Dear Editor,
I refer to the discussion led by Ramprakash entitled ‘Guyanese should be wary of Western vilification of ‘Third World’ leaders’ (SN, 8.5.08). According to Mr Ramprakash, the disaster in Zimbabwe and other African countries now is a result of the colonial system. The same thought is shared by Frank Fyffe (‘Zimbabwe’s problems stem largely from a ruthless colonial legacy’ SN, 22.5.08) who parrots what Ramprakash states, without offering any meaningful arguments to support this warped view. Mr Ramprakash claims that “nobody knows enough of the current events in Zimbabwe either to pile all the blame on Mugabe or to exonerate him completely.” This is only true if one decides to ignore the evidence about the collapse of Zimbabwe. I intend to highlight five disasters in Zimbabwe for which Mugabe could be held responsible in the last twenty-eight years.