The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal
Democracy Spreading Mechanism
The Demosphere Manifesto
5 Steps To Democracy
Proposed Constitution
I first found Zimpundit at Mary Joyce's blog.
Zimpundit and I just crosslinked to each other. This is exciting. I first found him out because he had a blog entry where he was waxing eloquent about Nepal. As in, look at Nepal, why can't we have it as good in Zimbabwe? That caught my attention. One thing, though, Zimpundit, noone saw the April Revolution coming on April 5. But when it finally came, it came like a tsunami.
Well, I went ahead and looked around. I have read bits and pieces on Mugabe over time, but never much thoroughly.
Looks like the guy is a former freedom fighter gone despotic, if he ever was anything else. I mean, how else has he been in power for two and a half decades non stop? It is not possible for someone like him to be popular. This guy is black, but he is totally colonial. He is your typical Third World dictator. He does not understand property rights, he does not understand land reform, he sure does not understand you can do both. He does not understand, or much care about things like free speech, freedom of press. He hounds poor Zimbabweans living in shanty towns because they oppose him. How much of a freedom fighter can you be if you do that?
He bungled land reform horrendously, and collapsed the economy. Now he turns around blames Britain for the collapsed economy.
The goal can not be to reform Mugabe. This guy is beyond repair. The goal has to be to oust him. I think the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) needs to build a strong base globally, and at the same time build a strong organization inside the country. The goal has to be to get people to come out into the streets in one big jamboree of protest. But there is a lot of homework you have to do beforehand. Lessons can be learned from the Nepal experience in that Nepal is a poor country also, one of the poorest. But then poverty is a big reason why the people need to rebel and topple a despot. Be desperate, act desperate. On the other hand, the Zimbabwe experience will be unique, very much of its own. Nepal can be a lesson, but the idea can not be to replicate. There is much improvisation in any democracy movement.
We should take it a challenge to drive Mugabe out. I propose we deport him to Britain.
The challenge is to raise the political consciousness of the people enough to get them out into the streets in large numbers. The Zimbabwean diaspora could play a key role.
Zimpundit, in solidarity.
But looks like the Zimbabwe strategy might be hovering around the 2008 presidential elections in that country. Fair enough. Give it a shot. And looks like South Africa is a ready base for the Zimbabwean diaspora. South Africa might be Zimbabwe's India.
One flaw I see in the opposition. Why is there talk only of beating the despot at the election booth? Is the constitution okay? Does it need to be amended? Or replaced? It must be a flawed constitution that has kept him in power for so long. The stink in Zimbabwe is bigger than that the opposition has been losing elections. So more than electoral victory has to be the political platform.
On The Web
CIA - The World Factbook -- Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Zimbabwe Independent - The Leading Business Weekly Newspaper
Zimbabwe Financial Gazette
New Zimbabwe.com News :: The Zimbabwe News You Trust
BBC News - Country Profile: Zimbabwe economy is in tatters, where poverty and unemployment are endemic and political strife and repression commonplace...... the forced seizure of almost all white-owned commercial farms, with the stated aim of benefiting landless black Zimbabweans, led to sharp falls in production and precipitated the collapse of the agriculture-based economy ....... hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, including much-needed professionals, have emigrated...... Aid agencies and critics partly blame food shortages on the land reform programme. The government blames a long-running drought, and Mr Mugabe has accused Britain and its allies of sabotaging the economy in revenge for the redistribution programme...... government's urban slum demolition drive in 2005 ...... critics accused him of destroying slums housing opposition supporters..... The former Rhodesia has a history of conflict, with white settlers dispossessing the resident population, guerrilla armies forcing the white government to submit to elections, and the post-independence leadership committing atrocities in southern areas where it lacked the support of the Matabele people....... Mugabe played a key role in ending white rule in Rhodesia and he and his Zanu-PF party have dominated Zimbabwe's politics since independence in 1980....... the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) ..... members have been killed, tortured and harassed by Zanu-PF supporters ...... Mugabe belongs to the African liberationist tradition of the 1960s - strong and ruthless leadership, anti-Western, suspicious of capitalism and deeply intolerant of dissent and opposition...... His economic policies are widely seen as being geared to short-term political expediency and the maintenance of power for himself. Mr Mugabe has defended his land reform programme, saying the issue is the "core social question of our time"....... All broadcasters transmitting from Zimbabwean soil and the main newspapers are state-controlled and toe the government line...... The private press, relatively vigorous in its criticism of the government, has come under severe pressure. A leading privately-owned daily, the Daily News, is subject to a publication ban. ....... A weekly newspaper, The Zimbabwean, is produced in London and is distributed in Zimbabwe as an international publication, and among Zimbabweans living abroad..... State-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) operates the country's only TV and radio stations........ The Voice of the People, set up by former ZBC staff with funding from the Soros Foundation and a Dutch NGO, operates using a leased shortwave transmitter in Madagascar...... Another station, the UK-based SW Radio Africa, aims to give listeners in Zimbabwe "unbiased information". The station's signal was jammed in March 2005, a period coinciding with the run-up to parliamentary elections.......
allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe
African Studies Center | Zimbabwe Page
ZWNEWS.com - linking the world to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Travel Information | Lonely Planet Destination Guide
In The News
Zimbabwe: Espionage Plan Unconstitutional AllAfrica.com, Washington
Zimbabwe: Govt to Print $60 Trillion to Meet Salary Bill AllAfrica.com, Washington
ZIMBABWE: Government to tap cyberspace
Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Piles Pressure On Rump Mutambara Group AllAfrica.com, Washington
Arthur Mutambara Faction of Zimbabwe's Opposition Struggles to ...
Zimbabwe: ZFTU Members Bury the Hatchet
Zimbabwe: RBZ Warns Market to Brace for Liquidity Storms
Zimbabwe: Tobacco Season Off to a Bad Start AllAfrica.com, Washington
Zimbabwe: Govt Stranger to Reality AllAfrica.com, Washington
Zimbabwe: Zimplats Cautious On Fresh Mine Seizure Threats
Zimbabwe : Foreigners to pay hospital fees in forex
