Mugabe's goons burn opponent's wife alive

If you had thought that Robert Mugabe could not do anything worse, his militant goons have perpetrated the most horrendous crime when they burnt alive the wife of Patson Chipiro, a well-known political rival of Mugabe. The incident comes just two weeks before Mugabe and his archrival, Morgan Tsvangirai, face a presidential race run-off.

Following is an extract from a news report from the Timesonline website:

"The men who pulled up in three white pickup trucks were looking for Patson Chipiro, head of the Zimbabwean opposition party in Mhondoro district. His wife, Dadirai, told them he was in Harare but would be back later in the day, and the men departed.

"An hour later they were back. They grabbed Mrs Chipiro and chopped off one of her hands and both her feet. Then they threw her into her hut, locked the door and threw a petrol bomb through the window.

"The killing last Friday – one of the most grotesque atrocities committed by Robert Mugabe’s regime since independence in 1980 – was carried out on a wave of worsening brutality before the run-off presidential elections in just over two weeks. It echoed the activities of Foday Sankoh, the rebel leader in the Sierra Leone civil war that ended in 2002, whose trade-mark was to chop off hands and feet."

The sheer horror of the act speaks of the depravity and inhumanness of the Mugabe regime - all in the name of power.

Zimbabwe: A snapshot

It's been a month since my last post. It's been a busy summer. Quite busy.

Since May 3, a lot of water has flown down the Ganga. Remember it's summer.

Let me take you to Africa where Zimbabwe has moved from bad to worse. In the second week of May, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a Z$500 million note, again with an expiry date. By the way, Z$500 million will get US$2 (yes, you read it right - two US dollars in exchange for 500 million Zimbabwean dollars). Check the picture of a Z$250 million note (issued a week before the Z$500 million bill came).

Inflation has zoomed to over 1,00,000 per cent. President Robert Mugabe and his archrival, Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC, are bracing for a June 27 run-off in their battle for the presidency.

While the ordinary Zimbabweans suffer hunger and malnourishment, Mugabe, accompanied by his wife and a few cronies, is in Rome to deliberate at the FAO on the global food crisis. The irony can hardly be missed. Mugabe’s economic policies have systematically reduced the country to a basket case and rendered its people destitute.

Compounding the misery of the hapless Zimbabweans is the attitude of the country’s army. Martin Chedondo, the army chief, barely concealed his loyalty to Mugabe when he said that:

“The constitution says the country should be protected by voting and in the 27 June presidential election run-off pitting our defence chief Comrade Robert Mugabe (against) Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC, we should, therefore stand behind our commander-in-chief. [...] We have signed and agreed to fight and protect the ruling party's principles of defending the revolution.... If you have other thoughts, then you should remove that uniform. Or we will remove it for you.”

With the army hand in glove with the dictator, I see little hope for the Zimbabweans. Watch this space for updates on the situation in Zimbabwe.

A cup of tea for $204 million!!

Would you buy a cup of tea for Z$204 million? Yes? No? Or are you simply confounded? I guess you would not be if you were in Mugabeland. Check it out here.

In this article Chris McGreal of The Observer traces the history of the current crisis in Mugabeland. In this superb article, the author talks of how a seemingly innocuous letter sent a decade earlier could have ignited the flames which have engulfed today's Zimbabwe.

And yes, do not forget to read why Mugabe has called Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, a tiny dot.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Mugabeland

I became interested in countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa when I was around 13. A land's physical geography, history, people, culture, and polity have always fascinated me.

I remember the names of three leaders from Africa: Robert Mugabe, Sam Nujoma, and Nelson Mandela. Let me ramble about Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is one of Africa's most 'in-the-news' countries. The history of Zimbabwe since its independence from Great Britain in 1980 runs parallel to the history of the presidency of Robert Mugabe, one of the world's longest serving head of state.

Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe has turned into an international basket case. Polity-wise, Mugabe has, with an iron fist, turned the country's sham democratic system into a one-man rule. There is press censorship, political repression, and arbitrary detention of political rivals. In fact, last year Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe’s biggest rival and head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was tortured after being arrested on a trumped charge of treason.

Also, Mugabe has systematically, and, to the dismay of ordinary Zimbabweans, 'successfully', destroyed the country's economy. He pursued radical and arbitrary land reforms, which saw the transfer of land from white farmers to blacks. Like his other corrupt policies, the end beneficiaries here were not the poor Zimbabweans but Mugabe’s political supporters. (Come to think of it, politicians everywhere are the same.)

Foreign investment has dried up. Unemployment is peaking. Power supply is almost non-existent. Infrastructure is crumbling.

Today, Zimbabwe has the world’s highest inflation rate – 26,000 per cent, though unofficial figures put it at a staggering 8,00,000 per cent!! The purchasing value of the currency has plunged so much so that it is now being issued with expiry date!!!

In a recent article, Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's biggest challenger, has voiced fear that Mugabe might use force to 'steal' the presidential election. Mugabe's ZANU-PF has already lost the recent parliamentary election to the MDC.

Will there will be change in Harare? The events in the next few days will give us the answer.