It is Past Time for Zimbabwe's Mugabe to Go

Twenty-eight years of rule by Robert Mugabe have brought the southern African nation of Zimbabwe to its knees. As he sits in his huge new Chinese-built mansion in the northern part of the capital city of Harare or is chauffeured around in his bomb-proof Mercedes, Mugabe refuses to hear his people's cries.

Hyperinflation caused by his economic policies has pushed most workers out of their jobs because their paychecks are nearly worthless. As government workers have left their jobs, public institutions, except for the military and the police, have virtually shut down. His agricultural policies have turned what once was the region's breadbasket into a nation of starving people. A United Nations report found that the proportion of people who had eaten nothing the previous day had risen to 12 percent from zero, while those who had consumed only one meal had skyrocketed to 60 percent from 13 percent last year. An estimated 5.5 million of the nation's 11.4 million need food aid.

Now, a cholera epidemic is sweeping the nation. More than 1,100 people have died, and 24,000 others have been stricken since August. Because hospitals have shut down, there really is no way to halt the epidemic. The Red Cross has issued an appeal for more than $9 million to pay for doctors, medical supplies and sanitation facilities.

Years of pressure have brought few concessions from Mugabe. He holds on to power through a patronage system that keeps his top lieutenants wealthy and powerful.

The United States and the European Union have imposed strict sanctions on Mugabe and his close followers, but the sanctions have had little effect on the small group.

The people of Zimbabwe became so fed up with Mugabe's rule that they voted him out of office in March elections, preferring the opposition Movement for Democratic change led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe, however, refused to recognize the results of the election, and called for a runoff, which, to no one's surprise, the 84-year-old despot won.

International pressure forced a reluctant South African President Thabo Mbeki to mediate a power-sharing agreement between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, which Mugabe refuses to live up to.

It is time for something more.

Earlier this week, Jendaya Frazier, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, rightly withdrew Washington's support for the power-sharing agreement. The European Union later announced it would do so as well.

On Wednesday, after respected Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko was hauled into court on trumped up treason charges, South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu said at least the threat of force should be used by Zimbabwe's neighbors to remove Mugabe from office.

Those neighboring nations — including South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana — can and should exert financial and diplomatic pressure on Mugabe and his ruling clique to make holding on to power as uncomfortable as possible. Short of an invasion, which is unrealistic, that pressure is the only thing that likely would help the desperate people of Zimbabwe.

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