain's initiative. The Africans, fearing continued domination by the whites, demonstrated (1960-61) against the federation, and in 1962 there was a strong movement for its dissolution, particularly from the new African-dominated regime of Northern Rhodesia. Official dissolution came on December 31, 1963, after which Northern Rhodesia became independent as Zambia and Nyasaland as Malawi. In 1965 Ian Smith, the white ruler in Southern Rhodesia, refused to hand political control over to its African majority and declared unilateral independence from Britain as Rhodesia.
Though the British rule was overthrown and a geographical sovereignty was established, Rhodesians were not independent, the black majority being subjugated by the white. Ian Smith once vowed that "not in one thousand years, not in my lifetime" would black majority rule win through. However, he was ousted from power in a bitter civil war just fifteen years later-by a liberation movement led by Robert Mugabe in 1980. And Rhodesia formally became independent as Zimbabwe.
It was a noble start for Robert Mugabe fighting for independence for his people. As such he enjoyed much popularity for his leadership in the earlier years of his regime, and was hailed as a hero, with Queen Elizabeth II bestowing him even an honorary knighthood in 1994. Well, under his leadership Zimbabwe was trucking along at a pretty good clip for the last couple of decades; it was even a model for positive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa for a while.
However, at present Mugabe is the best living example of one of Africa's most pressing problems. His regime has now stretched into the third decades, ensuring his absolute power. And he finds the power so intoxicating that he cannot bring himself to relinquish it when the time comes for another election. Long before Mugabe's popularity started to slip a bit for various reasons, and other political parties started more aggressively to challenge his long-standing leadership. Yet, he has continued to solidify his hold on power constitutionally. He has helped thwart and discredit all other political oppositions. He has destroyed the independent press and jailed opposition leaders.
His brazen intention of holding onto power is clearly reflected in nudging the March 29 balloting into a runoff set for June 28. The official results of the poll, not even announced until May 2, showed the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai with 47.9 per cent and Mr. Mugabe with 42.3 per cent. Mr. Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader who has already survived assassination attempts and a brutal assault by the police in Zimbabwe in March 2007, said that his party's unofficial tally showed he had won an outright majority - eliminating any need for a runoff - and that the delay in announcing the results was an effort to finagle the outcome.
And as was scheduled, the second round of voting for the presidency took place nearly three months after the first. According to the official tally, Mr. Mugabe now won some 85 per cent of the ballot. But his opponent, Mr. Tsvangirai, pulled out of the race days before the voting, citing widespread violence and intimidation. He had even no better options to guard his skin from bullying than take refuge in the Dutch Embassy in Harare five days before the election.
While the African Union's own election observers concluded that the vote "fell short" of the organization's standards, Mr. Mugabe said: "This was a very hard fought election
Though the British rule was overthrown and a geographical sovereignty was established, Rhodesians were not independent, the black majority being subjugated by the white. Ian Smith once vowed that "not in one thousand years, not in my lifetime" would black majority rule win through. However, he was ousted from power in a bitter civil war just fifteen years later-by a liberation movement led by Robert Mugabe in 1980. And Rhodesia formally became independent as Zimbabwe.
It was a noble start for Robert Mugabe fighting for independence for his people. As such he enjoyed much popularity for his leadership in the earlier years of his regime, and was hailed as a hero, with Queen Elizabeth II bestowing him even an honorary knighthood in 1994. Well, under his leadership Zimbabwe was trucking along at a pretty good clip for the last couple of decades; it was even a model for positive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa for a while.
However, at present Mugabe is the best living example of one of Africa's most pressing problems. His regime has now stretched into the third decades, ensuring his absolute power. And he finds the power so intoxicating that he cannot bring himself to relinquish it when the time comes for another election. Long before Mugabe's popularity started to slip a bit for various reasons, and other political parties started more aggressively to challenge his long-standing leadership. Yet, he has continued to solidify his hold on power constitutionally. He has helped thwart and discredit all other political oppositions. He has destroyed the independent press and jailed opposition leaders.
His brazen intention of holding onto power is clearly reflected in nudging the March 29 balloting into a runoff set for June 28. The official results of the poll, not even announced until May 2, showed the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai with 47.9 per cent and Mr. Mugabe with 42.3 per cent. Mr. Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader who has already survived assassination attempts and a brutal assault by the police in Zimbabwe in March 2007, said that his party's unofficial tally showed he had won an outright majority - eliminating any need for a runoff - and that the delay in announcing the results was an effort to finagle the outcome.
And as was scheduled, the second round of voting for the presidency took place nearly three months after the first. According to the official tally, Mr. Mugabe now won some 85 per cent of the ballot. But his opponent, Mr. Tsvangirai, pulled out of the race days before the voting, citing widespread violence and intimidation. He had even no better options to guard his skin from bullying than take refuge in the Dutch Embassy in Harare five days before the election.
While the African Union's own election observers concluded that the vote "fell short" of the organization's standards, Mr. Mugabe said: "This was a very hard fought election