Zimbabweans suffer in silence as the lord of misrule reigns on at 82
February 21, 2006 Edition 1
Basildon Peta
His critics call it "the mother of all ironies". President Robert Mugabe celebrates his 82nd birthday today with Zimbabwe's economy in tatters.
Inflation stands at 613%. Unemployment is a staggering 80%. Chronic food, fuel and power shortages have become the order of the day.
In any other normal society, Mugabe would be history, either via the ballot or by other means.
Yet his birthday today sees him still firmly ensconced in power. The stiff opposition he once faced from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has all but evaporated.
Regional leaders who have tried to rein him in have all been wrestled to the ground.
Which perhaps explains Mugabe's birthday wish: "Eighty-two more years in power."
But how to explain this puzzle: do Zimbabweans vote for misery?
Do they really want a leader who has brought them untold suffering? Do they vote for high inflation, high unemployment and other evils that Mugabe's legendary misrule has brought them?
Surely not.
As University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masunungure put it: "Zimbabweans are rational enough to know how to butter their bread."
Will there ever come a time when they will say enough is enough? Or will they remain spectators while their country is dismantled until - as Colin Powell put it - "there is nothing left to ruin".
Masunungure attributes Mugabe's longevity in power to a culture of deference to older people by Zimbabweans.
"This great irony or puzzle has its roots in our political culture of obedience to political authority even if you are unhappy with it," says Masunungure.
"There is certainly a high threshold of anger in Zimbabwe against Mugabe's mismanagement, but he has survived because of the culture of subservience to authority by the people here," Masunungure says.
Another UZ political scientist, John Makumbe, begs to differ.
"Mugabe has survived in power for too long because Zimbabweans sleep for too long," he says. "But they are beginning to wake up. In fact, Zimbabweans have no choice but to wake up."
Makumbe is adamant that this will be the year that Mugabe will realise that Zimbabweans cannot take it any more.
The country is enjoying its best rainy season in living memory, yet it is expecting its worst crop output ever. The rains are nourishing grass on large tracts of farmland lying fallow after the land seizures.
Shortages of basic inputs such as seed, fertilisers and fuel have crippled even farmers unaffected by seizures.
"Supermarket shelves are empty ... Zimbabwe has become hell on earth," says Makumbe. "Everyone is unhappy, the army, the police, the general population. It's a matter of time."
But worse things have come and gone in Zimbabwe with few predictions of trouble coming true.
When Zimbabweans could not access their cash in banks in 2003/04 because the central bank had run out of foreign currency to import the special paper needed to print money, many felt Mugabe's misrule had peaked. People would not take it any more. That episode too came and went.
Lawyer Lovemore Madhuku attributes Mugabe's longevity to his systematic destruction of all key institutions that could have played an effective watchdog role.
The judiciary has been "prostituted", the independent media obliterated, the army and police compromised.
Security agencies and militias have been misused to beat people into submission.
"Mugabe is a tyrant in all respects and uses force to remain in power. It seems to have worked for him," Madhuku says.
Bromley Masenda, a Harare factory hand, has his own insight. He believes the opportunity to challenge Mugabe is already lost.
It's the opposition's response to Mugabe that worries Masenda.
When Mugabe controversially won the 2002 presidential elections, causing his suspension from the Commonwealth, people were fully psyched up to challenge him in the streets, Masenda says. But they were "let down" by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who urged them to avoid confrontation.
Since then, Mugabe has consolidated his instruments of repression.
People are now too enmeshed in daily survival battles to worry about challenging Mugabe, Masenda believes. - Foreign Service
