Zimbabwe

Recent Conflict

Mugabe’s reign has resulted in immense poverty throughout Zimbabwe. Farming is the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy, but agriculture has been crippled by the combined effects of drought, HIV/AIDS and controversial government land reforms. The forceful removal of white landowners from their farms by the African majority, sanctioned by Mugabe, has devastated the country. Farmlands have now been rendered useless because of lacking agricultural expertise.

In 2008, Zimbabwe’s inflation rate reached a record high 231,000,000%, with the price of goods doubling every few days. The government was forced to print one trillion dollar banknotes to keep up with inflation and in April 2009, the country simply stopped printing money altogether. These economic problems are accompanied by 80% unemployment leaving the majority of the country in a state of extreme poverty.

As of late May 2009, 98,309 people have been infected with cholera and 4,283 people have been killed by the disease. Cholera spread due to a collapse of the water supply, sanitation systems, and garbage collection systems as well as the onset of the rainy season, which spread the contaminated water. The economic downfall and poverty of the citizens has meant that most people cannot afford the fuel necessary to boil their water, increasing the infection rate.

Despite these overwhelming concerns, Mugabe has been able to maintain power based on human rights abuses, violence, and fraud. In the lead up to the March 2008 elections, Mugabe had the leader of the opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, arrested along with 49 other opposition activists. Tsvangirai was severely beaten while in custody and due to this and other acts of violence on behalf of the Zimbabwean government, ultimately pulled out of the run-off election for president. Eventually a power-sharing agreement was reached, but there are concerns throughout the international community about whether Tsvangirai will be given any real power.

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