Zimbabwean MBA1 Gives Perspective on His Homeland
Global Goings-On
by David Salpeter, djs303
Issue date: 10/12/04 Section: Voices
What could have been done to avoid the civil war?
In percentages, whites are about 7-8 percent of Zimbabwe's population, Ndebele, the minority tribe, composes about 15-20 percent of the population, and the Shona are about 60 percent. (I am a Shona.) Immediately after independence, Mugabe included the Ndebele as part of his first government, and if they hadn't started the war, maybe it would have been better. Either way, things were divided along tribal lines so much that there would have eventually been a problem.
How did the civil war conclude?
During the time when Mugabe and Nkomo were freedom fighters, they used to be in the same political party; Nkomo was Mugabe's leader. In 1987, they worked out their differences in the civil war by merging their parties and forming a government of national unity where Nkomo was vice president. They put in structures whereby if the president is a Shona, the vice president must be Ndebele, and vice-versa. This ended the tribal rivalries in politics in Zimbabwe. Political clashes in Africa are always along tribal lines, and in Zimbabwe, we've become mature in that respect. I chose to learn and go to university in an area that was predominantly Ndebele; we can now do that.
Zimbabwe continued to be involved in regional wars well after the end of the war for independence and its civil war. Do you believe Zimbabwe's involvement in Mozambique and the Congo was justified?
From the time that we got our independence, all of our oil came from Mozambique. So we really had a vested interest in the outcome of the war; our participation was not a matter of choice. Our involvement in the Congo was more a matter of choice, but I believe it was the right thing to do.
You have to understand that Mugabe is a freedom fighter and doesn't believe in colonization. The quick history of the Congo conflict is that Congo's president upon independence was highly outspoken, not liked by the West, and ultimately killed by the Belgians, who then put in a puppet, corrupt government. A rebel group overthrew the puppet government, but the country was then invaded by Uganda and Rwanda for their own selfish interest in the mineral of the country. Because of Mugabe's freedom fighter convictions, he believed he needed to maintain the sovereignty of the Congo against being colonized by other African countries. Democratic institutions were on the way in the Congo if it hadn't been for the invasion.
In percentages, whites are about 7-8 percent of Zimbabwe's population, Ndebele, the minority tribe, composes about 15-20 percent of the population, and the Shona are about 60 percent. (I am a Shona.) Immediately after independence, Mugabe included the Ndebele as part of his first government, and if they hadn't started the war, maybe it would have been better. Either way, things were divided along tribal lines so much that there would have eventually been a problem.
How did the civil war conclude?
During the time when Mugabe and Nkomo were freedom fighters, they used to be in the same political party; Nkomo was Mugabe's leader. In 1987, they worked out their differences in the civil war by merging their parties and forming a government of national unity where Nkomo was vice president. They put in structures whereby if the president is a Shona, the vice president must be Ndebele, and vice-versa. This ended the tribal rivalries in politics in Zimbabwe. Political clashes in Africa are always along tribal lines, and in Zimbabwe, we've become mature in that respect. I chose to learn and go to university in an area that was predominantly Ndebele; we can now do that.
Zimbabwe continued to be involved in regional wars well after the end of the war for independence and its civil war. Do you believe Zimbabwe's involvement in Mozambique and the Congo was justified?
From the time that we got our independence, all of our oil came from Mozambique. So we really had a vested interest in the outcome of the war; our participation was not a matter of choice. Our involvement in the Congo was more a matter of choice, but I believe it was the right thing to do.
You have to understand that Mugabe is a freedom fighter and doesn't believe in colonization. The quick history of the Congo conflict is that Congo's president upon independence was highly outspoken, not liked by the West, and ultimately killed by the Belgians, who then put in a puppet, corrupt government. A rebel group overthrew the puppet government, but the country was then invaded by Uganda and Rwanda for their own selfish interest in the mineral of the country. Because of Mugabe's freedom fighter convictions, he believed he needed to maintain the sovereignty of the Congo against being colonized by other African countries. Democratic institutions were on the way in the Congo if it hadn't been for the invasion.