Tuesday, 04.01.08

Mugabe on the Brink

ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images

Having apparently lost Zimbabwe's presidential election, Robert Mugabe is said to be considering stepping down after 28 increasingly tyrannical years in office.

Now is the first time in nearly a decade when it would be only foolish and loopy, and not downright insane, to invest in the Zimbabwean dollar. When I visited in 2001, Zimbabwean currency was losing its value at catastrophic rates, which led to scenes of South Africans' rushing over the border to spend their rand on quick, absurdly cheap holidays in Zimbabwe. It was like Weimar Germany with elephants and baobabs, and even with its own homegrown "Hitler." If Mugabe leaves, will tourism recover? Will the farms (Zimbabwe's main foreign-exchange earner) produce more? They could hardly produce less.

Mugabe is prickly and prideful, and his opponents will have to find a way to ease him out. He is a billionaire, and more than capable of financing a lavish post-presidency either in Zimbabwe itself, a la Ian Douglas Smith, or somewhere else; comfortable retirement is not the issue. The issue is pride: He affects the manners of a Scottish aristocrat, and is said to have been most offended by his rejection by the European ruling classes of which he fancies himself a member. Scoldings from Britain, in particular, cut deeply into his self-love and bring out his defiance. One hopes the rejoicing at Mugabe's downfall, and the requests that he step down sooner rather than later, come from Zimbabweans first and loudest, and from far-off lands only once the deal is done. — Graeme Wood

Filed Under: Africa, election, foreign affairs, Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe