Robert Mugabe by Martin Meredith| A Book Review

When Martin Meredith zeroes in on an issue or person, you can be certain he will not disappoint. He did not disappoint. I wish we can say the same about the man he wrote about, Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe's credentials as a freedom fighter were almost unmatchable. However, it was the man himself who destroyed his legacy.

Robert Mugabe is the world's most educated president. He has 21 degrees. It is as though he used this knowledge to totally decimate Zimbabwe. At a point, 1 US dollar was equal to 1,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwean dollars. Mugabe ensured to destroy everything. His desire to be in power was monstrous, he did everything to gain it and then went on to do everything to maintain it. Although he started on a surprising note, many people had expected Mugabe to start with the violence he threatened during elections, he started on a conciliatory note. He visited his biggest rivals and formed a government comprising of different factions. All that will not last.

Mugabe became increasingly tough. He destroyed everything in that country, so much so that civil servants were protesting to be paid in dollars rather than Zimbabwean dollars. Mugabe killed more people during peacetime than during the liberation war. An estimated 30,000 people were killed during a period called the Gukurahundi, a genocide perpetrated by Mugabe and his party. He muzzled the press, threatened the courts, disregarded rulings, unleashed violence on whites, and consistently rigged elections.

When Mandela came out of prison and became president, he was sure about one thing; he didn't want South Africa to become another Zimbabwe. At that time, Mugabe was the perfect example of how to ruin a country. Mugabe did all this by continually deceiving the people and blaming the whites for everything that was going wrong with the economy.

Mugabe and Mandela are the perfect samples for the competing visions in Pan Africanism. There are some who believe Africa belongs to white, and everything, even illegal, should be done to collect everything from the whites. While others, like Mandela, believed in the rainbow idea, a continent where both whites and blacks can live together judged by the same laws. Clearly, the Mugabe vision is a terrible one. Those still propagating it are either dishonest or just ignorant. Of course, the Mandela vision isn't the best either, it deserves to be modified. But compared to what is available and possible I will choose the Mandela vision 2 million times. It is easy, compare the records for both.

Ultimately, Mugabe created a draconian state where he was everything. He was everything, he was the law and there was no way to remove him except through a coup. That's what happened in the end. I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's word "tyrants will always fall".

This book is a warning to every country, and to every leader. The tragedy of comrade Mugabe is that he was the one that destroyed his legacy and destroyed his country. May it never happen again.

As for Martin Meredith, his ability to collect materials for his work is formidable. I have great respect for his research abilities. He never disappoints. I'm a loyal fan.