VIDEO: Tourism in Zimbabwe: visiting the ruins of Rhodesia

Earlier this month we posted "The truth about Rhodesia - a warning to liberals of the AABC", a video explaining how, in 1980, the British betrayed their kith and kin in Rhodesia, and gave the country, now renamed Zimbabwe over to the Marxist-oriented Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party has ruled the unfortunate country ever since.

"Majority rule" has turned the once-prosperous (pre-1980) country into the sort of place characterized by President Trump as a "shithole". It has been ruined by ignorance, incompetence and corruption. John Edmonds, In the video, John Edmonds presents a potted history of Zimbabwe, then embarks on a tour to see for himself the ruins of Rhodesia and the reality of the failed state today.

 

This video too can well be described as a cautionary tale. This is what happens when you hand your country or state (Hello, California!) over to letting loony lefties whose "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" (DEI) agenda is driven by anti-white racism, gender ideology and a complete ignorance of economics. Keep it in mind when you vote.

How an election was stolen

The events in this true story took place not in the Excited States of America, but in the Land of Bambazonke, aka Zimbabwe, a southern Afican shithole where I lived and worked in the 1990s. I left Zimbabwe on the Flying Dutchman in 2001, but kept in touch with an ever-decreasing number of colleagues and friends, until they too left... or died.

The People's Republic of Zimbabwe had been ruled since its independence in 1980 by Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, a neo-Marxist anti-colonialist dictator who tolerated the presence of an opposition party so he could say his country wasn't a one-party state, although in fact it was.

Having an opposition means you have to have an election every now and then, just for show, and Uncle Bob decreed that his people should vote for him again in March 2008. Because of Zimbabwe's dire economic situation, the elections were expected to provide the incumbent and his ZANU-PF party with their toughest electoral challenge to date. 

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, accused the government of planning to rig the election. Human Rights Watch said that the election was likely to be "deeply flawed", and so it was. As election night, March 29th, wore on, unofficial counts showed MDC-T building up big leads in the cities of Harare and Bulawayo, but the more populous rural areas were slow to report. In the wee hours of the morning of March 30th, counting was halted, with no explanation.

No official results were announced for more than a month thereafter. The failure to release results was strongly criticized by the MDC, which unsuccessfully sought a court order to force their release. After a recount and "verification" of the results, the government-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced on May 2nd that Mr Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote and President Mugabe 43.2%, necessitating a run-off, to be held on 27 June 2008.

Political violence ensued, for which  ZANU-PF and MDC each blamed the other's supporters. On June 22nd, Mr Tsvangirai announced that he was withdrawing from the run-off, describing it as a "violent sham" and saying that his supporters risked being killed if they voted for him. The second round of elections went ahead with President Mugabe as the only actively participating candidate, although Mr Tsvangirai's name remained on the ballot. 

Comrade Bob won the second round by an overwhelming margin -- 85.3% to 9.3% -- and was sworn in for another term on 29 June 2008. He remained President until November of 2017, when, at the age of 93, he was ousted by his own party in a bloodless coup.

Any similarity between the events described above and last night's goings-on in Philthydelphia and Allegheny County PA and Atlants and Fulton County GA is purely coincidental.

VIDEO: Wm. F. Buckley talks with Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia

Regular readers of WWW will know that I have an abiding interest in Zimbabwe, a dictatorship in southern Africa which went from being the second-most prosperous on the Dark Continent to what Still-President Trump would now call a "shithole".

I lived and worked in Zimbabwe in the 90s, and could see the handwriting on the wall after the former Big Man, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, decided to pay all his "war veterans" gratuities of Z$50,000 each after they had staged a series of protests, claiming that they had not received the "benefits" of their revolt against the "white settler regime", viz: white cars, white houses and white women.

The unbudgeted payouts saw the Zimbabwe dollar lose its value by 70% in one day -- I remember it well -- and analysts say the move signalled Zimbabwe's well-documented economic collapse. Banknotes were issued in denominations of billions and even trillions of dollars and were literally not worth the paper they were printed on.

The Mugabe government abandoned the "Zimkwacha" because of hyperinflation in 2009 -- 1 US dollar was worth around Z$35 quadrillion at the time -- and started using American dollars and South African rand. 

But I digress. I was about to tell you that when I first went to Africa, there was no Zimbabwe. The country was then known as Rhodesia, a former British colony which declared its independence from No-longer-great Britain on 11 November 1965. I went there about four years later, over five years before William F. Buckley Jr. went there to record this interview with Prime Minister Ian Smith. 

I went to Rhodesia on a fact-finding mission, to see for myself whether the Africans (by which was meant "blacks") were so badly off under white minority rule as was argued by the "progressives" at the United Nations, the World Council of Churches and elsewhere. I concluded that it would be a mistake -- detrimental to the well-being of the Africans -- to overthrow the "white settler government" and impose "majority rule". But it was clear even then, in 1969, that the mistake was going to be made, in the name of "freedom and equality, yada yada yada. The mistake was made, and the result is the shithole that is Zimbabwe today. 

In this interview, recorded in April of 1974, Ian Smith makes the case for the continuation of minority rule until the majority population should be ready to govern themselves. Mr Smith was right, but of course that doesn't matter now, does it. 

One thing to note, at about the 38-minute mark, is that Mr Smith asserts that the black revolutionaries were financed and trained by Communist China. Of course today's China would never do that kind of thing.

Further viewing: Thames Television documentary visit to Rhodesia, June 1975. Includes interview with Ian Smith.  

Prof. Schwab explains African elections

Zimbabwe's capital Ha-ha-harare (the Fun Capital of Africa) was calm today, hours after the government-appointed Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared Comrade Emmerson "ED" Mnangagwa winner of the presidential election held July 30th. See "ED wins Zimbabwe presidential election - quelle surprise!", WWW 2/8/18.

The voting itself was peaceful enough, but things got ugly when the ZEC delayed announcing the results of the presidential race for three days, while making sure that they got their numbers right, to avoid a repeat of the 2008 contest in which Comrade Bob Mugabe failed to win an outright victory on the first ballot. As reported here yesterday morning, six people were killed in the melee when the army rolled in tanks to disperse rock-throwing demonstrators who denounced "the Crocodile" and and alleged vote-rigging.

Harare's roads appeared to be free from the troops today, but water cannons and police remained present at the headquarters of the Movement for Democratic Change (the main opposition party), which police raided yesterday, making 18 arrests. Ed. has obtained for us a picture of the authorities announcing the results to obviously disappointed MDC Alliance leaders.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who received more than 44 per cent of the vote, said on Twitter that "unverified fake results" had been announced by the electoral commission. The ZEC "must release proper and verified results endorsed by parties," Mr Chamisa tweeted. "The level of opaqueness, truth deficiency, moral decay and values deficit is baffling."

Well, it's only baffling to those who expect an African election to bear some resemblance to an election in western democractice, like the US of A. [Eh? Ed.] By the sheerest coincidence, I just read Africa: A Continent Self-destructs (Palgrave, New York, 2001) by Professor Peter Schwab, of SUNY Purchase. Here's what the "authority on human rights" has to say about how the process works in the parts of Africa where they even bother to hold elections.

Within Africa, certainly, elections have taken place.... But elections are merely one indicator of the democratic process, and they are not worth very much if one leader, party, or group totally dominatees the system and if opponents are harassed, intimidated, often shot at, even arrested, and obligated to campaign fearing for their very lives. Sometimes they are even killed.

That's what happened in Zimbabwe in the presidential election of 2008, mentioned above. When early results on polling day put the MDC candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, ahead of Comrade Robert Mugabe, counting was stopped. Just stopped, that's all. More than a month later, the ZEC announced that Mr Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote to Uncle Bob's 43.2%, necessitating a run-off. Faced with the likelihood that his supporters would be the victims of the mayhem described by Prof Schwab, Mr Tsvangirai withdrew from the race, and the only ruler Zimbabwe had known since independence was "democratically re-elected".

Old Africa hands know the saying "MAWA" -- "Mother Africa Wins Again" -- and that's exactly what happened in Zimbabwe this week. End of lesson.

Footnote: I do not recommend Professor Schwab's book. The introductory and concluding chapters are nothing more than a rehash of the usual white liberal American apologies for the abject failure of black government. The way the prof tells it, the all-but-hopeless mess that African is in today, half a century after independence, is the result of centuries of slavery, colonialism and systemic racism, all the fault of the evil whites -- Europeans, not Americans, of course.

In between the first and last chapters is a potted history of the political and humanitarian disasters visited upon their people by the leaders of black Africa, "big men" like Comrades Mugabe and Mnangagwa. In the chapter headed "Civil Wars, Wars, and Political Collapse", Prof Schwab concedes (without once mentioning the race of "modern" Africa's leaders):

...it should be obvious that...western nations, and in particular the United States, would be foolhardy to jump into the bog that is currently Africa. [Yes, that's what he called it. Walt] Unless and until indigenous leadership arises that is intent and willing to put its nation's interests above personal aggrandizement, there is little that can be done to resolve the complex and bloody civil strife operative in so many African states....

In the final analysis, it is up to Africa and Africans to finally take the initiative to fix what is broken and to address the problems confronting their respective states. These are clearly not nations where there is public loyalty to established politically legitimate institutions.... There are many cultures, many loyalties, and few national structures that are not riddled with graft and at the mercy of wanton leaders. No conspicuous anchor is available to tie the ship of state to while exploring solutions.

To repeat... MAWA.

At least six killed in Zimbabwe post-election violence

I've been waiting patiently to be able to bring you the results from elections held in Zimbabwe on July 30th. Patience is a must, in African affairs, as things move slowly... very slowly. Future time is expresssed, in Zimbabwe, in phrases with rather vague meanings, which I'll translate for you:
- "Just now", as in "The results will be announced just now." Read: "at some time in the future, but not "now now".
- "Now now", as in "Could we have them now now?" Read: "sometime today".
- "Now now now!", as in "Do it now now now! I'm not going to wait any longer!" Read: "Move your ass, you [racist epithet deleted. Ed.]!"

Old Africa hands, like Walt, were therefore unsurprised when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), comprised of appointees of the ZANU-PF party which has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, announced on July 31st that results of the voting would be released, not "just now" but as soon as every last one of the 10,095 polling stations had counted every last one of the ballots.

Elections were held for every office from the presidensity to Zimbabwe's rubber-stamp parliament down to municipal councils. The only race of any consequence pitted 75-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa, who ousted Comrade Bob Mugabe in an almost bloodless coup last November against Nelson Chamisa, age 40, who succeded to the leadership of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) after the death of its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

The ZEC has released results of the parliamentary and local elections in dribs and drabs, from July 31st until this afternoon, local time. The commission has said the vote was conducted properly in accordance with African tradition under the vigilant supervision of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, and was therefore free and fair.

Supporters of the MDC disagreed, and the longer the ZEC delayed announcing the results of the presidential race, the more they complained that the fix was in. One observer, with experience of elections in the USA, said he was reminded of the delayed announcement of results in Philadelphia, where Democratic election officials would call their counterparts in certain black districts to ask for the vote count, at which time they were asked, "How many votes you need?"

Yesterday the opposition supporters got fed up waiting, and took to the streets of Ha-ha-harare, the Fun Capital of Africa, to express their anger. Zimbabwe Newsday, which was apparently afraid to print anything at all yesterday, reported this morning that at least six people were feared to have died last night, while several others sustained gunshot injuries after soldiers and police in Harare used brute force to suppress MDC Alliance activists protesting against alleged electoral theft of their vote by ZANU-PF and the ZEC.

Harare's Central Business District resembled a war zone, as soldiers drove around in their armoured vehicles, stopping every now and then to beat bystanders with sjamboks (still in use after the bad old apartheid days, but it's black on black now). They fired live ammunition indiscriminately at anyone found in the CBD, with several passersby caught in the cross fire.

Once-and-future President Mngagwa said this morning that his government has been in touch with the main opposition leader in an attempt to ease tensions after the election-related violence. Mr Chamisa said only that "We must maintain this dialogue in order to protect the peace we hold dear." Errr, yes. If you know you're going to lose an election in Africa, it's best to start backing towards the door as soon as the outcome can be discerned.

In a series of tweets, Comrade ED* called for an "independent investigation" into the violence in Harare, saying those responsible "should be identified and brought to justice." By that, he obviously meant the opposition, though some international observers criticized the military for opening fire on unarmed civilians. Those observers obviously need to cleanse their minds or their racist assumptions and get used to African ways.

* Footnote: Comrade Mnangagwa's supporters and the local meeja refer to him as "ED". Apparently no-one has told them that "ED" is commonly used here in the civilized (?) world to refer to a little problem that some men have.

Further reading: "Zimbabwe's elections turn violent", The Economist, 2/8/18. "So much for a fresh start...."

Academic illiteracy, African style

There is such a thing as "Zimbabwean English". You can look it up in the Oxford Companion to the English Language, which I'm sure you keep on your night table for bedtime reading. Or you can take my word for it. During my time in the land of bambazonke, I was often amused by the locutions peculiar to its denizens.

The horrible white racists who settled and ran Zimbabwe in the colonial era -- it was known as Rhodesia in those days -- built lots of schools, with the result that the English literacy rate was one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since independence in 1980, standards have slipped considerably. But Zimbabweans still have a great love of sesquipedelian words and grandiose phrases. If you know a lot of big words, they seem to think, you must be educated, and therefore not just fit but entitled to lead the country's institutions.

During the Mugabe era (April 1980 through December 2017) it was customary for businesses, government agencies, and individual public figures to insert huge advertisements in the local press, particularly the state-owned Herald of Truth, congratulating Comrade Bob on everything from his birthday to the opening of a new Blair toilet. To describe the messages which took up pages upon pages of newsprint as fawning would be an understatement. "Adulatory" would be a better word.

Following the (mostly) bloodless coup earlier this month, there is a new dictator in town, but the custom continues. But the quality of the English in the congratulatory ads, and in public speech generally, seems to have declined. Walt's old friend Dr CZ printed this egregious example in his column in today's Financial Gazette.

His Excellency Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, The Principal, Eng T Madondo, Advisory Council, Management, Staff and Students of Harare Polytechnic joins the nation in congratulating Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa on your appointment as Head of State and Government and Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. You demonstrated resilience, tenacity and composure as you rose through the echelon and fastigium of presidency. The humility you portrayed revealed the axiologies and phronesis of a leader. Harare polytechnic shares the developmental trajectory you enunciated on your inauguration and is ready to hit the ground running.

I cannot add my "amen" because he can't figure out what the principal of Harare Polytechnic (or whoever wrote this for him) is trying to say. [I'm working on it. Always like to increase my vocabulary! Ed.] So all I can do is encourage Comrade ED (no relation to our Ed.) to take Eng Madondo's words for what they're worth -- about $1.98.

Dr CZ ends his column with some words of wisdom which I will copy here, since it seems to me their application is not restricted to the Dark Continent.
The African education system has many surprising outcomes. The smartest students pass with first class marks and get admission to medical and engineering schools. The second class students get MBAs and LLBs to manage the first class students. The third class students enter politics, and rule both first and second class students. The failures join the army and control politicians who, if they are not happy with, they kick or kill. Best of all, those who did not attend any school, become prophets and witch doctors, and everybody follows them!

Zimbabwe: Tyrant quits, tyranny continues

So, farewell then, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, former President-for-Almost-Life of Zimbabwe. Reports from Hahaharare (the fun capital of Africa) say that you submitted your resignation, in writing no less, just as impeachment proceedings got under way this afternoon. By quitting now, you dodged a bullet... literally.

It has come to my attention that there were some readers who didn't get the joke in the meme that accompanied my post on Comrade Bob's dismissal, just a few weeks ago, from the position of World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador created for him by the incredibly naive (or corrupt?) Chair of that "organization". To understand both that and the last line of the first paragraph, be advised that in chiShona, the main native language of Zimbabwe, "Hendiende!" means "I will not go!"

"I will not go!" was Comrade Mugabe's attitude even after his own ZANU-PF party fired him as its President following a military quasi-coup late last week. On Friday he read, rather haltingly, a statement saying he would "preside" (as a president does) over a party congress scheduled for next month. On Sunday he called a cabinet meeting for Tuesday morning, and "presided" over the handful of ministers who turned up. Meanwhile, on Monday, his own party launched in Zimbabwe's Parliament a motion to impeach him, which was being debated today when he finally said that he would go, after all.

Many observers, including Walt -- and let me remind you that I spent several years in the land of bambazonke -- assumed that there were only two ways Robert Mugabe would be dislodged from his position. Either he would die in his bed or in some other location, due to a severe case of lead poisoning. It was only a question of which would come first. His resigning in writing may reflect the way the world has changed in the 21st century. Yes, even Africa. There was no storming of State House, no being hung upside down from a lamppost, no execution by firing squad, not even a quiet private hanging. The coup was bloodless and, apart from the singing and dancing in the streets, quiet.

Does this mean that the povo -- the poor people of Zimbabwe -- can expect to see some improvement in their lives? Under Comrade Bob, the former Rhodesia went from being Africa's breadbasket to another African basket case. His legacy is a standard of living, an average life expectancy and an average annual income all lower than they were in the bad old days of "white settler rule".

He will be remembered for the kleptocracy which impoverished his people, for the Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland in the 1980s, for the farm invasions of the 1990s and later, and for the brutal repression of the opposition any time it seemed at all close to winning an election.

Mr Mugabe's place is like to be taken by Emmerson Mnangagwa, aka ED Mnangagwa [no relation! Ed.], the vice-president whom Comrade Bob purported to fire, earlier this month, to pave the way for the succession of his wife, Gucci Grace. As Western governments rush to congratulate Zimbabwe on its peaceful transition, they forget that Comrade ED was deeply involved in most of those crimes.

Mr Mnangagwa is known as "The Crocodile", for his association with a group of black nationalist rebels in the early days of the fight against white rule. Others say the appellation stems from his power, ruthlessness and ability to survive the tough, sometimes aggressive world of African politics. We all know how crocodiles deal with their enemies, right?

The 75-year-old was a loyal henchman to Comrade Bob for years, gaining a reputation for being astute, ruthless and effective. He was was one of those who helped the dictator cling to power when, at times, it seemed as if his grip might be weakening. As Zimbabwe's Minister for National Security, he became notorious for overseeing the Gukurahundi -- the brutal 1983 campaign against supporters of Comrade Mugabe's rival, Joshua Nkomo. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Ndebele people are estimated to have died in Matabeleland during what was really a tribal war. A good deal of the killing was done by the the Zimbabwe army's Fifth Brigade, equipped and trained by North Korea.

Since then, Comrade ED has kept himself busy in various government positions, most recently as one of two vice presidents. Nor has he been averse to accepting the rewards of his hard work. He is rumoured to have amassed a considerable fortune and been involved in the development (read: looting) of the Marange diamond fields, in which something like 15 billion dollars is said to have disappeared. Mr Mnangagwa was targeted by US sanctions in the early 2000s, for undermining democratic development in Zimbabwe, and he was named in a United Nations investigation into exploitation of mineral resources in Congo.

A former UK foreign secretary told Sky News, "The negative is he's got a lousy record - he was involved in the very serious massacres in the Matabeleland a long, long time ago. His succession, if that's what happens, would be a continuation of the status quo.". Prominent Zimbabwean opposition politician David Coltart (a really decent human being) tweeted, "We have removed a tyrant but not yet a tyranny." Or, to put it the way they do in neighbouring Moçambique: a luta continua!

Further reading: "Poor Robert Mugabe", by Hannes Wessels, in Taki's Magazine, 17/11/17.

VIDEO: Mugabes under house arrest as Zimbabwean army takes over

This is an update on yesterday's post predicting a military coup in the failing state of Zimbabwe. Yesterday, Zimbabwean National Army commander Constantino Chiwenga issued an unprecedented statement saying purges against senior ruling party officials linked to the 1970s liberation war should end "forthwith". "When it comes to matters of protecting our revolution," he said, "the military will not hesitate to step in." And lo, it has come to pass. Lifetime pct .992.

Today a spokesthingy for the army announced on state-owned radio and TV stations that they have President Robert Mugabe and his wife in custody, and are securing government offices and patrolling the streets of the capital, Harare, following a night of unrest. In an address to the nation after taking control of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Maj.-Gen. Sibusiso Moyo said the military is targeting "criminals" around Mugabe, and sought to reassure the country that order will be restored. Without saying where Mugabe and his wife are being held, Moyo said, "Their security is guaranteed."

Although these events have all the hallmarks of a coup, supporters of the military praised their actions as a "bloodless correction". In the video, you see armed soldiers in bakkies (= pickup trucks) and armoured personnel carriers stationed at key points in Harare. Walt notes that the personnel carriers are the same antiquated vehicles in use when he lived in the country, twenty years ago. Then, as now, they were seen broken down or out of diesel at the roadside! Meanwhile, Zimbabweans formed long lines at banks in order to draw the limited cash available, a routine chore in the country's ongoing financial crisis. People looked at their phones to read about the army takeover and others went to work or to shops.

Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, says he has spoken with Comrade Bob, and that the 93-year-old dictator is confined to one of his homes -- which one was unclear -- but is "fine". A statement from Mr Zuma's office says, in his capacity as Chair of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Mr Zuma is sending South Africa's ministers of defence and state security to Zimbabwe to meet with Mr Mugabe and the military. The purpose of the meeting is unclear, but may be to arrange for the Mugabes, Bob and the lovely Grace, to go into exile into the neighbouring country. The problem with that is that President Zuma's hold on office is slipping. If he is deposed, where will he and his several wives, along with the Mugabes, run then? It is said that SADC will continue to monitor the situation closely. So will Walt. Stay tuned.

UPDATED: Zimbabwe braces for military coup to oust Mugabes

Assiduous readers of WWW will know that Walt has a keen interest in Zimbabwe, that failing state in the southern part of the Dark Continent where he lurked [worked, surely! Ed.] in the last decade of the 20th century. Walt got out just before the country's currency tanked completely, but still follows the news from the land of bambazonke. (If you ever lived there, you'll know what that means.)

The present state of play is that the Mugabe's rule, as has been the case since independence in 1980. Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, on the right in the picture, started out as Prime Minister, then became President as well, and later decided the country didn't need a prime minister anyway. He is now said to be wondering if there's any point in having himself declared Emperor. Perhaps President-for-Life would be enough, doing away with the need to rig elections every five years or so.

Pictured on the left, at Bob's right hand, is his second wife, DisGrace [just "Grace", surely! Ed.], with whom he was having an affair as his first wife lay dying of kidney failure. He eventually made her "Mrs Mugabe", going so far as to have the wedding blessed by the toadying Archbishop of Harare. But so far he has been unable to put her into any high office, other than the purely ceremonial one of "First Lady". Even that entitles her to a diplomatic passport, it seems, which has been enough to save her from arrest for assault in both London and Johannesburg.

Still, Grace aspires to a loftier position, perhaps that of President, once her husband, going on 94, dies of lead poisoning or other causes. Her path to the presidential throne became clearer last week, when Comrade Bob unceremoniously dumped his senior Vice-President, a veteran of the "liberation wars" named Emerson Mnangagwa. (Try and say that three times, quick!) It is expected that Zimbabwe's Shopper-in-Chief will be appointed to fill the vacancy at the ruling ZANU-PF party congress in December. That would set her up to be President, in the event that -- God forbid -- anything happens to her husband.

The fly in the ointment is that the Zimbabwean National Army (ZNA) is not fond of the lovely Grace, but loyal to Comrade Mnangagwa. Yesterday, ZNA commander Constantino Chiwenga issued an unprecedented statement saying purges against senior ruling party officials linked to the 1970s liberation war should end "forthwith". "We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution," the army chief said, "the military will not hesitate to step in."

The military statement was not reported on by the state-run broadcaster. Government spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo said only the president could respond, but Comrade Bob did not comment. The state-run broadcaster did not report on the statement. But this morning, AP reports, three armoured personnel carriers full of soldiers were seen in a convoy on a road heading toward an army barracks just outside Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city.

No army spokesman was immediately available for comment today. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the state broadcaster, was operating as usual, and the capital remained calm... waiting with bated breath, no doubt.

UPDATE ADDED 1145 14/11/17: AP reports that this evening (local time) ZANU-PF has issued a statement accusing the ZNA commander of "treasonable conduct" for his threat to have the military step in. The statement said the unprecedented comments made yesterday Gen. Constantino Chiwenga were "clearly calculated to disturb national peace and stability" and were "meant to incite insurrection." Insurrection, izzit? Zimbabweans are waiting. In fact they've been waiting for decades!

Further reading about Mugabe's Zimbabwe on WWW: "Is Zimbabwe's Comrade Bob Mugabe dead or just sleeping?", WWW 3/3/17; "Zimbabwean dictator appointed to, then removed from WHO post", WWW 22/10/17.

Doctor CZ is happy about the result of the US election

Assiduous readers of WWW may remember that Walt has a connection with Africa, having lived and worked at the southern end of the Dark Continent back in the 20th century. 

I follow the news from South Africa and Zimbabwe -- still waiting for the demise, through old age or lead poisoning, of Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe -- and my few friends who are still there follow the news from this side of the Atlantic. One such, "Doctor CZ", weighed in this week with an opinion (in his column in the Financial Gazette) on the election of Donald Trump. Here it is.

While the just-ended presidential elections in the United States never excited Dr CZ in any way since Yours Truly knows for sure that nothing really changes in American policy towards Zimbabwe, he was, however, one of those few people who were so elated at the pleasantly surprising outcome of the poll. The reason simply being that the results spite those who think experience is everything.

The danger of having career politicians is that sometimes they get too obsessed with their own self-preservation to the detriment of the whole country. What happened in the US should happen more frequently. Election outcomes should never be so predictable as sunrise and sunset.

The other thing Dr CZ likes about president-elect Donald Trump is that he tells the truth whole and raw as it is and has no time to hide behind niceties of pretending. This is what Americans voted for. They are sick and tired of leaders who pretend.

Americans do not want foreigners in their own country, and Trump promised to help them in this regard. If one is not wanted in a certain country, they should stay in their own country or go to that country where they are welcome, not to force themselves even where they are not wanted. Americans have their own country, which they should do their best to keep it to themselves, just as everyone else should do their best to belong to their own countries.

Sadly, Trump appears to be rude because just like fire and water, which cannot be carried in the same mouth, truth and politeness never go hand-in-hand.

African woman axes and eats passerby

Every now and then we get a bizarre tale from the southern African country of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe itself is rather bizarre, a case study in what happens when the wicked white colonists are forced to hand over to the black majority.

This was the case in what was then Rhodesia, which was betrayed by the UK government and in 1980 was handed over to Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, who is still in power (at least nominally) over 34 years later. Under Mugabe's kleptocracy, Zimbabwe has regressed, by every measure, in every aspect of human development, to pre-independence, even pre-colonial levels.

As a case in point, Walt offers the following story, as it appears in today's online edition of Zimbabwe NewsDay.

In a bizarre incident that occurred in Gutu yesterday, a mentally challenged woman allegedly wrestled a male villager, and fatally axed him before devouring part of his flesh.

Acting Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed the spine-chilling incident and identified both the suspect as Esther Katandawa (27) and the deceased as Simon Muzenda (29). The incident occurred yesterday morning at Mupandawana village under headman Gadzingo. "We have indeed heard about the incident, and we can confirm that the accused, who is mentally challenged, has since been arrested and is in custody," he said.

He said Katandawa met the deceased in the same village in the morning and disarmed him of the axe, before chasing after him and turning the axe on him. "The now deceased was limping as his leg was aching,” Dhewa said. "After the axe was taken away from him, he tried to flee, but could not go further as he could not run due to his leg that was troubling him. Unfortunately, he was struck with the axe and died on the spot. The accused then started eating his flesh."

Other villagers who were passing by were said to have heard his cries, before they apprehended Katandawa and made a police report, leading to her arrest.

It could not be established if Muzenda is related to the late Vice-President, Simon Muzenda, who also hailed from the same district.

Walt wonders if the "mentally challenged" lady thought that perhaps her victim was the late Muzenda, risen from the dead. Such beliefs are not uncommon in bizarre Zimbabwe. Nothing that a little civilization wouldn't cure, but, as the locals say, "this is Zimbabwe".

You think I'm kidding about the persistence of the African belief in sorcery and witchcraft? From the same source comes a report that Comrade Bob yesterday claimed that discredited Vice-President Joice Mujuru, working in cahoots with members of her cabal, secretly consulted n’angas (with doctors) seeking juju (magic potions or spells) to kill him in a bid to wrest power from him.

Addressing a Zanu PF Central Committee meeting in the capital yesterday ahead of today’s 6th national people’s congress, Mugabe said Mujuru and her co-plotters also clandestinely plotted to assassinate him before their plans were exposed. 

Comrade Bob is 90, and is widely believed to have the necessary juju to live and rule Zimbabwe forever. Forever, do you hear? Bwuhahahahaha....