Zimbabwe End of Chequered anti-Imperialist Era
Robert Mugabe stepped
down as the president of
Zimbabwe as the pressure
mounted fro the Army and
Parliament. The immediate
provocation was the dismissal of
Mnangagwa, his second in
command, and attempt to declare
his wife Grace Mugabe as his
successor. Emmerson Mnangagwa
was sworn in as the president and
he promised a future of freedom
and prosperity. This change of
leadership was celebrated among
broad masses who had to bear
nothing but hardships and brutal
repression all these years. Will
the downfall of Mugabe brings an
improvement in their lives?
Zimbabwe was a British
colony, then called as south
Rhodesia. Mugabe came to power
after 15 years of armed struggle
against the British rule in 1980. As
a part of Lancaster House
agreement, elections were held in
1980 and Zimbabwe African
National Union (ZANU) led by
Mugabe won in the elections. On
his part, Mugabe agreed to
continue the policies that allowed
MNCs to dominate and exploit
Zimbabwe’s
mining
and
agricultural sectors.
The colonial rule designed the
Zimbabwe’s agriculture for export
of crops like Maize, cotton, tea,
sugar, tobacco, wheat and dairy
and cattle farming. The mainstay
of this policy was white settler
farmers. They owned nearly 40 per
cent of farm land and two thirds
of the best land available. Two
thirds of the black workers are
engaged as wage earners.
The main demand of the
liberation movement was the
redistribution of land. At the time
of coming to power, Mugabe
agreed not to encroach upon the
January - 2018
interests of white land owners for
10 years and then taking over the
land on willing-buyer-willing- seller
basis, while majority of people are
aspiring for land.
Zimbabwe has also rich
minerals: platinum, gold, iron ore,
coal, and rare earths. Recently
diamond mining was also taken
up. The mining sector was
dominated by MNCs. Mugabe kept
this dominance undisturbed. So
he was in the good books of British
and US imperialists. Foreign aid
and loans flowed smoothly.
This betrayal of black peoples
aspirations led to unrest which
Mugabe suppressed with iron
hand and used inter-tribe conflicts,
particularly Shona people and
Ndebele people. He unleashed a
genocide on non-shona people.
He concentrated all the executive
powers in him including dissolving
of Parliament and declaring
martial law.
By 1990 he was firmly
saddled in the power. He took up
the land distribution programme
for 13 million acres owned by
whites as prop to get elected.
When pressure mounted from the
imperialists, he declared that the
courts will decide what “fair
compensation” is. This land
distribution is meant to benefit
politicians, his party men, civil
servants and members of armed
forces. His land policy offered no
genuine solution to social and
economic problems faced by the
rural poor.
Simultaneously he talked
about
nationalisation
or
indigenisation of mining industry.
The finance capital got enraged.
The IMF cut off funding and
demanded opening up of
Zimbabwean economy to foreign
investment. Privatisation and
unbridled exploitation as a part of
structural adjustment programme.
This led to unrest among the
people and there were general
strikes in 1997 and 1999.
Zimbabwe Council of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) and Movement for
Democracy (MDC) opposed
Mugabe from the right forming
alliance with white settlers with the
slogan, “privatise and restore
business confidence”. MDC won
elections in 2000.
Mugabe unleashed repression
on MDC on one side and allowed
limited land seizers as a facade
to progressive action. But he did
nothing to wage genuine offensive
against the fiancé capital of
imperialist countries.
The imperialist powers – US
and British –imposed sever
sanctions and are working for
several years for the downfall of
Mugabe. Mugabe adopted “look
east” policy for foreign investment.
Now China took this opportunity to
fill void created by the sanctions.
It started investing in the extraction
of diamonds and other minerals.
The extraction of ores formed
a nexus between the mining
companies and army brass.
Chinese companies invested
billions of dollars and signed deals
in energy and infrastructure
projects. Mugabe stated that private
companies robbed Zimbabwe of
its diamond wealth and he would
nationalise mining. Zimbabwe
produced 4.7 million carats in
2014. Mugabe took some steps
that negatively impacted foreign
investors.
The Zimbabwean army chief
was in Biejing a week before the
coup and held extensive talks with
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