The Stern Opportunity

Issue date: 10/12/04 Section: Voices

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, right, meets with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan

In the U.S. and Europe, Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe is widely viewed as corrupt. He is regularly condemned by publications from the New York Times to the Economist and is often blamed for the country's widespread poverty. The case against Mugabe is well documented by Western publications and institutions. However, Terence Mukupe, an MBA1 from Zimbabwe, disagrees with the conventional wisdom of the West when it comes to Mugabe. In interviewing Terence this week, I heard a stark contrast from anything else I'd ever read on Zimbabwe.

Can you give us some historical context surrounding Zimbabwe's drive for independence in 1980 and Robert Mugabe's ascension to the presidency?
There was a situation whereby Zimbabwe had its own form of apartheid. Blacks had been segregated and forced onto non-arable land and limited in their careers and what they were allowed to do. Leading up to independence, there was a split amongst the freedom fighters (fighting against the white minority) along tribal lines. Mugabe came from the largest tribe, the Shona, and thereby inherited the presidency. The other tribe, the Ndebele, was led by [Joshua] Nkomo. Nkomo had a different style than Mugabe; he didn't have the same sort of aggression, and was more of a fatherly figure. To this day, people call him the father of the nation. He was to Zimbabwe what [Nelson] Mandela is to South Africa.

Shortly after Zimbabwe gained its independence, there was a civil war between the two tribes. Who and what started the civil war?
The minority tribe, the Ndebele felt aggrieved and decided to start the civil war, and the leader of their party, Nkomo, was exiled. They certainly were aggrieved, but whether it was right for them to start a civil war, I don't know. The Ndebele rebels were primarily formed by former members of the freedom fighters who were left out of independent Zimbabwe's military. When independence was won, one army had to be created. Because the Shonas were in control, they also wanted to control the army, and it came down to a power game. The rebel groups would use the civilians for logistical support; the government would try to root the rebels out, and innocent people became the casualties. The government came down hard on the Ndebele; later, the president apologized for all of the events of the civil war and said it was a bad time for all. The main complaint of the civilian minority population was that the government should have done a better job protecting them. The rebels would tell civilians that if they gave their identities to the government, then they would be killed. But then the government killed civilians as well for not telling them where the rebels were.

Continued...

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