Decades of tyranny, war and misrule

Jul 2 2008 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ZIMBABWE, a land-locked country in southern Africa, has long been a place of conflict. In 1834, it became the homeland of the Ndebele people, displaced by the Zulus under the command of Shaka. It was called Matabeleland.

In the 1880s, the British arrived with Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa Company and the name changed to Southern Rhodesia.

By 1965, the white-led government of the day, headed by Ian Smith, wanted to break away from British interference and made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. A civil war ensued, with forces from Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU party and Robert Mugabe’s ZANU party.

The country achieved official independence in 1980, with a government led by Mugabe. In 1988, he became president.

By 2000, old land disputes were threatening to tear the country apart once again and Mugabe began a campaign of land redistribution – taking land from white farmers and giving it to Africans, many of whom didn’t have the skills to manage their new lands.

Mugabe’s supporters, and troops specially trained to perpetrate violence and intimidation, are openly terrorising Zimbabweans. Thousands of Ndebele people have been slaughtered.

The country’s economy has collapsed, causing widespread food shortages. AIDS and HIV are also a massive problem and have devastated an entire generation.

Recent elections in the country have failed to oust Mugabe from power.