WASHINGTON, D.C.—The economic, political, and humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe is dire, and a recent attempt to assess the situation in order to provide aid has collapsed before it even began.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and rights advocate and wife of Nelson Mandela Mrs. Graça Machel had planned to visit Zimbabwe over the weekend.
In a November 20 special briefing at the Department of State in Washington, D.C. the U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr. James McGee, spoke frankly about the situation via video conference.
“It’s grim. It’s very, very grim,” stated the somber Ambassador.
Ambassador McGee explained that in the wake of the political conflict between President Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the country has begun falling apart.
“We’re seeing the humanitarian situation here in Zimbabwe really go down the tubes. The food situation, the food and security situation, is extremely dire,” said the ambassador.
Inflation has been at levels so absurd for so many years that the nation’s currency is virtually worthless. Ambassador McGee estimates that the inflation rate is currently 210 million percent.
Agriculture has also been poorly managed, creating sweeping shortages, and an outbreak of cholera due to poor sanitation has affected thousands.
“The health system has totally collapsed,” said the ambassador. “The three major hospitals here in Harare have closed. They’ve closed their doors for patients.
“So you can see the political situation has created a concurrent situation on the health and food side of the house that is, frankly, intolerable.”
The Nation’s Only Ruler
To understand Zimbabwe, one needs to understand Robert Mugabe, the country’s only ruler since gaining independence from the U.K. and changing its name from Rhodesia in 1980.
Mugabe has maintained his grip on the government for nearly thirty years largely through violence and intimidation, though he does legitimately win votes in the regularly occurring elections. However, some level of corruption has marred every election since he took power, and the election of 2002 saw the beginning of the political deterioration that incapacitates Zimbabwe today.
The 2002 election was preceded by months of violence, and reports from community polling stations told of alarming practices of intimidation and voter fraud. Mugabe declared himself the winner by a 56 percent to 42 percent vote over his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, and Mugabe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, also took a two-thirds majority of the parliament in that election, leaving Tsvangirai’s party, MDC, effectively powerless.
Zimbabwe became intensely polarized following the 2002 election, and has remained so until today. In March of this year Mugabe and Tsvangirai faced off again.
This time, even with the voting irregularities, Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party lost its majority in the parliament, and Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in the presidential race. Violence ensued, and Mugabe called for a run-off election. Tsvangirai lost the run-off, but the international and domestic outrage over the suspected rigging of the votes was enough to get Mugabe to negotiate on instituting a power-sharing government.
“There was an agreement signed for a unity government on September 15th of this year,” stated Ambassador McGee in his Thursday briefing.
“Here we are, approximately eight, nine weeks later, and we still have no government formed here in Zimbabwe. The ZANU-PF, Robert Mugabe’s ruling party, has refused to act in good faith. They want to maintain all the power ministries, all the security ministries, as well as the financial ministries.”
Zimbabwe’s Potential
The planned trip of Carter and Machel should have provided a framework for additional aid to flow into Zimbabwe. Instead it has further isolated the nation.
The problems Zimbabwe faces are different from many of its neighbors. The food crisis is not because of drought or a lack resources, it is because of poor agricultural policies. There is potential for the country to be economically and culturally vibrant.
“As bad as Zimbabwe seems, it started at such a high level as compared to many other African nations that I think the turnaround time could be very rapid here in Zimbabwe. What we do need, however, is a government that’s committed to taking care of its people,” said Ambassador McGee.
The formal economy of Zimbabwe is around $1.8 billion according to the World Bank, and Ambassador McGee estimates that another $3.5 billion comes into the country through informal markets.
The country has more money than many of its neighbors, but it is leaking out through corruption and mismanagement. The programs that need it are not getting it.
“I think some of the most telling figures that I’ve seen recently is back during the ‘80s and early ‘90s, the Government of Zimbabwe spent 25 percent of its budget on education. Today, that figure is 18 cents per student per year,” said the ambassador.
“With correct inputs, with correct agricultural methods, we could easily turn Zimbabwe back into the breadbasket of Southern and Central Africa. That would be fairly simple to do. Getting back to a market economy, a market-driven economy, getting rid of the corruption that’s endemic now in this country, that’s going to take more time,” concluded Ambassador McGee.
