I also base my judgements on what is said by commentators I trust – such as Elinor Sisulu (try googling Gukurahundi and you will see atrocities reaching back way beyond a decade Charles).

Mugabe is a monster and it is to my country’s eternal shame that we continue to keep silent about his tyrany.

I used to and still write for the Financial Gazette. We do not have agree on everything.

For the remainder of the comments, I thought this was what this debate is about. We do not have to agree.

The biggest problem in Zimbabwe is that the whole political issue has been turned into a religion. You are either wrong or you are right. You are either pro and anti-Mugabe. You are either pro or anti-Tsvangirai.

Yet surveys that have been done by independent think tanks show that more than 60 percent of the population does not support either Mugabe or Tsvangirai.

No, he’s being “punished” (if only!) because as you say the country is now in tatters!! (Tatters which were long predicted by many, it should be noted.)

Idiot, when did David T blame the Muslims for Zimbabwe? I know Mugabe and Muslim both share the first two letters, but beyond that…. where’s the connection? I am however rather surprised you haven’t blamed the Jooos yet, though perhaps you’re just holding that back in reserve.

even if it was so, that does not excluse mugabe in any way, on the contrary it only adds weight to his responsibilities in his country current situation.

in politics, a people cannot become hostage of debts of gratitude. if a leader or an elite who once fought for national liberation then imposes on its own people a regime like the one in which zimbabweans are forced to live in, then that elite is betraying all the principles it once fought for, which in turn allows the question, were they fighting for national liberation or to become the sultan in the place of the sultan?

David T: if your explanation is correct, that’s just one more example of how flawd a significant part of the academic elite is. I think one of the problems with academics is vanity, the other is how easily they get detached from reality when they are ideologically motivated, and finally, a certain lust for power over people’s minds, and the third one is the one that bothers me most, because I’ve seen how easy it is for manipulators to create a feeling of fascination on his students/assistants/followers. not everyone is like that, obviously, but it’s just so easy after the get a certain degree of public recognition to become like that…

God help Africa if Mamdani’s idea of progress takes root. He is a classic symptom of the rotten state of certain sections of academia.

Immigrants can never become citizens and you must give up part of your land as your country’s population grows! I dont know where you live Emmanuel but presumably you would be happy to give up part of your home if the population grew. Further that if you are not a “native” you cannot own land there at all.

It would be comical if it were not so depressing.