Leading article: Voice of protest
Thursday, 26 June 2008
It was a long time in coming, and many will think he should have gone further. But Nelson Mandela's condemnation in London yesterday evening of the violence disfiguring Zimbabwe is no less welcome for all that.
It has become clear this week that the mood among African leaders towards Robert Mugabe has changed irrevocably. For years, they turned a blind eye to the Zimbabwean President's brutalisation of his own people because Mr Mugabe was, after all, a hero of the African struggle for independence from white colonial rule.
Many of them felt that to admit that Mr Mugabe had destroyed Zimbabwe would be to call into question the ideals of independence. But the recent words of reproach from South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Senegal have broken that malign spell. Mr Mugabe's only hope of winning tomorrow's run-off election against Morgan Tsvangirai was to bludgeon the opposition Movement for Democratic Change out of the race. The Zimbabwean President has achieved that but, in doing so, he has lost even the passive support of his neighbours.
And now the implicit condemnation of Mr Mugabe from Africa's great statesman and moral authority, Mr Mandela, will set the seal on the new mood in southern Africa towards the tyrant in its midst. The pressure on Mr Mugabe to relinquish power can only grow greater.
We know that Mr Mugabe is capable of stealing an election. But can he cling on to power without the support of his neighbours? For the sake of Zimbabwe's terrorised population, we must fervently hope that the answer is no.
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Copyright 2008 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
13 Comments
i am getting so tired of people asking outsiders to solve their problems. they are getting what they deserve. sure many will be killed, but if you dont stand up for your own freedom, what freedom is given to you by outsiders is not real. you must choose, to be free or slaves. by outsiders or by your own kind.
Posted by GENE RUSH | 30.06.08, 16:45 GMT
No one doubts that Mugabe is inhuman and has ruined his country. What amazes me is that, why so much rant about Mugabe, while some other leaders around the globe are killing their own citizens daily.
There are no killings, at least not now, in Zimbabwe on a daily basis, while in Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse is killing his own people as well as people of other race in fives and tens every day!
Do we wait until he has ruined the country beyond hope, like Mugabe has done in Zimbabwe, before we start making noise? What purpose does it serve?
Why don't the leaders, as well as media, of the 'free' world act in time to save people, and then cry belatedly?
Can some one explain this to me?
Posted by ken daniel | 29.06.08, 02:57 GMT
can you please inform me who was Dr. Arnold Luma that was killed in Zimbabwe? Thank you
Posted by Veronica Santa | 28.06.08, 20:45 GMT
Spare us this please. Mandela is drunk from the media publicity the liberal establishment force drinks him. What has he to show for his black people? He was the western better alternative to Pan-Africanists and the western media had to nbuild him until he became so blind he cannot see reason.
And what can you expect when those around him are the likes os that cartoon character in a purple dog collar who so much loves to be patted on the head by white liberals and thrown nobels, now and then while his people wallow and sink deeper and deeper in shanty towns.
And the so-called "xenophobic attacks". Who is more foreign - a black from across a stream or hill than one who comes a from across oceans? These poor SA shanty town dwellers were "educated" and encouraged not to touch the white "nkosi/baas" but other "kaffirs" as these were the real foreigners!
Posted by patrick foster | 28.06.08, 20:45 GMT
I agree with all that Eve Lambert's says. As usual the Western governments and media has been too slow to criticize African Regimes. It's because of the "racism" thing. In these last days of campaigning, Mugabe has been inciting his followers in his native "Shona" language (but not in "English") to take over by intimidation and force the White owned businesses, and probably some more farms. I'm amazed that there are still so many people in Zimbabwe and elsewhere, that believe in this pathetic Dictator who spent millions of US$ to build a 28 bedroom palace to live in while millions are starving around him. He transformed a country regarded as a "Bread Basket" into a "Basket Case" and that's putting it very mildly.
How can anyone possibly defend this guy? Mandela's words may have a lot of weight, but they came too little, too late and they are being overblown by the western media. Mbeki, It's best that you just retire because every time you open your mouth, the world has a good laugh!
Posted by Gil | 28.06.08, 18:51 GMT
I was personally disappointment by Mandela who looks like he made a safe statement because of where he was. He wanted to make the Westerners happy. It's really about our families that can't leave the country because Mugabe is not allowing passports and visas to be issues. I went through hell to renew my expired passport through the DC Embassy until they finally confessed that they were instructed not to renew or renew passports. Mugabe is a thug, has no regard for others and those they are getting paid for their support are in need of prayer. My family and friends are going for weeks at a time without power whether you have money or not. Forget getting through the networks that are being controlled with the help of China, which is why China is supporting Zimbabwe. Look who is support Mugabe: China, Russia, Mbeki (who is not representing the South Africans). The African leaders that are supporting Mugabe are doing the same thing to their own people. Talk about corruption!!!!!
Posted by Eve Lambert | 27.06.08, 19:14 GMT
John Small, are you daft? I think you'd revise your strategy for bringing about change in your country if you and your supporters were being beaten, tortured, or killed, if you didn't just cave in like the spineless weaklings most Westerners are. And Stewart Crehan, you've got serious gullibility issues if you believe a thug like Robert Mugabe over the Western media. Last I checked, the Western media weren't rounding up those who disagreed with them to silence them through torture. If it's really Bush's and Blair's fault, why would the media not bring that up? When in the last three years have they ever spared Bush or Blair from criticism? Time for you to leave la-la-land and face reality. Mugabe is a thug and a traitor to his people for starving them and ruining their country.
Posted by Clark | 27.06.08, 16:34 GMT
A nice one, I also follow the Zimbabwe mayhem as an african leaving in Nigeria. Although the leaders are not talking but all around Africa, mugabe is no more an Hero and all tabloids and News papers condemn his actions and if international media could lay hold on the comments and contributions in most african newspapers, they would have noticed the widespread condemnation of Robert Mugabe and his tyrant rule. The other African leaders that are not talking might also be thinking of clinging to power as long as they could and would also not want to be condemned. I can not wait to see Zimbabwe restored back to its good days as the African food basket.
Posted by TL | 27.06.08, 11:34 GMT
How can money to buy bread weigh more than the bread itself? The inflation in this country is a call for concern. It is ridiculous that some African leaders view the presidentship as a permanent seat. I see this as a free election because there is no opposition. I can't believe Mugabe is seeing the brutal killings in his country. Its time to stand up for such African leaders.
Posted by Salome Basebang | 26.06.08, 19:01 GMT
The BBC always used to refer spitefully to Ian Smith's government as an "illegal regime". Apparently it doesn't matter how bad you are, so long as you are black, for I have yet to hear the same about Mugabe.
Oh, and why are you so afraid of free speech on this page that you have that long and absurd rant at the bottom of the box?
Posted by Roger Pearse | 26.06.08, 15:08 GMT
13 Comments