The lever to oust Mugabe
ROBERT MUGABE, the tyrant president of Zimbabwe, is right about one thing: The United States, Britain, and the other nations of the developed world will not remove him from office. His neighbors, especially regional leader South Africa, need to persuade him to initiate a peaceful transfer of power.
Mugabe, who first came to power in 1980, has long since dissipated the moral credibility he earned while leading the struggle against the white-dominated government in what was then called Rhodesia. He throttled democracy and corrupted the economy to protect and enrich himself and his cohorts in the ZANU-PF party .
Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of the continent, is now unable to feed itself, with inflation and unemployment out of control and millions of people forced to seek work in South Africa. The Movement for Democratic Change , a coalition of opposition groups, protested in Harare, the capital, this month, only to be attacked by Mugabe's police. Morgan Tsvangirai, one of its leaders, was seriously injured.
According to the Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa persuaded Mugabe not to extend his term as president from 2008 to 2010. But the official South African line remains that quiet diplomacy is best to encourage all the parties to negotiate a settlement.
This approach was endorsed this week by other leaders in the region at a meeting of the Southern African Development Community , who also urged Western nations to end sanctions against Zimbabwe. Support from his neighbors immediately emboldened Mugabe, who said that Tsvangirai deserved whatever he got. And yesterday, the central committee of ZANU-PF endorsed the president for re election next year. Mugabe is displaying great political resilience.
Perhaps the African leaders are using kind words to cloak tough talk in private, but unless they push Mugabe out, Zimbabwe will descend further into poverty, sending economic refugees and unrest throughout the region. Zimbabwe needs South African imports, and the ZANU leaders need a place of refuge if the population turns against them. Mbeki has the means to force change if he has the will.
Mugabe blames Britain, with its colonial history, for the enduring strength of the opposition. That's a lie, but his rhetoric feeds into Africans' distaste for outside interference. Memories of past injustice should not blind them to the realization that Mugabe bears the most responsibility for his people's plight.
Zimbabwe's devastated economy impedes regional growth, and the people fleeing its collapse are a strain on its neighbors. Mbeki would be an African hero, not an imperialist, if he helped resolve this crisis and improved the lives of the 12 million Zimbabweans.
