Currently the economy is saddled with a stinging cash squeeze as government battles monthly to raise money to pay soldiers, the police and the rest of the civil service.
Unemployment is independently estimated at more than 90 percent, water is scarce and citizens have violently demonstrated against the introduction of bond notes as part of the basket of currencies.
Thirdly, Yamamoto said, Mugabe faces a debilitating challenge to his succession as former allies and militias, the war veterans, have just rebelled against him while his base of supporters is dwindling.
As the economy gets worse and worse, more supporters will peel off Mugabes political onion much faster than ever before and his reign crumbles like a deck of cards, said Yamamoto.
A crisis-weary but youthful generation will push Mugabe out, according to the columnist.
Mugabes biggest political quagmire is demographical. The young generation under forty is in the majority. They are tech-savvy but very idle and jobless at least the vast majority.
Because of Mugabes rule, they are consumed by despair, have little hope for the future and dont see a way out for their generation. The only light they see at the end of the tunnel is a train coming to crush them, he said.
Many of them have no work experience. They cant move out of home to branch out on their own. Their only option is to either emigrate from their country of birth or stay on and resist the system.
Here is Mugabes quandary the young generation cannot be fooled. They dont care about land or freebies as much as they care for a secure future, jobs and enough space to be entrepreneurial. They realise that their life is wasting away at the mercy of a geriatric, he added.
However, Mugabes continued stay in power is increasingly being challenged by the older generation, particularly the war vets who he can no longer please with handouts.
On the flip side is the generation of war-veterans Mugabe has largely relied on, consistently using rewards and punishment to keep them in check and entrench power.
His biggest challenge is that he has given everything there is to give to retain allegiance, and now the bag is empty. Zimbabwes war veterans have been given land, cash largesse, monthly payments, and positions in the military, government and his party.
But land is finite and everything is else has shrunk owing to bad leadership. Now the war veterans have realised that every player has been changed except the coach.
Their recent communique issued with support from people in the military is categorical in making it clear that they no longer have confidence in the captain of the ship.
This factor is will provide the largest impetus to the demise of Mugabes leadership, added the columnist. Nehanda Radio
Is he or is he not entitled to the dignity of a natural death?
And zimbabwe/rhodesia will still be a failed african nation/state. South africa isn’t too far behind.
Between indigenous tribalism/feudalism, islamic conquest & slavery, and chinese communism, Africa will continue to be the dark continent for ages to come.
The europeans were just a blip on the historical radar.
And to think, thirty years ago he was the “Blessed Boy” of the US News media.
He could DO NO WRONG, even when he shot down a plane of civilians and hacked to death the survivors, or when he shot an entire family of missionaries, even murdered the children.
While I despise him, I respect his resolve.
That said, I'll shed no tears when he passes, and I hope it's soon.
Chances are, it will just become a kleptocracy, without the ideology.
They will not become a “liberal,” free-market democracy with limited government and rule of law by any sense - but after Mugabe goes, the question will be: will they be able to negotiate and manage a successful division of the spoils and power among the ruling clique, so that the country can be stable and people can get on with building their lives?
Or will a strong-man need to come to the fore, as with most African “republics?”
Rhodesia, as it was once called, was one of the richest countries in Africa. It was called the ‘Breadbasket of central Africa’. They had a thriving , growing net export based economy. White people lived there..............
Mugabe took power as Prime Minister when Rhodesia gained independence in 1980 and renamed itself Zimbabwe. By 1990 it was clear that Mugabe would rule with an iron fist, but his promises of redistribution of wealth and free land for his supporters drove him, and his party the newly combined Zanu-PF, into an overwhelming victory of 117 of 120 seats in Parliament.
Even after another 26 years (!!!), and 4 elections that have clearly been rigged, Mugabe is still in power over his promise of free stuff.
This is the danger of a dictator. If they control the arms and purse of a nation, they can stay in power for decades.
I figure in that part of the world Mugabe is merely “par for the course”.
13. Cause Beelzebub has it on his calendar to come and take him to Hell (which might represent a slight improvement over Zimbabwe).
There’s only one way Robert Mugabe is going to be gone — by dying. Otherwise, he has an iron grip on that poor country.
O’Mugabe will be gone in 6 months
Death?