.. Mugabes 30 years in power HARARE Zimbabwes once showcase education and health sectors are in a state of accelerated decay, in a vivid reminder of how a jewel so tirelessly built by President Robert Mugabes government after independence has been shattered and its ruins a hallmark of the veteran leaders controversial rule, especially in the last decade.
Opponents of the ageing leader say he has run one of Africas most promising economies to the ground, through mismanagement, controversial populist policies and a patronage system that rewards political loyalties at the expense of competence.
A parliamentary committee report this week showed that the massive brain drain, which has heightened in the last decade, has left the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), the countrys premier education institution, edging towards paralysis.
Less than 500 lecturers, all underpaid, now remain at the university, a figure less than half the required full compliment of around 1 200, resulting in some programmes in the sciences faculty being suspended.
State of decay
The sciences faculty requires 211 lecturers but only 32 are available, clearly amplifying the state of decay that has gripped what was once an envy of the continent.
This is all concrete evidence of the governments failures over the years, John Makumbe, a political science lecturer at the UZ said.
But is it not ironic that all that Zanu (PF) (Mugabes party) built they have made sure they have destroyed and it is that destruction that people will remember most and will surely be Mugabes legacy? Makumbe said.
Hailed as an African democrat at independence from Britain in 1980 when his government rapidly improved education, health and social infrastructure for the historically disadvantaged blacks, Mugabe now stands accused of being an aged dictator illegally hanging onto power.
Skilled workers in the education and health sectors have fled Zimbabwe in large numbers to search for better paying jobs in the region and as far as Britain, United States and Australia.
The dawn of a unity government last year, formed by rivals Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai brought euphoric optimism that the economic and political nightmares of the past decade were about to end.
The government was to provide a quick fix to the countrys ills, Zimbabweans hoped. But the administration has only been able to improve some aspects of life for the majority while the major problems are yet to be fixed. For example, public hospitals remain under-funded and understaffed with the barest of drugs stocks, and so are schools and universities.
Little confidence
Bankrupt and divided, the coalition has failed to attract back lecturers and key staff to the countrys state universities and state health institutions, suggesting that Zimbabweans have little confidence that the political arrangement could ever give birth to a secure future.
Many continue to look beyond the borders for salvation.
I am currently working on my papers to go to Australia, I dont think things will ever improve here, said 26-year-old Grace Majome, a nurse at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, hundreds of Zimbabweans continued to leave the country every week in search of jobs, with South Africa being the destination of choice after Africas largest economy relaxed visa requirements last year.
Only last week, South Africas northern Limpopo province said it wanted to hire 600 Zimbabwean teachers to fill in vacant positions for mathematics but observers say more local teachers continue to be quietly hired in public and private schools there.
State employees, who get an average salary of $160 every month have been on strike for nearly two weeks, in a blow to the unity administrations efforts to shore up health and education, the pillars of social services.
Public infrastructure like roads and sewer systems and electricity generation has not improved in Zimbabwe despite the formation of the new government last February.
To restore public infrastructure, the country needs $2.5 billion and another $800 million just to bring existing power stations to full capacity. The government has put a $10 billion tag to rebuild the economy – money no one is willing to lend the bankrupt administration.
Stymieing reforms
No wonder Zimbabweans are growing increasingly impatient and angry over the governments failures and have watched in horror as the decay continues, with Western donors holding onto to critical funding, accusing Zanu (PF) of stymieing democratic reforms.
I dont think I want to work here when I finish college, I am thinking of going to Botswana or to the Middle East where I hear the salaries are far higher, said Simba Chitambo, a second year Agricultural Economics and Extension sciences student at UZ.
If I stay here I will only be working in government for $150 a month and I dont think I want to spend four years in school so that I will earn that little.
Last week, Harare authorities said city residents would receive water once in three days because the main pumping stations could only produce 60 percent of the required provisions and of that 40 percent was being lost through leakages because of outdated piping.
The council says it needs $250 million to restore water to Harare, money it does not have and bad news for institutions like the UZ, which have shut its halls of residence.
Mugabe, who is one of the longest serving and oldest leaders, turns 86 years today, clear evidence he is deep in the sunset of a long political career in which he has divided supporters and foes alike.
To many in the teaming cities and towns that have borne the brunt of Zimbabwes economic collapse Mugabe is a villain they hold directly responsible for deepening poverty and rising unemployment in the country.
Historic elections
But there are still many especially in the rural areas and on resettled former white farms who in spite of economic hardship remain fond of Mugabe if the results of the historic elections in 2008 are anything to go by.
Mugabe and Zanu (PF) lost the March 2008 vote against the then main opposition MDC-T party and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai but managed to garner enough votes to prevent a landslide by the hugely popular MDC.
On his part, Mugabe accepts no blame for the collapsed roads, sewers, power shortages, brain drain, economic rot and high unemployment in Zimbabwe. Mugabe blames Zimbabwe’s spectacular failure on a plot by Western countries, led by the UK, to oust him because of his seizure of white-owned farms.
Makumbe, a long time critic of the Zimbabwean leader disagrees: Mugabe is yesterdays man, he has turned a success story into Africas shame, and that will be what most Zimbabweans will remember him for, he said.
Post published in: News