What does Zimbabwe’s election mean; from North America?

[Olu Abejide]

As the whole world reviews with bated breath on the results of the 31st of July Zimbabwe national elections, within Canada the common question being asked by non-Zimbabweans is whether this was finally President Mugabe’s final curtain call.
Due to the lack of unbiased balanced information coming out in the public sphere, the general prism that Canadians view Zimbabwe politics is simply as a battle between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe, wherein Morgan Tsvangirai is seen as morally good and Robert Mugabe is seen as being morally bad. This simple distillation of Zimbabwe’s domestic geopolitics has resulted in a lot of information being disregarded in the media and within the larger international community.
Another strange phenomenon that is noticeable, within Canada is the context in which Zimbabwean politics; is viewed from a non-Zimbabwean perspective. African and Caribbean Canadians have latent sympathies for Robert Mugabe identifying him with Kwame Nkurumah, Rastafari and Pan-Africanism , whilst on the other hand Anglo-Saxon and European Canadians generally support Morgan Tsvangirai because they view Mugabe as a dictator who suppresses his own people. Very few individuals within these two camps; really understand the complex dynamics that are involved within Zimbabwe and what the generally ambivalent populace really want. Read More