The emasmasculation of King Robert I of Jongwe

Graphic courtesy of BBC - see the article here

Is it finally so, that we are starting to see the emasculation of Robert Mugabe? Will he slowly and unceremoniously be marginalised and put out to pasture? I have my doubts, but will rejoice if this new power-sharing scheme can move beyond the current stalemate in selecting which party gets which cabinet posts. The battle is far from over.

African leaders apply pressure on Mugabe

Wither Zimbabwe?

I am afraid that the events in Zimbabwe during the past weeks are for me, just too painful to be blogging about. I've heard about too much violence, learned firsthand about people I know who have been brutally assaulted, and had to listen to so many lies and self-delusion from ZanuPF spokespeople, that I just don't feel like adding my voice to the many who (fortunately) are blogging away about events back home. Yesterday's announcement by the MDC that they will not contest the Presidential election run-off is just so sad because it is a huge blow for democracy, for truth, and for justice. Sadder, is that I doubt the rest of the world will do much of significance - some hot air and rhetoric for a few weeks is about all I am expecting from the free world who cared very little beyond the price of petrol and one or two percentage points of inflation.

Say a prayer for Zimbabwe today. Robert Mugabe has said this weekend that only God is able to remove him from power. I don't like to order God around, but I am sure hoping He will not take to kindly to King Robert's deluded proclamation of divine appointment, and that He might just move His hand towards the 'remove that man' button I believe He could press at any time.

The coming storm

If the world does not act with pressure upon African leaders to do something about their fallen angel, Robert Mugabe, the evidence is mounting that he will stop at nothing to ensure he wins the rematch at the polls between him and Morgan Tsvangirai. The violence is real. People are not just being hurt, they are being killed. The country is a complete and utter waste of incredible resources and talents. Bob is a hero in Africa, African leaders are blind to his meglomania and atrocities. Surely eneogh is enough, and surely such moral bankruptcy from Mugabe deserves the attention of the world's influential people - even if Zimbabwe cannot offer oil, or diamonds.

How much is a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe?

Well, have a listen, have a laugh!

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If Mugabe gets to contest the election again

This has been posted before, but thinking about the next three weeks as King Robert I of Jongwe will no doubt wage war on anything and everything that is decent and honourable, made me think about it again.

All the king's horses, all the king's men ...

Is it the start of a new day for Zimbabwe?

7:30 PM and our house is on complete tenterhooks, watching the news and expecting Robert Gabriel Mugabe to make an address to the nation. Will he hand on to power? Will he concede defeat and go with the diplomacy and manners he is capable of? Will the army force his hand to stay? Will the cronies in his party scramble and run? It is all just too much.

The Frog and the Prostitute

Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, called Simba Makoni, who is challenging him for the top job in an election at the end of this month, a prostitute and a frog. See article [From The Economist, 28 Feb 2008]

Let me win, then I will go - Mugabe

Zimbabweans Queuing for Food Aid in a country once Southern Africa's Foodbasket

Photo source: BBC/AP

Meglomania has its own peculiar twist on the truth - especially when it involves King Robert I of Jongwe, who in a recent audience with his 'loyal-unless-you-wish-to-be oppressed' subjects, has apparantly declared that his deep desire is to win next year's presidential elections (freely and fairly with just a modest amount of ballot stuffing of course) and then retiring from the throne having never been beaten in an election. The man is deluded by his self-congratulating sense of his own importance, of course, and this is yet another prime indicator that the king's pride is at the root of his longevity. He really does think he is the sole and single-handed saviour of Zimbabwe. Journalist, Michael Gwaridzo, has reported:

A senior army source said: "Mugabe told army chiefs that he is going to leave office next year and requires the help of the army to secure victory. The president said next year's election was a do-or-die poll, and Zimbabwe needs to win the election to shame what he called 'Western governments bent on re-occupying us'."Observers believe Mugabe wants to win the election in order to preserve his dignity, but may then seek to pass the country's leadership to a favoured successor. However, he still faces what in a functioning democracy would be the insurmountable task of securing the votes needed to win.

You can read the whole story here, and check out African Path, a great source of blogs and writing by Africans about Africa. Kudos to Joshua Wanyama in Kenya for his initiative in this website. One more quote from Gwaridzo's story is telling for me:

Conditions inside the country are now so bad that even middle-class Zimbabweans have been forced into desperate measures to survive. Nancy Chaguma, a qualified chartered accountant in her twenties, told The Sunday Telegraph that she has been forced to turn to prostitution to provide for herself and her brothers and sisters."The economic situation is Zimbabwe is so dire," said Miss Chaguma. "And one has to be enterprising to survive. I didn't become a prostitute by design and I know the risks of the profession. Although I insist on using protection every time, I consider myself dead already, because Mugabe has turned us into scavengers in a land that was once of milk and honey."

Anyone got any change?

Disciplinary Code - African Leaders Edition

I saw this cartoon in The Bearded Man, clipped from an Israeli newspaper (although Zapiro is actually a South African cartoonist):

King Robert I of Jongwe Faces the Music in Tanzania

King Robert

Picture credit: Robert Mugabe created by Caricature Zone


King Robert I of Jongwe's favourite gay, Peter Thatchell, writes a good article published in The Guardian Unlimited.

"The inconsistent application of international law is glaring. The ex-president of Liberia Charles Taylor is behind bars and due to stand trial on charges of war crimes. But no such rendezvous with justice awaits neighbouring African despots, such as the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, and Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe. Their regimes stand accused of detention without trial, torture, rape and massacres on an industrial scale. There is, however, no prospect of them answering any time soon for their crimes against humanity." full article here...

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