It should be the beginning of the end of his murderous regime. An
international chorus calling for action to force him out of office has
grown in volume over the weekend, from Gordon Brown saying that the
world must tell Robert Mugabe that enough is enough to the archbishops
of both Cape Town and York, Desmond Tutu and John Sentamu, calling for
him to be put on trial in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
That would be the only satisfactory outcome, but it remains a challenge
that can be met only by concerted international action. Archbishop Tutu
said Mugabe must be removed by force; the US Secretary of State,
Condoleezza Rice, has suggested that the international community should
"push Mr Mugabe out", but the most significant voices raised against
the Zimbabwean President are those of Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of
Kenya, and Phandu Skelemani, Foreign Minister of Botswana. Mr Skelemani
has suggested starving Mugabe’s army of fuel, while Mr Odinga urged the
African Union to call an emergency meeting to authorise sending troops
into Zimbabwe. He is the first African leader to declare that it is
time for African governments to take action to push Mr Mugabe out of
power.
It is long past time. In a land which once exported food, the people
are starving, subsisting on berries and leaves. The country is
bankrupt, hyperinflation is now in too many zillions to calculate; even
the soldiers are no longer being paid and last week a group rampaged
through black market shops in Harare to seize US dollars. This has
produced a sliver of hope that the army will finally turn on the
dictator, but rebels will be unable to access weapons and ammunition,
and the President will retain a loyal nucleus. The power-sharing deal
with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed in September has been
exposed as a sham and the European Union is considering imposing new
sanctions to break the deadlock. The time for that is past.
That leaves the spread of cholera as the unlikely catalyst for action
from neighbouring countries. While President Mugabe’s part in Africa’s
liberation struggle has made neighbouring states reluctant to take
action against a one-time hero, they must now face the reality that
turning a blind eye to the desperate situation in Zimbabwe has brought
about a serious public health threat to their own people. African Union
leaders, who have failed so far to act in the interest of the people of
Zimbabwe, might be forced into action by their own self-interest:
cholera does not recognise national boundaries.
The Herald (UK)
Post published in: News