Mugabe had the opportunity to free the masses of Zimbabwe from the oppressive nature of the colonial system, but he blew it . His decision to follow the neo-colonial path and to turn his back on democratization brought Zimbabwe to its knees. It is my hope that the new Prime Minister not make the same mistake. Free elections as the situation in Zimbabwe has brought to the fore is one part of the solution. The other part is immediate legal land reform that recognizes the historical destruction of cultural system of ownership and production of food. Mugabe's failure is his lack of recognition that land reform should have been the backbone of the process of democratic renewal which began with his election. He turned his back on history and the oppressive nature of history. I hope that his successors learn from that mistake.

cc. In response to the reaction of 33 scholars to the publishing of Mahmood Mamdani’s , seek to ignore or discredit the considerable research of Sam Moyo on the land question, Johnson stresses that ‘deep thinking’ requires an actual engagement with the scholarship of informed individuals in place of mere dismissals and allegations of Mugabe ‘cronyism’.

cc. After a decade of political polarisation and international stand-off, the debate on Zimbabwe has finally been opened up to a wider reading public, thanks to Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Lessons of Zimbabwe’ appearing in the London Review of Books (4 December 2008) and [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

NOTES

For letters in response to Mahmood Mamdani (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n23/mamd01_.html), see Terence Ranger, Gavin Kitching, Patrick Bond,

On the politics of the land reform and the character of the state, see Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2005), ‘Land Occupations and Land Reform in Zimbabwe’, op. cit.; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007a), ‘The Radicalised State: Zimbabwe’s Interrupted Revolution’, Review of African Political Economy, 111; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007b), ‘The Zimbabwe Question and the Two Lefts’, Historical Materialism, vol. 14, no. 4; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (forthcoming, a), ‘After Zimbabwe: State, Nation and Region in Africa’, in The National Question Today: The Crisis of Sovereignty in Africa, Asia and Latin America, edited by S. Moyo, P. Yeros & J. Vadell; Wilbert Sadomba (2008), War Veterans in Zimbabwe’s Land Occupations, op. cit.; Amanda Hammar & Brian Raftopoulos (2003), ‘Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation’, in Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, edited by A. Hammar, B. Raftopoulos & S. Jensen, Harare: Weaver Press.

On the international politics of the Zimbabwe question, see Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (forthcoming, b), ‘Delinking in Crisis: The Resurgence of Radical Nationalism in the South Atlantic’; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007b), ‘The Zimbabwe Question and the Two Lefts’, op. cit.; Gregory Elich, ‘Zimbabwe Under Siege’, Swans Commentary, and Stephen Gowans (2008), ‘Cynicism as a Substitute for Scholarship’, http://gowans.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/cynicism-as-a-substitute-for-scholarship/

On the economic recovery, see UNDP (2008), Comprehensive Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe: A Discussion Document, Harare; Sarah Bracking & Lionel Cliffe (2008), Plans for a Zimbabwe Aid Package: Blueprint for Recovery or Shock Therapy Prescription for Liberalisation?, mimeo.; M. Lupey (2008), A Four Step Recovery Plan for Zimbabwe, CATO,

As the gap between the fierce political rivalries of Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) narrows, there are fears that the independent media will be squeezed even more. In the past decade, while Zimbabwe lurched from one political crisis to another and the economy went into freefall, the independent media were lambasted by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government for their often critical views, and subjected to increasingly repressive media laws.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is due to sign into law a constitutional amendment allowing his rival Morgan Tsvangirai to become prime minister. It paves the way for the men to share power, as agreed last September. Meanwhile, a judge has dismissed treason charges against a key opposition MDC figure, removing another obstacle to forming a unity government.

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