It’s time to go, Mr Mugabe

by Editor · February 27, 2002

IT is a startling thought that in his fierce efforts to preserve power, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is galvanised not so much by an appetite for domination and privilege (or, indeed, ideology), but by fear.

Interviewed in this week’s issue, Justice and Peace veteran Mike Auret suggests that Mr Mugabe “knows that his next trip overseas would be to The Hague” to face an international indictment in connection with the Matabeleland massacres of the mid-1980s.

This may account for Mr Mugabe’s motivation. For his collaborators in the ruling Zanu-PF, the prospect of relinquishing the avenues of self-aggrandisement (allegedly through extraordinarily corrupt means) may supplant ideological considerations.

Many of those who have opposed Mr Mugabe’s repressive rule have been silenced by means of draconian legislation, state-sponsored intimidation and the deployment of shock troops (the so-called war veterans).

The Zimbabwean bishops in their latest statement call for a stop to “the system of ferrying people from one place to another to commit acts of violence,” noting that such exercises “compromise our hope of free and fair elections.”

It may well be too late to undo the damage done to the country’s electoral process. After all that has gone before, it is difficult to see how the notion of “free and fair” can still be applied to the March 9-10 presidential poll.

Indeed, having fostered a culture of intimidation and unaccountability, Mr Mugabe has forfeited unqualified recognition for his possible re-election. The international community would regard him rightly as a rogue leader – as would, one may presume, much of the electorate.

The bishops’ call on all Zimbabweans to accept “the verdict of the people” may to many seem unreasonable should Mr Mugabe be declared the winner of a discredited poll. Yet, the alternative to post-election calm is the dreadful spectre of civil war. This should be avoided at all costs
Robert Mugabe once was a beacon of hope on a continent devastated by political instability. Now he is part of the problem, ironically at a time when democracy is taking a hold in much of Africa.

Even if he wins the March elections, Mr Mugabe must retire – and new, truly free and fair presidential elections must be called to let Zimbabweans decide freely who shall lead them.