Sunleye-Solawumi Olaleye
28 March 2008
analysis
Lagos — Once a democracy full of promise back in the 70s and a leader in Robert Mugabe who seemed to exude hope and vision, Zimbabwe within a period of 20 years has managed to degenerate to the extent whereby by most of citizens now find it difficult to eat three square meals a day.
This is the reality of life in Zimbabwe as the country goes to the polls today.
After 28 years in power, Mugabe is yet again asking for another mandate. As usual, he has formidable enemies and challengers both within and without. On the one hand, he will be contending with Zimbabweans who have been battered by hunger, unemployment and disease for over a decade. Added to this mix is a former member of his cabinet, Simba Makoni, who is also still officially a member of his ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), as an opposition candidate. However, his biggest opponent today will be the desire for change that has been sweeping across the country for over a decade.
He will also be contending with the largest political party after his own ZANU-PF, the Movement for Democratic Change, led by his old political foe, Morgan Tsvangirai who is standing for election as president. MDC has been making in-roads into the minds of the electorate in the last few years, particularly in the rural areas.
With this scenario, all that is left is for the election to be free and fair, which Mugabe has promised. But no one, be they local or international observers, believes. The United States and the European Union have insisted Mugabe did not win the country's previous elections, which retained him in power, insisting that he massively rigged the polls. The general feeling is that today's polls like the once before this will suffer the same fate from Mugabe and his supporters.
However, having tasted a despondent existence under him for so many years, Zimbabweans have many reasons to want the man voted out of power. Chief amongst these are:
Change: The electorate, if not cowered by Mugabe's supporters and security personnel, has promised to come out in numbers to see that their votes are not tampered with. The popular belief in Zimbabwe right now is that in the past, it has been easy for the Mugabe, using the police and the military, to tamper with the people's wish because there was always voter apathy. However, in the last few years, the populace had been consistently sensitised to the fact that it was apathy on its side that has made rigging possible in the past. So, despite much rhetoric as had been heard from the likes of the country's army chief, Gen. Constantine Chiwenga, saying publicly that the army is not going to accept any other person as president except Mugabe, a majority of the people are poised for change.
A former loyalist of Mugabe, Fay Chung who was Minister of Education in his cabinet in the 90s, would reflect the current thinking of the people when she declared on BBC a week ago that the electorate is going to brace it this time around and come out decisively to show Mugabe the way out. Chung who has since spent 10 years working for the United Nations said: "If you have millions coming out to vote, it will be very difficult to rig. I hear people saying, 'We are being abused. But if we keep on electing the same government, we will continue to be abused.'"
Sympathy: Since campaigning began, the government, through its organs, has set about intimidating the opposition. The strong-arm tactics employed by Mugabe and muzzling of the opposition has been the norm over the years. Among such acts include not allowing them to campaign in areas they would wish to; not allowing them to paste billboards in strategic places; using air traffic control authorities to ground the hired helicopters of the main opposition party, MDC; and preventing the MDC presidential candidate, Tsvangirai from addressing political rallies that had been scheduled. With Mugabe up to his old dirty tricks, voters now empathise with the opposition, especially with the MDC that is the very butt of the ruling government's attack.
Retrogression: Zimbabweans live in nostalgia of what their country used to be. The most vivid example of is the decline of Mosi-Oa-Tunya, popularly known as the Victoria Falls, which is rated as one of the natural wonders of the world and one of the top five tourist sights in Africa. This wonderful falls used to be one of the revenue spinners for the government and people of Zimbabwe until the economic downturn. Now, the people want monuments of such as the Victoria Falls returned to their rightful place in the world of tourism.
The World Economic Forum recently ranked Zimbabwe among the worst tourist destinations in the world - 117th out of 130 countries surveyed. The 103-year old Victoria Falls Bridge, and the manicured lawns of the Victoria Falls Hotel, the latter spanning the Batoka Gorge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, are locations in the country that have been neglected by tourists due to poor governance and political uncertainty in the country. Beside's with Zimbabwe's economy afflicted by 100,000% hyperinflation, few tourists brave a visit.
Hunger, Inflation and Unemployment: With unemployment running at an estimated 80 percent, children are dying from hunger and parents unable to do anything about it. Supermarkets hardly have much to put on display shelves and when they do, the country's citizens can hardly afford to buy anything, with a small 2kg bag of rice costing 60million Zimbabwean Dollars (40US cents). Most people now eat once a day and then it is the cheapest local food called mealie-meal (maize porridge). 90 percent of government's stocks are distributed to owners of supermarkets who are card-carrying members of the ruling party, ZANU-PF.
Depression is so pronounced that professionals, particularly artisans, bust their chops to earn one United States Dollar a week, which is equivalent to 25 million Zimbabwean Dollars. But then they see their earnings go up in smoke with house rent reaching 200 million ZD per month as prices rise at the rate of 180 percent per month.
With a simple shirt priced at 220mn ZD, locals cannot afford to buy clothes, and shelves are usually bare in supermarkets anyway. With this reality, the people are now engaging in barter trade. Art carvers for instance, would make an ironwood giraffe and wait till a hard-to-come-by foreign tourist comes around and then hawk it. They exchange their art works for a shirt or two. For instance, an exquisite soapstone bird can be exchanged for a pair of battered trainers.
With fuel permanently unavailable at the fuel stations, people no longer travel by motorcars. They walk and the roads are usually filled with people trekking long distances. Inflation is so high (the highest ever recorded in the world) that last month when President Mugabe authorised a pay rise for the police and military, probably in bid to prepare them to do his bidding in today's election, the increased pay was half swallowed up by inflation before they were able to get to the market. The official inflation rate in the country is so ridiculously high and has galloped at an annual rate of 100,580 percent per annum, up from 7,600 percent in July 2007. Right now, a loaf of bread costs 7mn Zimbabwean Dollars.
Solid Endorsements: Two of the biggest political heavyweights of the ruling party, ZANU-PF have endorsed former minister, Simba Makoni's bid as Zimbabwe president in today's election. They are Dumiso Dabengwa, a former home affairs minister and a member of the ruling Zanu-PF party's key decision-making body, and Cyril Ndebele, a former speaker of parliament.
Both men joined Makoni, saying the issue was no longer about capability or strength but about "the people of Zimbabwe being enabled to chart the manner in which they want the challenges facing the country to be solved." Under the circumstances, it seems the people are finally ready to say goodbye to the government that has impoverished them for over a decade. However, readiness is one thing, the capacity to oust Mugabe through the ballot box is another. His tenacious grip on power is so strong that it will require an earthquake or death to unseat him.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
