Mugabe – Hero and Villain Monday, September 17, 2007 3002 Reads Discuss 2 Comments 2 Prints 2 Sent

Sir Ronald Sanders

Mugabe is still rerevered by Africans as a freedom fighter Like it or not, Mugabe is in charge of Zimbabwe and the army, which he has favoured and nurtured, still stands behind him. African heads of government are adamant that Zimbabwe’s autocratic leader, Robert Mugabe, must be invited to a summit meeting of African and European leaders in Portugal in December. For their part, European heads of government are uncertain about whether to bar Mugabe from attending or not. This issue was part of a wider debate on Zimbabwe earlier this year at a symposium at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London in which I participated. Other participants included British parliamentarians and businessmen, black and white Zimbabweans, and diplomatic and academic representatives from neighbouring southern African countries. Amid great disagreement, I had suggested at the London symposium that Mugabe should be allowed to attend because I saw it as an opportunity for other heads of government to seriously negotiate his departure from the presidency of Zimbabwe directly with him in the margins of the meeting. Others disagreed, saying that his attendance at the Africa-Europe summit would give Mugabe’s government “legitimacy”. It is a similar debate that is currently on-going in Europe, but, it is a sterile debate. Like it or not, Mugabe is in charge of Zimbabwe and the army, which he has favoured and nurtured, still stands behind him. The best efforts of the opposition party and its supporters have failed to unseat him, and the leaders of many of Zimbabwe’s neighbouring states, who could best apply pressure on him, are ambivalent in their attitude toward him. As Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, publicly said recently many African countries still regard Mugabe as a hero because of his role as a freedom fighter.But, they like everyone else, recognise that Mugabe has destroyed the Zimbabwean economy and is ruthlessly persecuting his own people. Inflation was estimated at a staggering 7,600% in July and unemployment at a frightening 80%. Families are surviving only because many of their breadwinners – both men and women – have sneaked across the border into neighbouring states and are sending money back home. On top of this hardship, there are massive power and fuel shortages, and reports indicate that “price controls that the government enforced in June have emptied shelves and depleted stocks, bringing many shops and factories to a standstill.”The official exchange rate between the Zimbabwe and US dollars was devalued in the first week of September from 250 to 30,000 Zimbabwean dollars to one US dollar. Dissent, however mild, is met with vicious beatings by police and Mugabe support groups. It is difficult to imagine that the situation could get any worse. So why should European nations tolerate this villain at their summit with African leaders in Portugal in December? There are two good reasons.

South African nations will not take action against Mugabe Hero to some and villain to others, the reality is that Mugabe has presided over the destruction of his country and the decimation of his people. One is the argument put forward by McKinnon that the Africa-European summit is too important to be put off because of Mugabe. And, the African Union has stated quite clearly that its leaders will not attend if Mugabe is not invited. The second reason is that the leaders of the Southern African nations that are in the best position to persuade Mugabe to end his rule of tyranny are reluctant to take action against him. South Africa’s President, Thabo Mbeki, is the chief among them. There are various reasons for the reluctance to move against Mugabe. One of them is what Don Mckinnon has said: Mugabe is still a revolutionary hero to many in Africa because he stood up against the racist minority government of Ian Smith. A second reason – and I suspect this is particularly true in South Africa – leaders fear a backlash from militant groups within their own countries who would use any anti-Mugabe action to suggest that they were selling out to “imperialist” (or “white”) powers in Europe and North America who want to oust Mugabe. Almost everyone connected in any way with Zimbabwe knows that the only way to end the destruction of the country and the decimation of its people is for a deal to be negotiated directly with Mugabe in which he leaves office with impunity. He will not accept that such a deal is possible unless he has iron-clad guarantees from European nations and the United States, and he will want it from the highest possible levels. The corridors of the European-Africa summit in December would be a good place to start to talk to him. Hero to some and villain to others, the reality is that Mugabe has presided over the destruction of his country and the decimation of his people. Every day that he remains his country is driven further into an economic abyss, and threatens the stability of neighbouring states as Zimbabwean stream across the borders. Mr Mckinnon, as Commonwealth Secretary-General, has urged that Mugabe be invited to the European-African summit in December as a practical matter and as good sense. The same argument is relevant to placing the subject of Zimbabwe on the agenda of the Commonwealth heads of government in Uganda in November. It would not be the first time that the Commonwealth discussed a country that had withdrawn from membership, nor would it be the first time that Commonwealth resolution led to European and American action to end tyranny - Apartheid South Africa is the prime example. Sir Ronald Sanders is a business executive and former Caribbean diplomat.

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