Zimbabwe: What's Up With Mugabe?

opinion
By Mirjam Van Den Berg,
allafrica.com

No, he isn't dead yet, but that's about all we can say of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe for sure.

Rumours he was rushed to a Singapore hospital and is battling for his life emerged earlier this week. Zimbabwean Information Minister Webster Shamu dismissed them as complete nonsense, instead sticking to the official line: Mugabe is in Singapore on a private visit to talk about his daughter Bona's post-graduate studies. And, no, he hasn't seen a hospital from the inside.

But whether that is true remains a mystery to Zimbabweans and the international public alike.
"I get all my news via foreign media," says Zimbabwean journalist Bruce Mutsvairo, currently lecturing at Amsterdam University College in the Netherlands. "The relationships between politicians and journalists in Zimbabwe aren't as good as could be, to say the least. And they're very sceptical about Western journalist, in particular. There's a mutual lack of trust, and that will probably stay that way as long as Mugabe stays in power, only increasing the rumours."

various people within Mugabe's ZANU-PF party have a vested interest in keeping the leader in power as long as possible. Spreading rumours is a political tool, says Hermes. "There are tensions within ZANU-PF about Mugabe's succession. Mugabe is not in full control of the party anymore, and it's crucial the party stays together. If he dies before the elections [scheduled for 2013], there might be a coup d'état. Spreading rumours about Mugabe's health is a tactic to prevent the army from masterminding a complete takeover."

The future of Zimbabwe all depends on how Mugabe leaves office, says RNW correspondent Nkosana Dlamini. "If he dies an untimely death, there will be chaos," he predicts. "Mugabe is a problem to Zimbabwe, just as much as he is a solution to Zimbabwe's future. If he leaves power in a smooth, constitutional way, then there's hope.""But," notes Mutsvairo, "even though the country is divided, don't forget that Mugabe is still well regarded by many in Zimbabwe. He would probably still win an election. The land reform and black empowerment programmes he implemented made him popular amongst many black Zimbabweans. And then of course there are the people who benefit from the mess that persists under Mugabe's rule. Corruption is thriving, and when a new government comes into power, those people will lose all their privileges.