Mugabe stepping down?

Robert Mugabe has turned the once thriving nation of Zimbabwe, a nation that was nicknamed the “breadbasket of Africa”, into a dysfunctional klepto-oligarchy, run by looters of the national treasury, and dependant on international food aid.

Today, a third of the population depends on imported food handouts. Another third has fled the country as economic and political refugees and 80 percent is jobless. Life expectancy has fallen from 60 to 35 years and shortages of food, medicine, water, electricity and fuel are chronic.

It really is a stunning example of government corruption, criminal mismanagement, and proof that unchecked power is the surest route to ruin. Indeed, Mugabe has become so unpopular that he can no longer credibly steal an election and as such, his day of reckoning may be nigh.

A person close to the Electoral Commission told the AP that Mugabe has been informed he is far behind Tsvangirai in preliminary election results, and that there could be an uprising if Mugabe were declared the winner. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said aides to both men were discussing Mugabe’s ceding power.

Here is to hoping that Mugabe does right by his nation and, at long last, takes leave of office. It will take decades to undo the damage he has wrought and there is no time like the present to begin. New political leadership must be the first step.