How must the impoverished people of Zimbabwe be feeling tonight, as the delays in their election results go on and on? I’d imagine they must be experiencing feelings of despair, cynicism and (as always) fear of what is coming next, mixed perhaps with just a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, they are about to be released from the cruel tyranny of Robert Mugabe’s dictatorial presidency, under which they have suffered for so long.
Reports coming out of Zimbabwe are confused and conflicting at this stage. Some say that Mugabe is trying to work out the practicalities of making a "dignified" exit from the scene (and possibly the country). I’d certainly like to hope so (although, a curse on whatever country offers the damnable rogue political asylum). Other reports suggest that these electoral delays are nothing more than a political tactic. All I know is that dictators very rarely, if ever, concede defeat and hand over power "just like that". On the other hand, if a dictator such as Romania’s Ceaucescu can finally "get his come-uppance" at the hands of the people, then there has got to be some scope for hoping that Mugabe will not escape justice in the end….
Discussions about Zimbabwe’s politics often hinge on historical comparisons between the way the country was governed as Rhodesia, and the way it is governed today – I often hear the opinion that "Africans just don’t know to/aren’t ready to govern themselves". Well, I don’t know all the ins and outs of that argument, but my opinion is: Zimbabwe is NOT in the ruinous state it is in today simply because its government is black/anti-colonialist/less educated than the former regime about economics. Zimbabwe is in ruins chiefly because Mugabe is a wicked and corrupt dictator.
I also sometimes hear (on the newspapers’ comment sections) opinions such as "Well, they voted for him en-masse back in 1980; so why should we intervene? Let them have the ‘independance’ they wanted". I think that particular opinion is rather spiteful and cruel. The truth is that people have always been conned and lied to by politicians, and have voted in favour of "a fresh start", a "time for change". Although there is really no comparison to Zimbabwe in the analogy, How many of us in the UK voted for New Labour back in May 1997, and watched with glee as the fresh-faced grinning Blair tossed the sleaze-ridden, out-of-ideas Major administration into the dustbin of history? Well… do we all still like the government we’ve got now? Or are some of us now wishing we’d never voted Nu-Lab at all? The people of Zimbabwe voted for huge changes back then, but surely they had no inkling of the present horrors of life under Mugabe. No sane person could have voted for that. And I think it is wrong to suggest that any independent government in Zimbabwe would intrinsically, inevitably lead to the same sort of corruption and economic ruin.
In short, if Mugabe tricks and lies his way back into power this time, then I see a clear-cut case for full-scale military intervention, on humanitarian grounds, by "the West" (I’m not absolutely sure which countries or coalition of countries I mean by this, but certainly the UK should be involved). We’re quick enough to intervene when our own immediate interests (oil, anti- AQ/Taliban) are at stake (and I fully support our interventions in Iraq/Afghan). So, if self-interest must reign supreme as the prevailing reason for wars, then why don’t we look to our long-term interests and realise that it is also very much in those interests to see countries like Zimbabwe freed from tyranny and thriving economically?