Yesterday was the 26th anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence, but few are celebrating because Robert Mugabe has been in power since day one.  Christina Lamb, foreign affairs correspondent for The Times of London, reminds us that Mr Mugabe sounded much different on Independence Day than he does today.

Back on Independence Day, he spoke in such conciliatory terms that “he out Mandela-ed Mandela” as one friend put it. “If yesterday I fought you as an enemy today you have become a friend”, he reassured black and white, Shona and Ndebele, adding that he would “draw a line through the past” to achieve reconciliation.

He’s a textbook example of Lord Acton’s famous aphorism: “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Ms Lamb lists some statistics illustrating the abysmal condition to which life in Zimbabwe has descended.  For example, Zimbabwe has the world’s lowest life expectancy (34 for women) and the world’s highest inflation rate at 1100%.  Twenty-six years ago, the Zimbabwean dollar was worth over a pound; today, it is worth less than three one-thousandths of a penny.

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