Class Dismissed

News out of Zimbabwe today reveals that the full impact of failed governance and gross economic mismanagement in Zimbabwe is still emerging. An article featured on the Times Online reported that due to a rapidly crumbling education system and continuing conflict between teaching unions and Robert Mugabe’s government, Zimbabwe has decided to cancel the 2008 academic year. In the midst of a prolonged teaching union strike, violence erupted around June’s presidential election leaving 6 teachers dead and thousands assaulted by Zanu (PF) militia.

The deteriorating state of education is the latest update to a long list of development gains that have been thwarted by years of failed leadership under Mugabe. This news is particularly disheartening given that Zimbabwe once boasted one of Africa’s highest literacy rates.

Excerpts below, full piece here

Now the coup de grace to the education system is being delivered by hyperinflation. Teachers had their salaries doubled last week to the equivalent of £5.70 a month — barely enough for bus fares and bread for four days.

The handful of private and state schools where parents can pay large supplements to teachers’ salaries are the only ones operating. In most schools where teachers do turn up pupil attendance is dwindling.

Providing school food at a time of comprehensive agricultural failure is a struggle. Mr Majongwe said hundreds of rural schools had sent their boarders home because they could no longer feed them.

Mr Musoni, from Sengwe, is pathetically thin. “There is no food,” he said. “People are starving.” Students at Harare Polytechnic rioted last week after they were served sadza, the stiff maize porridge that is the national staple, without salt or cabbage.

-Chris Scott

New developments in Zimbabwe

A few months ago, we wrote about the controversial presidential elections in Zimbabwe that left many up in arms after Robert Mugabe claimed power despite lingering unresolved questions about the election results. After a month and a half of negotiations between Mugabe’s government and the opposition, yesterday the two sides signed on to a power-sharing deal.

The agreement, which Tsvangirai calls the best hope for Zimbabwe, could be Zimbabwe’s first step towards peace and an opportunity to recover from the political and economic crises that have gripped the country for the past few months.

Excerpts below, full article here

The full details and content of the deal have not been confirmed but it proposes a 50-50 division of power, with Mr Mugabe remaining head of state and head of the cabinet.
Morgan Tsvangirai will head a council of ministers, which will be responsible for the day-to-day managing of the country’s affairs.

[Mugabe] said there were “lots of things” in the deal that neither leader liked but that they would work together to “find our way”.

“As long as salient principles are recognised, there will be room for more agreement,” Mr Mugabe said.

In his speech, Mr Tsvangirai said the agreement was a “product of painful compromises” and that it did not provide “an instant cure” to the fortunes of Zimbabwe. “I’ve signed this agreement because I believe it represents the best opportunity for us to build a peaceful and prosperous democratic Zimbabwe,” he said.

-Chris Scott

The 2008 G8 Summit: Outcomes for Africa

African development was again the subject of G8 discussions as world leaders gathered in Toyako, Hokkaido in northern Japan from July 7-9 for the 2008 G8 Summit. While the G8 was confronted with multiple global challenges, including climate change and a weakening global economy, the 2008 Hokkaido Summit marked an important “mid point” moment in the fight against poverty. The Hokkaido Summit came at the critical halfway point to both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the G8 Gleneagles promises to Africa. The G8 are dangerously behind on their landmark commitments to the region, having delivered only $3 billion of the promised $25 billion in additional assistance to Africa by 2010, according to the 2008 DATA Report.

After difficult negotiations, the G8 summit yielded small gains for the poorest. The bulk of G8 agreements on development and Africa and food security reiterated previous pledges rather than outlining new measures to get the group back on track. The G8 did announce plans for a new effort to tackle the global food crisis, though more details are needed to ensure its effectiveness and delivery. They highlighted the UN High-level meeting on the MDGs in September as an important opportunity to review progress and identify actions needed to overcome remaining challenges.

At a time when G8 credibility is at risk due to slow progress in delivering on commitments, there was a strong call for greater accountability in the G8 Communique. The G8 agreed to track progress against previous commitments in health, education, water and agriculture, as well as its compliance with anti-corruption measures.

Overall, the US, UK and Germany provided strong leadership in negotiations and have significantly increased their funding for Africa in recent years.

After the jump, the following brief overview of outcomes for Africa from the 2008 G8 Summit.

-Ben Hubbard

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G8 Plans Sanctions Against Zimbabwe

On the second day of the Japan summit, G8 leaders promised to pursue targeted sanctions against members of the Zimbabwean government.

G8 leaders pledged, in an official statement to “take further steps…introducing financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for violence.” They also called for a special UN Security Council envoy to report on the situation in Zimbabwe and help mediate.

For the past week, the US and UK have been pushing for the UN Security Council to tighten targeted sanctions. The BBC reports that a sanctions package is expected to be presented to the UN by the weekend and that Russia, which has traditionally been against such sanctions, will not oppose it.

African leaders have expressed reservations against sanctions, favoring some sort of power-sharing unity government, which they called for last week at a two-day African Union Summit in Egypt.

Zimbabwe’s state media reported today that interparty-talks were to resume under the mediation of South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai maintains that his party will not resume talks until the current Zimbabwe government halts all political violence and accepts that Tsvangirai won the first round of elections on March 29.

-Nora Coghlan

Mugabe Sworn In

Zimbabwe’s run-off elections took place as scheduled last Friday, despite mounting protests from the African and international community and calls for a postponement. Standing unopposed, Mugabe announced himself victorious in the sham elections.

The few African observers who were present immediately called for the elections to be held again, stating that those who did vote did so only out of fear and intimidation. Many people were beaten for not voting or being able to prove that they voted. The official results showed that the 84-year old president won all ten provinces with 85.5% of the vote.

Archbishop Tutu called on African leaders to refuse to recognize Mugabe as president, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice urged China, Russia and South Africa to back action against him. The US plans to toughen its sanctions against Zimbabwe and is urging the Security Council to do the same. Echoing Tsvanigirai’s earlier call for peacekeeping intervention, Tutu and Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Odinga called on the African Union to send troops to intervene in Zimbabwe.

Despite these outcries, Mugabe was sworn in on Sunday, stating in his speech that he hoped to form a unity government.

The African Union will meet today in Sharm El Shiekh and Zimbabwe will be on the agenda. Tsvangirai is expected to attend and appeal to African leaders not to recognize the re-election. Mugabe is also scheduled to be there and he will likely come under a lot of pressure at the AU meeting, after his own peers in the SADC have rejected the election. If African leaders do not unite on this issue, with a firm stand against Mugabe and non-recognition of him as a democratically elected President, the continent will no doubt have several more governance crises to contend with.

-Edith Jibunoh, ONE policy staff

Zimbabwe: What’s At Stake

Reports out of Zimbabwe paint the typical picture of a country in crisis: food shortages, political violence, an exodus of refugees, skyrocketing inflation- essentially, a country on the brink of collapse. The most frustrating part of this image is that Zimbabwe did not always look like this- in the early 1990s, it was considered one of Africa’s most promising countries. For starters, it had one of the strongest, most diverse economies in the region. It was not only a major mining center and tobacco exporter, but also a strong agricultural producer with potential to become a regional breadbasket. Social indicators were also improving. Zimbabwe boasted one of the region’s most well-educated populations, with an adult literacy rate around 90%. The government invested heavily in education in the 1980s and with the introduction of free primary school fees, Zimbabwe was able to achieve universal primary education by1990.

By the early 2000s, this potential was squandered, demonstrating that poor leadership can wipe away development progress in a matter of years. A combination of disastrous economic policies, one-party rule and the emergence of challenges like HIV/AIDS has left millions of Zimbabweans destitute. On the economic front, inflation is over one million percent. 80% of Zimbabweans have no formal job, and many have reverted to the subsistence economy. Drought and a disastrous land redistribution policy have led to a dramatic decline in agricultural production and some 5 hectares of idle land. The United Nations (UN) now estimates that 4.1m people will face serious food shortages in Zimbabwe in 2008.

Health indicators have also fallen sharply. Zimbabwe faces the world’s fourth highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, and life expectancy has dropped from 61 years during the early 1990s to 34 years at the end of 2005. Shortages in personnel, equipment and supplies have ravaged the health system and led to sharp rises in infant and child mortality. Gross economic mismanagement and dictatorship have also meant that Zimbabweans have not been able to benefit from the scale-up in donor assistance for health like other Africans have. According to UNICEF, Zimbabwe receives the lowest donor support in southern Africa for people living with HIV, at only $4 per person per year; for comparison, in neighboring Zambia the figure is $184 per person per year.

What this all demonstrates is the potential that a fair, democratic election could hold for Zimbabwe’s future. While one election will not fix all of Zimbabwe’s problems, it will open a window of opportunity for the country to get back on track and recover what’s been lost. Countries like Rwanda and Mozambique have demonstrated the remarkable recoveries that are possible after the most destructive civil conflicts. Keys to success in these stories were not only a government dedicated to development, but strong support from the international community. That is why it is vital that the international community is not only strong in demanding free and fair elections, but is poised and ready to offer support once Zimbabwe has a chance at recovery.

-Nora Coghlan

An important voice joins the choir

After years of silence on the crisis in Zimbabwe, last night former South African leader Nelson Mandela condemned the political violence that is gripping the country and criticized the government of Robert Mugabe.

Edith and I wanted to provide some more information and background about what this means.

Because of his stature both at home and abroad, these words by Mandela carry significant weight. Until now, the former president had kept quiet on the issue to avoid undermining current South African President Thabo Mbeki. However, in the past year Mbeki’s failed strategy of “quiet diplomacy” with Zimbabwe has come under increasing international criticism.

Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, rejected the criticism early this morning, saying that Mandela’s comments were unacceptable and unfortunate for a man of his stature.

Mandela’s comments join a choir of African voices that many deem too little and too late to have a real impact on Mugabe. In the lead-up to the runoff elections scheduled for tomorrow, pressure has been growing on Zimbabwe’s neighbors to take more forceful action in persuading Mugabe to cancel the election and agree to talk with the opposition. An emergency meeting held yesterday by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was a missed opportunity for key African leaders to take the strong positions needed to influence action. After a five-hour meeting in Swaziland, leaders from Tanzania, Angola and Swaziland called for a poll delay and said that a run off would be illegitimate. This is the strongest position taken by the SADC yet, but they finished their statement by concluding that the people of Zimbabwe could handle their own problems. Mbeki, who was notably absent from the summit, spoke to the meeting host Mswati (Swaziland’s president) at length on the phone, although it is unclear what position he took.

Next week is the African leaders will meet for the annual African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Depending on what happens Friday, this could offer a new opportunity for African leaders to condemn the situation and a chance for the AU to exert its legal power to suspend Zimbabwe’s membership and demand new elections.

-Nora Coghlan and Edith Jibunoh

Mandela on Zimbabwe: “A Tragic Failure of Leadership”

Last night at a state dinner in London, Nelson Mandela broke his silence and briefly criticized the leadership in Zimbabwe.

From Reuters:

Nelson Mandela uttered just four words criticising Zimbabwe’s leadership, but they were enough to resonate around the world….

In a speech at a dinner late on Wednesday, Mandela highlighted several global crises including poverty, the Middle East, Iraq and Darfur before referring to a “tragic failure of leadership” in Zimbabwe.

While brief, the phrase hit the headlines, with reports saying Mandela had “broken his silence”. He officially retired from politics nine years ago.

You can watch the speech here:

(Mandela is in London to celebrate his 90th birthday and to attend a celebrity-filled concert tomorrow designed to raise awareness and funds for his AIDS/HIV charity. The charity is called “46664″ - which was his prison number when he spent decades behind bars for opposing apartheid in South Africa.)

The Latest from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has been capturing international headlines this week after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew only days before the July 27th run-off election. In an open letter delivered to the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission on Monday, Tsvangirai stated that “What has been going on … after the elections held on the 29th March 2008 is a clear testimony that the elections scheduled for the 27th June 2008 cannot be held efficiently, freely, fairly, transparently and in accordance with the law.” He cited numerous acts of intimidation, violence and vote-rigging undertaken by incumbent President Robert Mugabe’s forces in the past month.

Pressure is now mounting on Mugabe to cancel the election. Tsvangirai has called for the African Union to lead a peaceful transition in Zimbabwe with support from the UN and the Southern African Development Community. At an emergency meeting in Swaziland today, SADC called for the election to be postponed because of violence and yesterday, UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement condemning the violence and saying that free and fair elections would be impossible to hold on 27 June. While the non-binding statement was significantly watered down from a draft version circulated by Western countries on the council, it represents the first time Zimbabwe has been criticized at the UN by South Africa, Russia and China.

Editorials in both The New York Times and the The Washington Postare demanding more decisive action by Zimbabwe’s African neighbors, particularly South Africa, as well as the UN Security Council.

Edith Jibunoh, ONE policy staffer stationed in Abuja Nigeria, wrote to share more about the background of the elections. You can read it all after the jump.

Stay tuned here for more updates and a closer look at how the crisis is impacting regular Zimbabweans.

-Nora Coghlan
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Crisis in Zimbabwe

Yesterday, just days before the date set for Zimbabwe’s run-off election, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the election and went to the Dutch embassy seeking refuge.

From the AP today:

He has survived at least three assassination attempts and last year he was hospitalized after a brutal assault by police at a prayer rally. Images seen around the world of his bruised and swollen face have come to symbolize the plight of dissenters in Zimbabwe…

On Sunday, Tsvangirai pulled out of the violence-wracked presidential runoff, declaring that the election was no longer credible and the loss of life among his supporters was simply too high.

And just now U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released a statement, including:

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the Government of Zimbabwe’s continuing campaign of violence against its own people… The Mugabe regime cannot be considered legitimate in the absence of a runoff. In forsaking the most basic tenet of governance – the protection of its people – the Government of Zimbabwe must be held accountable by the international community. We call upon the Southern African Development Community, African Union Peace and Security Council, and the United Nations Security Council to take up this issue immediately.