Three weeks ago, Tsvangirai left Zimbabwe for a tour of Europe and USA confident that the West was impressed by what the Government of National Unity and he personally have done to move Zimbabwe from a dictatorship to democratic rule. He was expecting the West “to reward the significant progress” by paying the US$ 8 to 10 billion needed to finance Zimbabwe’s economic recovery. The West was not impressed and their contributions to Tsvangirai’s begging bowl said it all.
Item
Country
Begging bowl
Humanitarian Aid
Comment
1
Netherland
nothing
nothing
Dutch Development Aid Minister Bert Koenders said the West still needs to see more progress on reforms targeting human rights, the reining in of security services and the country’s central bank
2
US America
nothing
US$ 73 million
“President Mugabe, has not acted, oftentimes, in the best interests of the Zimbabwean people and has been resistant to the kinds of democratic changes that need to take place.” Said President Obama.
3
Germany
nothing
Promise humanitarian aid
Want to see progress in democratic reforms, said the Germans.
4
Sweden
nothing
Promise to support democratic reforms
“We must earn the respect of the international community”, Tsvangirai said in reference to Zimbabwe none existent/functional democratic institution.
5
Norway
nothing
US$6.5 m target education, health and promoting democracy
Norwegian Gvt said “ the Government (GNU) is not democratically elected, it is a political compromise. “ Ready to start bilateral relation once there is progress in democratic reforms.
6
European Union
US$42 m for budget support
US$ 11 million humanitarian 12.5 million food aid
7
UK
nothing
US$ 8.25 m paid through aid agents for food security and for books for reopened schools.
Brown says there will be more to come, provided Zimbabwe can show it is on the road to real democratic reform.
Initial reports that the British will support “reformers” have come to nothing.
8
France
nothing
nothing
France was prepared to write off Zimbabwe’s EU400m debt if Zimbabwe gave guarantees that it would spend the savings on development projects and if democracy took root in Zimbabwe.
Response
The response West and even so the ordinary Zimbabweans, who have carried the full brand of the nation’s economic melt down and the political repression, want to see from this GNU is real democratic change. Sadly they are all in for a great disappointment.
Vice President Mujuru, from Mugabe ruling inner circle, said GNU was disappointed by the poor response by the West throughout Tsvangirai’s begging trip. Still, the regime was sending ministers to visit EU and none EU countries to “tell our story as a unity government, because we are not understood by many..” said the Vice President. She also announced that next month Zimbabwe will be hosting an investment conference.
Back to the drawing board Zimbabwe
The white supremacists and racists from the time of slavery two centuries ago to the more recent white colonialism justified the enslavement, exploitation and oppression of blacks on the grounds that “blacks were incapable of self-rule!” Africa’s post independence leaders, particularly Robert Mugabe’s disastrous rule of Zimbabwe, have given the rednecks racists a chance to crow from the rooftops “I told you so!”
Zimbabwe’s economic and political failure has been notable. Here was a country endowed all manner of wealth and resources, material and human, with a very strong economic infrastructure and great potential to grow and prosper. Zimbabwe had the reputation of the breadbasket of the region, not any more. Its people were enjoying a very high standard of living, the life expectancy was 68 years back in 1980 when the nation attained its independence. Three decades of Mugabe rule had changed all that.
Mugabe spawned a political system designed to serve the interest of a few at the expense of the many, a pernicious and inward looking system that stifled all meaningful public debate and within the ruling party itself. As a result the dictatorship is known for its dogged implementation of ill-advised policies and repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The regime was so fearful of criticism and fresh idea – they were viewed as a threat to its political hegemony – the only path was the dictator’s well beaten track. The whole regime was nothing more than a giant caterpillar feeding on its own excrement; in time the lack of nutrients and poison has destroyed the nation and the dictatorship itself.
The national economy suffered its worst performance year after year. The nation’s life expectancy has plummeted from 68 years at independence to 34 years today. Millions of Zimbabweans have left the country of their birth in search of work, any work to buy enough to eat and for, the lucky few, to help those stuck back in Zimbabwe.
When the Zimbabwe Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, visited the West, it should have been to reaffirm the simple message that Zimbabwe had exorcised its past demons and was now “capable of self rule!” This would have been after Mugabe’s dictatorship had been completely dismantled and the mould broken into a thousand pieces to ensure the Zimbabwe will never again fall into the hands of a tyrant. Instead Tsvangirai had set out with the dictator very much alive and running the country in his lawless ways.
Tsvangirai should have been firm and uncompromising when it came to critical issues such as rule of law and the end to this culture human rights violation Mugabe had encouraged. Instead he pretended these issues were not happening in Zimbabwe or, if they happened, they were few and isolated to matter. Tendai Biti, the MDC Minister of Finance, was so impressed by the brutal dictator he wanted him knighted. A year ago Biti was in the dictator’s jail on treason charges.
Any student of history would be disappointed, yes, but not surprised by Tsvangirai and Biti’s turn-coat behaviour because they are not the first to do so. Mugabe and most of those who have helped him create and run this dictatorship were liberation war heroes and heroines before they were transformed into the ruthless and heartless tyrants we see today. Power transformed them.
Power is like latent heat, the greater the power the intense the heat; it is felt by all without exception who exercise it but affects each differently. Some people, whose moral compass is weak and value system is shaky; expose them to power and they will melt like lead. They are the turn-coats, yesteryear’s liberators who once in power become the new oppressors – often worse than the oppressors they replaced. And then there are those people moral compass will point “North” and will never ever betray the cause of truth, justice and liberty and the common people. They will seek to limit the power given to them and not abuse it.
The West is used to dealing with African leaders whose ego does not allow them to admit they have very serious shortcomings. Still, they were disappointed with Tsvangirai, begging bowl in hand, whilst doing his best to hoodwink them into believing that Zimbabwe’s GNU was a democratic regime committed to democratic reforms when they can see it is nothing of the sort. They had to send him back empty handed – he certainly needed to a more graphic way to remind him they were not amused.
Of all the Western leaders President Barack Obama, must have been particularly disappointed with Tsvangirai. President Obama is a man of history, he is painful aware of the blacks’ place in it, but he is also aware of what black can achieve if they took up the “Yes, we can!” attitude. He is hoping that his own example will inspire others. Nothing would please him more than to help Africa pull itself out of the dark ages into the light of freedom, liberty and prosperity during his time in White House. (Africa will probably never have a better partner in White House than it has right now in President Obama for another generation.) All he needs are a few men and women with some common sense in Africa to work with. The Tsvangirai he met at the White was everything detestable in the stereotype African leader: armed with big begging bowl, matching their great appetite to spend as seen by their ballooning national debt and dependence, in the one hand and a long tale why the nation has failed its own people so badly.
Tsvangirai did not even the common courtesy to shut up instead of waste President Obama’s valuable time listening to him wittering.
Conclusion
Last year Mugabe and his cronies decided to disregard the law and launch the campaign of violence and murder to win the presidential run-off; the cabal had crossed the Rubicon, there was no turning back. It was easier for the old Mugabe regime to implement meaningful democratic reforms than the hardened cabal in power now; it has even more to hide! The economic pressure for meaningful change is still there, although less now that a year ago; the dictatorship will resist change for as long as it can, it has no other option.
Zimbabwe’s greatest chance to meaningful democratic change, even regime change, was last year after the sham presidential run-off. Tsvangirai let Mugabe off the hook. The cause for meaningful democratic change in Zimbabwe is a just and worthy cause; sadly, in Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and company, it could not have had more feeble champions.
Tsvangirai listened to all President Obama and all the other Western leaders had to say but none of it sunk in. Even after the trip he was backing to signing Mugabe’s praises when as the later stepped up the harassment of MDC leaders and supporters.
Zimbabweans have been short changed for three decades, denied by Mugabe their humanity and human dignity others take for granted. Still the tyrant Mugabe will be swept aside like the trash he is some day soon and this will come to pass in spite of and not because of Tsvangirai and MDC; the buffoons have been more of a hindrance than an aid in this struggle.
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