Mugabe Madness
June 29th, 2008 -- Posted in South African Politics, World Politics | 4 Comments »Today is a sad day in Africa, Robert Mugabe has been sworn in for a 6th term in a country that is falling apart. Some people even argue this fact which is beyond understanding since the numbers tell the story; 3 million Zimbabwean refugees live in South Africa. That is 25% of the countries population as Zimbabwe is rumored to contain just over 12 million people according to a July 2008 estimate. Can you imagine a quarter of a population being forced to leave their own country? Shouldn’t that give an indication to the President that things are not good?
Not in the fantasy land of Robert Mugabe where he might term these 3 million people “malcontents.” The situation is even tougher because of the politics involved. Robert Mugabe is well regarded in Africa for fighting for independence for his country therefore the leaders of the African Union give him a wide bearing. This is understandable but antiquated, how can the leaders of the AU abide by the level of violence and intimidation that preceded the election?
We can rule out an intervention from the U.K because they have their military committed to Afghanistan and Iraq with insufficient capacity for an effective operation in Zimbabwe. Can you imagine the headlines if they did act?
Ex-colonial power reasserts control in Zimbabwe…
The U.S could probably go in with some sort of military force but the PR fallout from such an action would be slightly less than the U.K. The only solution is for the AU leaders to combine their military might and send in a peacekeeping force to ensure free and fair election. Action is not likely to occur soon therefore I urge everyone to write to their designated South African ambassador in their respective countries and urge a greater effort to remove Robert Mugabe since “quiet diplomacy” is currently showing no progress. The address of the South African Ambassador in Washington:
Ambassador Welile Nhlapo
4301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Van Ness Building, Suite 2200
Washington D.C
20008
