Thursday 19 April 2007

Plans To Strip Mugabe Of His Honorary Degree

Twenty three years ago Robert Mugabe was presented with an honorary degree from Edinburgh University for “services to education in Africa”. However, plans are currently in action to strip Mugabe of this privilege.

Robert Mugabe KCB came to power in Zimbabwe in 1980, first as Prime Minister and later as executive President. Now his country is in turmoil. There is a state of hyperinflation, inflation rates have soared from 32% in 1998 to 2200% in March 2007. Only one in five are in full time employment. The average life expectancy is 35 years and most people live in constant fear of Mugabe’s brutal and oppressive regime. A little hypocritical one might think for a country who’s motto is “Unity, Freedom, Work”.

President Mugabe holds several honorary degrees and diplomas from other universities around to world and was also made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II.

I agree with the decision to take away Mugabe’s honorary degree, indeed I think we should strip him of all honours and privileges that have been awarded to him. Not to do so, I think would be an insult to all of the remarkable men and women that these awards were created to acknowledge.

I find it hard to understand why someone doesn’t do something about it? Why don’t the USA, self appointed savours of the world go and stop him? They didn’t think twice about going into Iraq to get rid of Saddam Hussein.

Yes, Saddam was a monster but at least his country experience some sort of stability under him. Now it is experiencing a devastating phase of civil unrest. Zimbabwe, on the other hand is in pieces, it already has devastating civil unrest, and from the position that it is in now things can only get better.

This fact only reinforces the theories that the Americans only went into Iraq for the oil, either that or some kind of personal dispute between Iraq and the Bush family. It also reinforces the fact that none of the western world governments actually care about Africa. Yes, they do meet from time to time to talk about the subject of third world debt and poverty, but at the end of it all nothing really happens.

Again and again this point is shown. One good example is the Rwandan Genocide. The UN sent in a peacekeeping force, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. However, the UN Security Council did not authorize them to intervene or use force to prevent or stop the killing.

When will the powerful intervene and attempt to help the weak? When will Mugabe finally be removed to allow the people of Zimbabwe to get back on their feet? The fact is we will probably never see an end to this sort of thing, it has always existed and it always will, however while we can not prevent the problems we should do what we can to stop them.

No comments: