The Insanity of Self-Indulgence

I have just seen an item on the BBC news page that begs comment.

Zimbabwe - What a tragedy! All due to one man's egotistical addiction to power that is so common these days. I, as a reasonably normal individual, find it abhorrent that a man such as Mugabi can totally destroy an entire country, its population, and its economy just to keep himself in power. To me it beggers belief that no government on this planet is doing anything to stop this meglomaniac.

At the time of British colonial rule, Zimbawe, or Rhodesia as it was then known, was considered the 'bread-basket' of Africa and had one of the most successful economy's on the continent. Its farms, under white ownership were the most productive anywhere in Africa and the economy was also the strongest.

While I do not neccessarily agree with colonization of one country by another, it cannot be denied that in countries like Zimbabwe, the effects were almost all positive. There was work and food for everyone, and the population lived to a standard unimaginable in todays Zimbabwe, in fact in the rest of Africa.

What a shame it was all destroyed by one man, with a thirst for power equalled only by his grim determination to hang on to it at whatever cost to his country or its people.

After he came to power, Mugabi orchestrated the seizure of farms still owned by white farmers and distributed the land to his followers. The land became infertile and useless within a few short months. This is when the economic woes first started. With the decline of food production in the country things started going from bad to worse.

Today we have starvation, cholera, and inflation so high it is almost impossible to calculate. Cholera has killed an estimated 3,894 people since August last year, with more than 84,000 cases registered. More than half the population cannot survive without food aid, and only 10% of the population have a job.

As if this is not enough, to add insult to injury, Mugabi has just spent $250,000 on his 85th birthday celebrations. His birthday cake weighed in at a staggering 85 kilos, and during his speech he made it quite clear that farms taken from white farmers in the latest round of seizures would not be returned under any circumstances. He also stated that further seizures would take place with the same result.

This last statement was in direct retaliation to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), who had decreed the seizures were in violation of the law after being approached by some of the displaced farmers.

His political opponent Norman Tsvangeria was not present at the celebrations because I am sure he was not in a celebratory mood at such excesses. He has already stated that it would take around $5billion to fix the Zimbabwe enconomy, and just days before Mugabi's excessive display of wealth and power, his country had asked other African nations for $2billion to start getting the economy sorted out.

What a sad state of affairs in today's world when one man can drive an entire country, and its people, into the ground. Excuses can be made for the Zimbabwean people themselves, because part of Mugabi's tactic is to rule by fear. Anyone caught dissenting against the President could find themselves, or members of their families, suddenly missing a limb or worse, after being attacked by one of the Zanu-PF parties thugs who roam the streets with machetes.

There is no doubt, Mugabi has the country sewn up, and it will take concerted international effort to get him out before the country can be rebuilt.

Who will make the first move?????

Keep hoping for a better world - it will come someday!

Roy.