Zimbabwe

The last time we heard about Zimbabwe was probably, well, never. I mean you had to memorize the capital for quiz bowl but that was it. Well not now. Zimbabwe's a hot spot. Ever since the American student there was arrested for calling out president Robert Mugabe, things have been unraveling.

After a military takeover and a looming impeachment, he has finally cracked. For many people, this is really the first time they have experience freedom since 1980, when Zimbabwe broke free of British colonial rule. After breaking free, Mugabe served as Prime Minister and seemed to be going off on a good start, before he started hoarding more and more control. Eventually, he rewrote the constitution and made himself the new president. Then he started rigging the elections and sentencing his opposition to jail- Yes, the all-familiar dictator story. Now, what is different about Mugabe is that he was a highly-educated man who had good intentions. He did have some idea of how to approach the country's issues.

Once hailed as a revolutionary, Mugabe has grown to be hated by his people. He forced out the white minority that dominated the country, and was seen as a hero. No doubt that is true, but it lasted only for a little while. For 37 years, he clung onto power. The economy tanked under him, and shrunk by a third in the 2000's as the government seized more land. Unemployment is actually worse than it was in 1980. He blamed the Western nations for the country's problems, which actually is true to a large extent. But he took it a little out of hand and seized the farms of the white people in Zimbabwe and purged allies and rivals. He forced one of his rivals, Morgan Tsvangirai, who won the election in 2008/2009 to drop out. He did offer Morgan a role as Prime Minister though, but still, corruption on the highest level. As if he could not get any more corrupt, he sacked more people and has made it possible for his wife, Grace Mugabe, to be the next president. 

That was when people started jumping up in protest and the military eventually seized power.

Yes, the man who bragged that would rule until death has resigned. Interesting fact: Mugabe's actually the oldest head of state in the world at 93 almost 94 years old. Impressive. To be honest, I would rather have it this way. It is much better than having some violent revolution like we've seen the past with rogue dictators seizing power from each other.

So now what? Well, we can definitely see the economy start tot change very soon. But, it may take a while for everything to change and for new policies, other framework to be established. Mugabe is probably not going to be executed or be sent to jail, but may live out his life in retirement or under military guard in case someone wants to kill him. Ironically, Zimbabwe's 'old friend', the UK, has pledged to support the New Zimbabwe in any way. Let's just hope that this new nation will not fall under another dictator's rule and continue this cycle.

Someone's not happy...

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/21/africa/zimbabwe-live-updates/index.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42071488
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/world/africa/zimbabwe-mugabe-mnangagwa.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/21/robert-mugabe-resigns-as-president-of-zimbabwe