Robert Mugabe, a largely unwelcome guest of the European Union at a summit this weekend, is a hero in the eyes of many Africans for daring to stand up to the West and seize land from white farmers.
Given that his country’s economy is in tatters and has been plagued by political violence, many in Europe have been left scratching their heads over how Zimbabwe’s president since independence in 1980 still commands respect.
But even at the age of 83, Africa’s oldest leader retains many of the populist instincts which have served him so well over the years –trading blows with his former allies in the West and tapping into resentment over land.
“He’s a great showman and the confrontation with the West is grist to his mill and builds up his persona,” said Patrick Smith, editor of the London-based Africa Confidential journal.
“Back home the economy may be on its knees but [many feel] at least our man bestrides the world like a Colossus.”
Mugabe — normally banned from Europe for allegedly rigging his re-election in 2002 — is likely to receive a frosty reception at this weekend’s gathering of European Union and African leaders in Lisbon with the host Portugal’s Foreign Minister Luis Amado saying it would be “preferable” if he did not attend.
Yet at his last major summit, the Southern African Development Community’s annual get-together in Lusaka in July, Mugabe received a standing ovation from delegates at the official opening who merely applauded other heads of state.
In the first two decades since independence, Mugabe’s relations with the West were generally warm but that changed in 2000 when he embarked on a programme of land reforms in which thousands of farms were expropriated.
Mugabe claimed the programme was intended to redress the wrongs of the colonial era when the indigenous black population was often forced off their land by European settlers.
In reality however much of the land ended up in the hands of ruling party cronies and agriculture production — once an economic mainstay — collapsed.
But if outside observers see the expropriations as being an economic disaster, the idea remains popular in parts of the continent such as Kenya and South Africa where land still remains disproportionately in the hands of the descendants of European settlers.
“Mugabe’s argument is that we may have got the independence but we didn’t get the land. That enables him to avoid all the awkward questions about what he’s been doing for the last 20 years,” said Smith.
According to David Monyae, a lecturer in international relations at Johannesburg’s Wits University, Mugabe had been largely successful in portraying the land issue as a bilateral dispute between Harare and London.
Many Africans shared Mugabe’s resentment about the “holier than thou” attitude from former colonial powers such as Britain and Belgium, said Monyae.
“Africans are saying don’t define us and lecture us … we don’t accept that it is about human rights, full stop,” he added.
Mugabe has been particularly adept at responding to accusations by tapping into resentment about Western double standards.
When United States President George Bush branded him a tyrant at this year’s United Nations General Assembly, Mugabe replied that the US president has “very little to lecture us on”.
“He kills in Iraq. He kills in Afghanistan. And this is supposed to be our master on human rights?”
Not everyone in Africa is convinced, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, awarded the Nobel P Prize for his role in the fight against apartheid, calling Mugabe the caricature of an African dictator.
And in Zimbabwe itself, analysts say his grip on power has much more to do with his control of the state machinery rather than popularity.
“His popularity within the party and the country is very questionable,” said Harare-based commentator Takura Zhangazha.
“He is a coercive leader, intimidates opponents, uses food aid as political weapon. Some people are given jobs because of their political affiliation.” – AFP