ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe was a hero in the anti-colonialist battles that ended white-minority rule in his native Rhodesia and he was a strong supporter of the movement in South Africa to do the same. The prestige and admiration of the people that role garnered for him should never be forgotten, but like a beloved family member who comes to visit and never goes home, the time has come for Mugabe to go. Mugabe has been at the helm of affairs since Zimbabwe's dissolution of the racist, white-led government in 1980, but his role as ruler has not matched his effectiveness as an activist 30 years ago. Although he blames everyone from white people to foreign governments for the country's economic disaster, Mugabe's policies are largely to blame. He inherited a country with a high literacy rate, a thriving commercial agricultural sector, a wealth of natural resources and great deal of goodwill from a world that hailed the end of Ian Smith's racist government. Today, the educational system is in a shambles, the violent nationalization of land has destroyed agricultural productivity, inflation is at a staggering 100,000 percent plus and foreign investors have shied away from lucrative mining possibilities. Three weeks ago the voters of Zimbabwe spoke and all indications are that they told Mugabe that his time was up. “Indications” because the results have yet to be released even though a partial recount of parliamentary results is already underway and Mugabe's party is demanding a run-off, claiming that neither Mugabe nor opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai received a majority of the vote. But in recent interviews, Tsvangirai claims that within days of the March 29 election, Mugabe privately admitted conceit and entered into discussions for a peaceful transition of power. Mugabe, Tsvangirai said, requested a figurehead position in the new government, a request that was firmly refused by Tsvangirai and his party leaders. Suddenly, Tsvangirai says, everything turned topsy-turvy. Mugabe was demanding a run-off and police, soldiers and youth militias were arresting, beating and torturing opposition activists by the dozens. Mugabe has lost all international support and even South Africa, which has stubbornly held the politician in high regard, is backing away from him. The people of Zimbabwe have suffered unnecessarily for long enough. The last thing they need is a government run by violent hawks willing to risk anything to retain their hold on power. For the good of Zimbabwe and the good of southern Africa, it's time for Mugabe to rein in his security forces and hand the reins of power to a new government. __
