Zimbabwe

Memorandum on Zimbabwe

To: President Trump

From: Nate Pappas

Date: April 2, 2018

RE: Zimbabwe Elections

Introduction

After 37 years of being president of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe resigned effective immediately. The man who has taken his place, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was always viewed as Mugabe's right-hand man is gearing up to become the president after a sponsored election. However, many are skeptical that these elections will be fair, and realizing that the west is weary of this, Mnangagwa invited many NGO's and governments to come and watch that these elections will, in fact, be fair and democratic. Despite this, many are calling for the US to get involved with the oversight, however, it is in this countries' best interest to have no stake in this oversight, and let the UN deal with it, if it absolutely has to.

Zimbabwe’s History

Robert Mugabe came to power as prime minister in 1980 and has remained in power until his resignation last year. He was a man who promised equality between whites and blacks in the region, however, he did not adhere to this promise and became authoritarian. In 1982 the US gave a 25-million-dollar aid bill to Zimbabwe, and the UK financed many farm and land operations. But, he began to turn the country into a socialist society and began repressing the population. In addition to this, whites, representing a small minority, were essentially run out of the country due to mob beatings and other abuses. Any protests to any of his policies would lead to harsh repression by police and military, often resulting in severe beatings, while political opponents were essentially ousted from the country.

Zimbabwe Today

Emmerson Mnangagwa served as Mugabe's vice president until he was abruptly fired in 2017, which almost lead to a full-blown military coup. Mugabe then resigned as a result and Mnangagwa took over control, and is planning on running for the presidency. In the last 4 years, Zimbabwe's population grew at roughly 33%, with this, it's HDI is incredibly low and at 154^th in the world. Despite being a country with great natural resources, GDP has been growing at an incredibly slow rate. However, they have the highest adult literacy rate in the continent, with some adequate schooling. Healthcare has been improving, the rate of AIDS/HIV is down from 40% to just over 12% in the last ten years. Conditions are ripe for the country to go under significant industrialization.

The United States’ Stance

The United States has been sanctioning this country for the human rights abuses for years, however, with the elections slated for later this year, this should change. If the UN does observe and see the elections are fair, then the US should seek to lower the sanctions as a result. However, Mnangagwa becomes authoritarian, then the restrictions and sanctions should be put back into place immediately. This would try to limit animosity between the nations, and help build relations back up to appropriate levels. With a young and relatively educated populace, the US should leave a good impression by supporting the country post elections if they are in fact fair. Having another beneficial relationship with another developing nation could also benefit the US economically as well, by allowing trade and commerce to commence between the nations. It would be in the best interest of the United States to remain out of the oversight and let the Commonwealth, and UN oversee the elections to make sure they are democratic, but to then begin the diplomatic discourse with the nation after the results and findings.