Page 12
December 6, 2017
New Prices
Effective
April 1, 2017
O PINION
Martin
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Service
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Cleaning
Residential &
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Minimum Service CHG.
$50.00
A small distance/travel
charge may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or more
$30.00 each Area
Members of the Zimbabwean Parliament in Harare celebrate after Robert Mugabe’s resignation. (AP photo)
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Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
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Other Services) : $30.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
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Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) :
$40.00 Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
$10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
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Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109 - $139
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Zimbabwe and Where it All Went Wrong
The people
shall govern
f ungai K uMbula
Emmerson Mnangagwa was
sworn in as Zimbabwe’s second
president on Nov. 24, replacing
his former boss Robert Mugabe
who had led the nation in southern
Africa since it gained political in-
dependence from Britain in 1980.
For more than a decade, but more
increasingly as the 1970’s came to
a close, Zanla and Zipra guerrillas
had waged a war to give the Af-
rican-majority the right to vote, a
right that the successive settler co-
lonial governments denied them.
So, when Mugabe was finally
sworn in as Zimbabwe’s first Af-
rican prime minister in 1980, his
election, seen as the culmination
of the war, was cheered by mil-
lions not only in Zimbabwe but
throughout Africa and the wider
African community. Sadly, the
circumstances surrounding his de-
parture can only have left all these
people wondering as to where it
all went wrong.
I returned to Zimbabwe in
1981, leaving friends and col-
leagues at Portland State Univer-
sity (Black Studies and Biology
Departments, African Students
Association), Portland Observer,
KOAP-TV, Black United Front,
Talking Drum Bookstore, church,
high school and other community
groups and neighbors in northeast
Portland.
Like thousands of others mak-
ing the trek back home, I felt we
had the golden opportunity to
show the world how a modern Af-
rican economy can be run, having
learned from the errors our broth-
by
ers and sisters on the Continent
had made, errors that hobbled Af-
rica’s development in spite of an
abundance of riches.
The early years were encour-
aging: I remember bragging about
the laboratory facilities at the
University of Zimbabwe Medical
School’s Department of Immu-
nology, where I worked, that they
were comparable to those I had
had access to at the then Charles
Drew Post-Graduate Medical
School at Martin Luther King Jr.
Hospital in Los Angeles.
The words from the U.S. Dec-
laration of Independence, “These
truths are self-evident that all men
(and women) are created equal
with certain inalienable rights
among which are life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness” were re-
verberating in my head, as they
did to fellow returning residents
in other sectors who were just as
impressed.
Though coming off a protracted
war, Zimbabwe’s economy in the
early going was still second only
to apartheid South Africa’s. Hope
was infectious; everybody rolled
up their sleeves and went to work
and for the next decade. It seemed
Zimbabwe’s economy had started
on a sustained upward trajectory.
Zimbabwe was then known as
the breadbasket of the 14-mem-
ber Southern Africa Development
Community and we used to enter-
tain our brothers and sisters from
around Africa traveling to Zimba-
bwe on shopping trips.
We also had experts from all
over Africa, the U.N. and the rest
of the world working in the coun-
try. With South Africa still under
minority apartheid (Jim Crow)
rule, Zimbabwe became an ex-
ample to the efforts to resolve
South Africa’s problems. One of
the most damning indictments of
Mugabe’s 37 years at the helm
was that Zimbabwe’s 2017 gross
domestic product had shrunk to
half of what it had been in 1997.
Even discounting population
growth, these figures imply, on
average, that every Zimbabwean
is 50 percent poorer today than 20
years ago.
Throughout his 37-year reign,
the bedrock of Mugabe’s support
has always been the security ser-
vices (army, air force, police and
intelligence) so it is instructive
that, when the end came, it was
the Zimbabwe Defense Forces
that played a pivotal role. It all
started with a falling out between
two camps in the ruling Zanu-pf,
one loyal to then vice president
Mnangagwa and the other loy-
al to Grace Mugabe, the former
president’s wife, each jostling for
its preferred candidate to succeed
the 93-year-old Mugabe when he
finally vacated Zimbabwe State
House. As the battle intensified,
Mugabe fired Mnangagwa as his
deputy in both party and govern-
ment, which seemed to leave the
way for his wife to succeed him.
Mnangagwa fled Zimbabwe
saying he feared for his life, and
his supporters were purged from
both party and government. The
ZDF placed Mugabe under house
arrest and on public broadcast an-
nouncements insisted that this was
not a coup.
Mugabe refused to resign, as
had been expected once the army
presented him with his options.
Veterans of the liberation war them
called for demonstrations to de-
mand Mugabe resign and Zimba-
bweans poured into the streets by
the hundreds of thousands through-
out the country. Still Mugabe re-
mained defiant. Zanu-pf then met
and voted to recall Mugabe (effec-
tively withdrawing his mandate as
leader) and called for Mnangagwa
to be re-instated. Mugabe stayed
put. Parliament met in joint session
to debate a motion on impeach-
ment and it was only during this
debate that Mugabe sent his letter
of resignation.
When the Zimbabwe Speak-
er of Parliament read the letter,
the whole Assembly erupted in
cheers, cries of joy and dancing,
scenes that were repeated once
the news filtered into the public
gallery, the streets of Harare and,
ultimately, the rest of the nation.
Mnangagwa returned from exile,
was appointed leader of Zanu-pf
and ultimately sworn in as Presi-
dent of Zimbabwe
While it is too early to tell
whether Mugabe’s departure ac-
tually heralds the dawn we mis-
takenly believed had arrived when
we gained political independence
nearly four decades ago, or it is
another false start, this much is
already clear: No post-Mugabe
leader will ever again be allowed
the same leeway to abuse our trust,
impoverish our people, make us
the laughing stock of the world.
The past heady few weeks have
reignited that original fighting na-
tional spirit that delivered Zimba-
bwe in the first place. We owe it
to our many supporters across the
world, the African community,
Africa, ourselves and our children.
Fungai N Kumbula is a former
resident of Portland and Zimba-
bwe. He currently resides in Silver
Spring, Md.