The Fall of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is cutting three zeros from its currency. That leaves only around 250 Zimbabwean dollars for one American dollar.

The situation is in some way horribly tragic. Some twenty years ago, Zimbabwe was one of the richer countries in Southern Africa. President Mugabe had an excellent relationship with the productive white big farmers - so excellent actually, that one couldn't help asking oneself what was going on. In 1978 he had led a guerilla war against the black Prime Minister, bishop Abel Muzorewa, with the excuse that Muzorewa's government wasn't truly representing the black. Muzorewa's government did in fact involve a lot of white pressure groups, so, yes, one could easily argue that the black still didn't have the real power.

However, with the white farmers still there long after Mugabe won the elections of 1980, one could easily argue that he didn't truly represent the blacks either. That was probably what he tried to correct with the forced removal of white farmers from 1999 onwards.

The problem was that he forgot that the important thing was not to represent one group of people or another, but the good of the country as a whole. The small farms that replaced the big ones are often run by inexperienced people, and the grain production of Zimbabwe has dwindled. Since 2005, land in Zimbabwe has been largely nationalised - a move world history tells us is not always a wise one. Stalin's collectivisations and Mao's The Big Leap just to mention two, both led to widespread starvation.

It may be cynical, but I think it is more tragic when a country, which once was rich, suddenly turns poor, than when a country, which has been poor for a long period stays poor.

Let's hope Zimbabwe does not stay poor though. It still has the power to rise.