Mugabe "worse than Smith"

Written by zimsupplies

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 19:59

Many who can recall pre-independence Zimbabwe say the current abuses by the military junta and its vicious militia exceed those of Smith regime.
BULAWAYO - Rosetta Sibanda, now well into her sixties, said she once served time in prison, falsely accused of involvement in political activism.
That was in 1964 in what was then Rhodesia, and she said she had always believed this to be the worst time of her life in a prison manned by "irascible white prison guards".
"While in prison we went on a hunger strike as part of the protest to have us released," she told IWPR.
On the fourth day of their hunger strike, a compassionate prison official came to their rescue and they were freed without any charges.
"I have never prayed so hard in my life," she said as she recalled life under the then white government. But "what I am seeing now is worse".
Life in post-independence Zimbabwe has, she said, become increasingly unbearable, "Many now believe Robert Mugabe is worse than the white government."
She recalled being able to buy her home in one of Bulawayo's working class townships from her wages as a domestic worker during the Federation years between 1953 and 1963 - out of the question now in a country with over 80 per cent unemployment.
Sibanda is one of many older people here who have taken a new interest in the country's current affairs after the country's disputed March 29 elections.
In the past, the people who lived through the years of the country's struggle for independence appeared content getting their monthly pensions or remittances from children living across the border, but Zimbabwe's rapid economic decline, which has left their pantries empty, has seen them question the country's leadership.
Rights groups such as Women of Zimbabwe Arise, Woza, which has become a thorn in the side of the Zimbabwean authorities, said it has active members aged over 50. Last year, the group claimed one of their members, aged 64, died after she succumbed to injuries sustained after police violently broke up their demonstration.
For thousands of older people like Sibanda, who are living in an era when children die from ailments that could have been cured had medical care been available, their present circumstances have become particularly dire.
Their pensions have been eroded by hyperinflation, leaving them with no source of income.
Members of Zimbabwe's older generation said they have fond memories of the independence euphoria in 1980. But as the political crisis drags on, they are becoming more and more openly critical of the man who led their country to black-majority rule.
This is not at all surprising," a Bulawayo-based human rights activist told IWPR.
"They have watched the transformation of the nationalist movement during the Smith years; many also helped the liberation war activists one way or another," said the activist, who asked not to be named. They say old people are guardians of history, and they naturally remember the good old days before bad governance and economic mismanagement set in.
"These people experienced racism and other abuses and they have a template for bad governance and human rights abuses. It is unfortunate if Mugabe is remembered as being worse than Ian Smith." - IWPR

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