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Mugabe offers to step down after election win
Michael Gwaridzo, The Sunday Times (UK)
July 22, 2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/22/wzim222.xml

President Robert Mugabe has promised Zimbabwean army chiefs that he will step down after next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Mugabe, 83, who has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence 27 years ago, is said to have made the promise at a meeting with senior military officers two weeks ago, during which he appealed for their help in securing a victory for his ruling Zanu PF party.

With his country facing unprecedented economic turmoil, Mugabe is facing intense pressure to step down, both from within his own party and from the heads of the intelligence services and armed forces.

He was warned by his intelligence chief, Happyton Bonyongwe, in May that if he stood for president again he would lose, because voters were suffering as a result of Zimbabwe's economic crisis.

A senior army source said: "Mugabe told army chiefs that he is going to leave office next year and requires the help of the army to secure victory. The president said next year's election was a do-or-die poll, and Zimbabwe needs to win the election to shame what he called 'Western governments bent on re-occupying us'."

Observers believe Mugabe wants to win the election in order to preserve his dignity, but may then seek to pass the country's leadership to a favoured successor. However, he still faces what in a functioning democracy would be the insurmountable task of securing the votes needed to win.

Last month, in a bid to quell dismay at the hyperinflation that has led to shops raising their prices several times a day, Mugabe ordered the police and army to enforce Operation Reduced Prices, under which businesses were told to cut prices by 50 per cent.

But his attempt at populism backfired as traders were compelled to sell goods at less than cost price. Hundreds who failed to comply were arrested and fined. The edict made it economically unviable to sell many goods and, after a wave of panic buying, basic commodities disappeared from the shelves.

Last week came signs the government had embarked on a partial backdown when the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported that an official task force on price monitoring and stabilisation had agreed to a 400 per cent increase in the price of cooking oil. A 750ml bottle of cooking oil had been priced at 22,000 Zimbabwean dollars (7p), and the product had become almost impossible to obtain.

According to South Africa's SABC News, the government has also agreed to talks with manufacturers to discuss prices that will be acceptable to both sides. The move marks a considerable shift in the government's position. Earlier in the week vice-president Joseph Msika was quoted as saying the government was "at war" with business.

Meanwhile, however, shortages of food and fuel are expected to worsen after the government announced a crackdown on food imports from South Africa. From August 1, permits will be required for anyone importing groceries worth more than $200. The government has also banned the use of fuel coupons.

Conditions inside the country are now so bad that even middle-class Zimbabweans have been forced into desperate measures to survive. Nancy Chaguma, a qualified chartered accountant in her twenties, told The Sunday Telegraph that she has been forced to turn to prostitution to provide for herself and her brothers and sisters.

"The economic situation is Zimbabwe is so dire," said Miss Chaguma. "And one has to be enterprising to survive. I didn't become a prostitute by design and I know the risks of the profession. Although I insist on using protection every time, I consider myself dead already, because Mugabe has turned us into scavengers in a land that was once of milk and honey."

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