Enough Is Enough In Zimbabwe

Anderson Cooper

It is hard to watch what is happening in Zimbabwe.

Sickening to see thugs armed with steel clubs beating people whose only crime is to want a fair election.

For years Robert Mugabe has sent out his henchmen to intimidate his own people. For years he has run Zimbabwe into the ground. Enough is enough.

This used to be one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. I first went there in 1985, when I was seventeen and driving across southern Africa in a truck. I was there again in 1992 when I was working in Africa as a reporter.

It is a beautiful country, and the people deserve better than this. Robert Mugabe helped bring independence to Zimbabwe, but he makes the mistake all tyrants do. He believes he is indispensable, he believes he has a right to rule. He has been president for nearly 30 years. Enough is enough. The people have a right to replace him…

“They can shout as loud as they like from Washington or from London or from any other quarter,” Mugabe said recently, “our people, our people, only our people will decide, and nobody else.” The truth is, the people there have already decided.

Mugabe came in second in March when his countrymen went to the polls. Now there is a run-off election and he is doing all he can to make sure he doesn’t lose again. While the world seems to be waking up to what is happening there, little it seems is going to be done about it.
The United Nations Security Council has finally condemned the violence, but their outrage is not backed up by the threat of force. South Africa’s president and the leaders of other African countries have repeatedly turned a blind eye to Mugabe’s tactics, and without greater involvement from them, it’s unlikely much pressure will be brought to bear.

We sit and we watch, that’s all it seems we’re able to do.