To anyone who has been paying close attention to developments in Zimbabwe since 2009 – after the formation of the government of national unity (GNU) – the 2013 election result was almost a forgone conclusion. Governments of national unity, as I have written elsewhere, create a false sense of security and unity in deeply polarised […]
Morgan Tsvangirai
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe elections: A conspiracy theory
While Egypt became the first example of expedience over democracy being openly accepted, if not actively promoted, by Western democracies it is going to find its match in Zimbabwe during the course of this week albeit without the fanfare and publicity that is occasioned by a military coup. The outcome, in my most humble opinion, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC and Zanu-PF: From struggle heroes to enemies of freedom
In 1963 Bram Fischer stood before a court and said “the defence … will show that the ANC is a broad national movement, embracing all classes of Africans within its ranks, and having the aim of achieving equal political rights for all South Africans”. Fischer was the lead defence counsel in the well-known Rivonia Trial […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tsvangirai: Zimbabwe still needs Mugabe
By Leo Cendrowicz Morgan Tsvangirai is a man under pressure. Ahead of next year’s elections the Zimbabwean prime minister is trying to deliver a new constitution, revive a troubled economy and manage a difficult relationship with the country’s president, Robert Mugabe. Yet one of Tsvangirai’s main concerns right now is keeping his love life from […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will the real pharaoh please stand up
The resignation of Egypt’s cabinet this week shows the paralysing complexities surrounding the process of transition to democracy in post-revolution societies in the Arab world. Only in Tunisia, the country that ushered in this huge wave of change in North Africa, has the transition to democracy been relatively smooth, albeit accompanied by some challenges. It’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tsvangirai naive but not lightweight
Despair at the failings of one leader should not blind one to the faults of his rival. That’s a political truism which is easy to forget when casting about for an alternative to a venal despot like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Some dismiss Morgan Tsvangirai as too intellectually lightweight a contender to land the knockout blow […]