Writing about Zimbabwe is not as easy at it initially seems. Whilst there is plenty going on in the country that warrants comment, there just isn’t that scoop that a person like myself would need to sustain the reading public for another day.

That being said, hardly a boring day goes by in Zimbabwe…

And few people realise that for Zimbabwe to succeed, Mugabe needed to do nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Rhodesian economy was in fine fettle at Zimbabwean independence in April 1980.

“The Rhodesian economy experienced a modest boom in the early 1970s. Real per capita earnings for blacks and whites reached record highs, although the disparity in incomes between blacks and whites remained, with blacks earning only about one-tenth as much as whites. After 1975, however, Rhodesia’s economy was undermined by the cumulative effects of sanctions, declining earnings from commodity exports, worsening guerilla conflict, and increasing white emigration. When Mozambique severed economic ties, the Ian Smith regime was forced to depend on South Africa for access to the outside world. Real gross domestic product (GDP) declined between 1974 and 1979, before full independence in 1980. An increasing proportion of the national budget, an estimated 30%-40% per year, was allocated to defense, and a large budget deficit raised the public debt burden substantially.

The manufacturing sector, already well-developed before the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965, was given a major stimulus by the imposition of United Nations sanctions. The sanctions obliged Rhodesian industry to diversify and create many import-substitution undertakings to compensate for loss of traditional sources of imports. Rhodesian processing of local raw materials also grew rapidly. Major growth industries included steel and steel products, heavy equipment, transportation equipment, ferrochrome, textiles, and food processing.” (Wikipedia)

Whilst Rhodesia prospered, even in the face of full economic sanctions by the rest of the world, Mugabe’s Zimbabwean economy has spluttered and died in the face of his oppressive rule and policies.

Yes - Mugabe will claim that Zimbabwe is the target of illegal, economic sanctions - and even if that were the truth, which it isn’t - then how come the same country in all but name, has failed to sustain itself?

When Mugabe first took power in April of 1980, for Zimbabwe to be a success story, he needed to change not one thing. But, in typical ‘new blood on the throne’ style, Mugabe couldn’t resist making a small change here, another one there.

And soon it became a habit. His small changes allowed him a little more power, a little more elbow room - and soon, apart from making small changes for the hell of it, he was making sweeping changes, which themselves necessitated further changes, and before we knew it, the economy had just about collapsed.

The agricultural sector no longer feeds the nation and exports the surplus - the mining sector is infested with ZANU PF hands taking for themselves what rightfully belongs to the State, whilst foreign aid has all but dried up - now only coming from Mugabe’s ‘friends’ in the East who only have an eye for the future domination of an African country by themselves.

Mugabe will daily claim that the demise of Zimbabwe is largely thanks to a Western rejection of the Mugabe rule and he hangs onto the misapprehension that Zimbabwe is subject to full sanctions.

Not so - Mugabe and his rank and file followers are subject to targeted travel sanctions - but it sounds better to blame the problems of the country on the West, rather than face the truth of the country’s failure being as a direct result of Mugabe’s ZANU PF rule. Mugabe is not happy about not being able to travel to the West and fill up on much needed foodstuffs and extravagances.

By way of proof, he refuses to let anyone conduct a full audit of the financial activities of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe - for fear that an audit will turn up many fraudulent processes which would probably result in the criminal arraignment in the Interternational Criminal Court of Mugabe and his loyalists, regardless of their perceived self-importance.

And Zimbabwe is broke - in more ways than one. Apart from being almost beyond repair, it has not got the money in it’s coffers to buy itself out of the problems brought on by the Mugabe rule.

Simply stated: “If it isn’t broke, then don’t fix it!”

Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded Man