One, an idiot--the other a saint?
Robert Mugabe is not an evil person. He is just completely stupid. Here is a man who took over one of the breadbaskets of Africa (Erstwhile Rhodesia was the biggest tobacco producer in Africa and a major exporter of maize and sorghum.) Now they have nothing in Zimbabwe. They rely on aid and that aid goes to Mugabe supporters. Mugabe is intent on raping his country and proving that the British (whom he hates with a passion), are the one's responsible. This old idiot has brought his countriy to its knees --and then some. I wish I could tell him that he will go down in history as a tyrant and he'll be in good company: he'll be up there with Amin of Uganda and Nguema of Equatorial Africa, amongst others. As Mugabe knocks down every house in Zimbabwe and brutalises his own people like the old Apartheid police in the seventies, let me be a soothsayer and tell you that his time is near an end. There is no longer a place in Africa for a bully, tyrant and fool.
I have been watching Bob Geldof on his visit to the DRC (The Congo) The series is on BBC One. I have thought little of Geldof until now. He shares my anger at the way Congo was despoiled and plundered by the Belgians and Mobutu. He sees images I see and he feels for the Congo as I have for years. I feel so strongly about the DRC and I am so pleased that Geldof has hit at the heart of the problems: these are good people condemned by circumstances beyond their control. It is a crying pity that it has gone on for so long. Bob Geldof feels that the DRC will flourish eventually and I am behind him every step of the way.
After watching this documentary I realise that Geldof DOES understand Africa and its plight and, in a way,I'm relieved.