Mugabe finished – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary
When the Spanish dictator Franco died in 1975 the authorities in Madrid were less than franko about his condition. It was some time before his demise was announced and by then he had enough preservative pumped into his body to keep it stiff until the second coming.
More locally, the Vigil recalls that when President Mutharika of Malawi died a couple of years ago, his corpse – resuscitation tubes attached – was flown to South Africa for supposed ‘life-saving treatment’ while his supporters frantically tried to fix the succession.
Are we seeing a similar charade being played out in Harare? The Vigil doesn’t know whether Mugabe is dead or incapacitated. But it’s obvious that he’s finished.
The 89 year old, looking ‘frail and tired’, flew off after Christmas ostensibly on a month-long holiday, but really to consult his doctor in Singapore. His prostate cancer had spread and he had already lived years longer than the doctor predicted.
The Zanu PF source Baba Jukwa then reported that Mugabe had collapsed. The state media said he had cut short his holiday and flown home but that he was ‘as fit as a fiddle’. Some fiddle! A photograph showed him being greeted by Vice-President Mujuru at the airport. But people immediately noticed that the picture was identical to one taken a year ago when Mugabe flew back from a trip to Addis Ababa.
The real scandal is that Zanu PF put a sick old man up for election when he had nothing to offer Zimbabwe. His work is done: he has bankrupted Zimbabwe, turning it from one of the most prosperous countries in Africa to one of the world’s poorest. It’s time now for ‘Heroes’ Acre.
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http:/hgh/www.zimvigil.co.uk.
