Mugabe’s Last Stand
A former close ally may offer the best chance yet of toppling Zimbabwe's dictator at the ballot box.
Politics is dangerous business in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. So this crowd of 4,000 tired-looking peasants and factory workers, packed into a soccer stadium in the town of Gweru, is understandably subdued. They chat quietly among themselves, listening to a popular Zimbabwean song, "We Are Afraid of the Father," about a patriarch's violent rages. The tune suits the event—a rally for Simba Makoni, the 57-year-old technocrat who is challenging Mugabe, one of Africa's last "big men," in elections this week. The crowd roars when Makoni jogs onto a giant stage and doffs his blue cap. "I am taking off my hat so you can see that I am a man," he says, shouting. "My name is Simba Makoni! And I am the one!"
If ever Zimbabwe needed a savior it's now. An inflation rate that tops 100,000 percent has destroyed the economy. One in five adults in Zimbabwe is infected with HIV; women have the lowest life expectancy—34 years—in the world. And at 84, Mugabe refuses to ease the grip in which he's held the country since independence in 1980. Like dictators everywhere, he's long been sustained by cronies who don't much care what happens to the nation as long as they get their cut. That's why Makoni's political insurgency is so threatening: a former Finance minister, he comes out of Mugabe's inner circle. The system, finally, may be turning on itself.
Makoni is an unlikely giant-killer. Born in rural Zimbabwe, he excelled at school and, in the early 1970s, was one of only about 120 blacks nationwide admitted to the University of Rhodesia. He protested against white minority rule, narrowly escaped arrest and fled to Botswana. He later emigrated to England where he earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Leicester Polytechnic. Back in Zimbabwe after 1980, and already close to Mugabe, he became the youngest minister in the new government, and later Finance minister. Until he was expelled last month for challenging Mugabe, Makoni was comfortably ensconced in the ruling party's top echelons.
Now he claims to have the backing of key figures within the party. Earlier this month Dumiso Dabengwa, a former military commander and hero to thousands of veterans of the independence struggle—a constituency that has proved unfailingly loyal to Mugabe in the past—endorsed Makoni. There are persistent rumors that retired general Solomon Mujuru, whose wife, Joyce, is the current vice president, may also be quietly backing him. And one faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has thrown its organization and money behind him.
Makoni says he's been trying to change the government for years. As Finance minister in 2002 he fought to stave off hyperinflation by devaluing the Zim dollar but was rebuffed, and later fired for his efforts. He spoke out when government thugs beat up opposition activists in March 2007, even visiting some who had been hospitalized in South Africa. Abiathar Mujeyi, a close adviser, says Makoni's bid has been "a couple of years in preparation." Makoni says he only decided to run last December, after a ruling-party congress rubber-stamped Mugabe's candidacy. "My colleagues were frustrated, they were angry, they were anxious," he says. "Our leadership ... [is] preoccupied with staying in power. We don't look at the suffering."
Not everyone is convinced. Many believe Makoni's bid is part of a plot by Mugabe to keep power in the hands of a small and vested minority, one that will protect him from The Hague. (Makoni says that if he's elected Mugabe would be subject to due process "like any ordinary citizen.") Morgan Tsvangirai, the former labor leader who has led the opposition for nearly a decade, still commands wide support. And Mugabe remains a ruthless opponent. He's approved big pay raises recently for soldiers, teachers and civil servants. And he just amended the electoral law to allow police to enter polling stations and "assist" illiterate voters. Mugabe is widely believed to have rigged elections in 2002 by stuffing voter rolls and intimidating candidates.
That the elections are up for grabs at all speaks to the cracks forming within the ruling party, much as the collapse of the Soviet system began from within. "Makoni is a Gorbachev type of person," says David Coltart, an opposition parliamentarian and supporter. Makoni's advisers say many establishment types can't go public yet out of fear. "Mugabe can't trust his politburo anymore, or his intelligence or his military," says Mujeyi. "We talk to them all the time." One source in Bulawayo, who cannot be named for fear of retribution, reported last week that soldiers were tearing down Mugabe posters near their barracks. Makoni may be their best chance to pull down the big man himself.
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Scott Johnson was named Africa Bureau Chief in April 2007, after serving two years as Baghdad Bureau Chief since the spring of 2004. In the summer of 2007, Johnson co-authored, with Sharon Begley, Newsweek's July cover story "Slaughter in the Jungle," about a spate of rare mountain gorilla killings in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has also been covering, for the magazine and Newsweek's Web site, the economic collapse of Zimbabwe, health initiatives across the continent and the rise of China in Africa.
Prior to coming to Africa, Johnson worked on assignment in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. He was on assignment in Iraq during the invasion and returned several times during 2002 and 2003 to report on the post-invasion occupation. During his two years as Baghdad bureau chief, Johnson covered the rise of Iraq's sectarian war, the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein and the American military's attempt to quell the insurgency in places like Ramadi and Baghdad. He contributed exclusive reporting on the growth of death squads in Baghdad, Iran's growing influence in Iraq and American military and political developments in Baghdad.
Before coming to Iraq, Johnson covered the war in Afghanistan from October 2001 to April 2002, reporting on the fall of the Taliban from the front lines of Kunduz and Taloqan. Later on, Johnson traveled across Afghanistan reporting on the hunt for Al Qaeda and the resurgence of the Taliban as American forces drew down its presence. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, Johnson has done exclusive war reporting, often under fire and in the most dangerous situations. In Iraq, he covered the hunt for Saddam Hussein with exclusive access to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 4th Infantry Division. He also contributed extensive exclusive reporting early in 2003 on the nascent Iraqi insurgency from Fallujah.
In between posts to Baghdad, Johnson was provisionally based in Mexico City from 2002 to 2006. When not covering the war, Johnson reported on political and economic developments across Latin America. In 2002 he authored a Newsweek International cover story on the rise of China in Mexico. In 2004 he received an Overseas Press Club Honorable Mention for "Best Reporting in any Medium on Latin America" for "Latin America Lags Behind," about economic trends across the hemisphere. In Latin America, Johnson also covered violence along the U.S-Mexico border, the creation of Mexico's freedom of information act and an experimental drug treatment center in Peru.
Previously, Johnson reported for Newsweek out of Paris, France, since October 1998. During that time, he has reported on many of the biggest stories to come out of the continent, including Europe's mad cow scare, the backlash against globalization, and Newsweek's military coverage of the Kosovo war out of southern Italy. He has also developed in-depth investigative pieces from Europe, and he contributed heavily to Newsweek's worldwide report on pedophilia and the Internet. He has also covered North Africa, covering terrorism pre-and-post 9/11.
Johnson is a frequent contributor to radio, most recently from Iraq where he has interviewed on NPR, The World and other national stations, and he has been seen on MSNBC, Fox and CNN. In addition to Newsweek, his writing has appeared in Le Courrier International and Letras Libres. Johnson was also part of the Iraq team that contributed to Newsweek's 2003 National Magazine Award.
Johnson is a 1996 graduate of the University of Washington, where he received double degrees in Comparative Literature and Comparative History of Ideas. Postgraduate work included Arabic language and Middle Eastern Studies in Fes, Morocco. He is a member of the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris.
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