According to the rhetoric of President Robert Mugabe, the appalling situation in Zimbabwe today is the fault of outside influences rather than the brutality and incompetence of his own government. So, when Britain criticises repression in Zimbabwe, Mugabe urges Zimbabweans to stand firm against “imperialist manoeuvres”.
Such claims stand no scrutiny and are merely a cover for the failures of the regime. When Mugabe came to power in 1980, Zimbabwe was one of Africa’s most promising economies. Today, mismanagement and misguided policies have brought it to the brink of collapse. Zimbabweans are poorer than they were in 1970, and their lives are shorter. Their country is poorer than nations such as Sierra Leone and the Congo, which have been ravaged by armed conflict.
The government’s disregard for the rule of law means that Zimbabwe’s human rights conditions are among the worst in the world. The situation has become so desperate that Pius Ncube, Archbishop of Bulawayo, said in March he was “ready to stand in front, even of blazing guns” to force the president to step down.
Like the rest of the international community, the British public is shocked by the poverty and starvation that are being inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe, and by the images of tear gas and police brutality in the streets of Harare.
We believe that Zimbabweans deserve a better life, a better government and the right to live in peace under the rule of law. The international community has a moral responsibility to speak up and act. Last month, the whole of the British Parliament joined in expressing outrage at the situation in Zimbabwe, and in calling on our government to do more. Our hope is to see a truly democratic government in Zimbabwe; one that is determined to provide hope and relief for its people, and that is committed to economic and governance reform.
We believe that this is possible. The starting point would be a political settlement that would remove Mugabe from power when his term expires next year, and allow a power-sharing transitional government to take office until new presidential and parliamentary elections can be held. In Britain, we would hope to establish strong relations with such a government, and to assist fully in the economic and political regeneration of Zimbabwe.
Mugabe has demonstrated that he has no intention of permitting this to take place, and is trying to force his party to allow him to extend his rule, while using violence to shore up his weakening grip on power.
For 27 years, the international response to Zimbabwe’s tragedy, however well intentioned, has been ineffectual in preventing the situation from deteriorating. The time has come for the international community to send a strong signal that it will not stand by while Mugabe’s government plunges Zimbabwe into collapse. We have called for the European Union to increase pressure on members of Zanu-PF, by adding more individuals to the list of those whose assets are frozen and who are not permitted into the EU, and enforcing these measures rigorously. We also believe that Mugabe should be excluded from the EU-African Union summit to be held in Portugal this year.
And, to make the sanctions more effective, we have called for our government to work with other countries, such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, to agree to wider financial measures that would maximise our leverage on the Zimbabwean regime, without imposing hardship on innocent people.
But, above all, we look to South Africa to lead a regional effort to achieve a political settlement in Zimbabwe. No other country is better placed in the region to exert pressure on Mugabe, or has more to lose from Zimbabwe’s collapse. Democracy might stand a chance in Zimbabwe if its neighbours applied a little pressure on Mugabe to respect the rights of his people.
In this event, the international community stands ready to work as partners to help lift Zimbabwe out of the unimaginable poverty in which it is today. When Mugabe finally leaves office, a shattered country will have to be rebuilt.
It is my hope that, with leadership from Zimbabwe’s neighbours, and with the right combination of pressure and incentives from the rest of the international community, we will be able to make this hope a reality.
What better way to make it impossible for the Zimbabwean government to hide behind shallow excuses and finger-pointing than to present such a united international front.
William Hague is the shadow foreign secretary and senior member of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom