An audio compilation of Robert Mugabe addressing rallies from 1980 - 2004

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ZIMBABWE SPEAKS

Zimbabwe has for almost three decades been tied to President Robert Mugabe, the pro-independence campaigner who wrestled control from a small white community and became the country's first black leader.

#ZimbabweSpeaks

Al Jazeera, through our partner Kubatana asked thousands of ordinary Zimbabwean citizens the following questions about the July 31 elections:

1

If you could ask your councillor, MP, presidential candidate One question, what would it be?

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  • “What is work that you still feel you have to do?”
  • “ Would you want to lead a nation that did not vote you into office?”
  • “ Why do you want my vote?”
  • “ Where are you leading me?”
  • “ Who and what are you fighting for?”
  • “ If you had not been in public office for the past many years, do you think you would have accumulated so much wealth? Please explain how?”
  • “ If elected, what is it that you intend to achieve for the electorate?”
  • “ Why did you fail to attend primary election petitions to try and keep your supporters together, and are you aware that most of the rigging was with the assistance of officials at Harvest House, to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.”
  • “ What do you promise to do that will uplift the standard of life for Zimbabweans?”
  • “ What changes for the better will you bring this time around?”
  • “ How are you going to ensure that ordinary Zimbabweans are free to express their views without fear of reprisal?”
  • “ Where were you for your most recent tenure, as they are now resurfacing from nowhere for support for yet another term?”
  • “ What strategy do you have to decrease unemployment in the country?”
  • “ When do you plan to introduce our Zimbabwean dollar?”
  • “ Why do police call out the names of their preffered candidates when they a voting? Why they take so long to vote? And who will guard the guard?”
  • “What are you going to do about police corruption on the roads?”
  • “What will you aim to do that has not been done in the last 33 years?”
  • “How would you improve our area?”
  • “What do you intend to do for the electorate when elected which will change lives of the people?”
  • “What makes you think you are a suitable candidate for the post?”
  • “How many years in office do you need to stay in office to accomplish your promises?”
  • “Where are the proceeds from diamond mining, how come we are this poor with all these diamond resources?”
  • “How will you deal with this level of corruption if I vote for you?”
  • “What will you do with garbage situation?”
  • “How are you going to deal with the infrastructure decay and the bad roads?”
  • “How are you going to boost the economy for the long-term while you are in office?”
  • “How do you intend to create employment in the country?”
  • “What notable development have you done for our community that warrants you to seek my vote in the coming election?”
  • “I was supposed to cast my special vote yesterday but ZEC told me and many other teachers that our forms had not yet arrived. What shall we do?”
  • “Why you see yourself as a good candidate to be a president?”
  • “Are you not corrupt?”
  • “ What strategy do you have to decrease unemployment in the country?”
  • “ When do you plan to introduce our Zimbabwean dollar?”
  • “ Why do police call out the names of their preffered candidates when they a voting? Why they take so long to vote? And who will guard the guard?”
  • “ Where were you for your most recent tenure, as they are now resurfacing from nowhere for support for yet another term?”
  • “ What strategy do you have to decrease unemployment in the country?”
  • “ When do you plan to introduce our Zimbabwean dollar?”
  • “ Why do police call out the names of their preffered candidates when they a voting? Why they take so long to vote? And who will guard the guard?”
  • “Just what are you going to do on the issue of unemployment and the education policy?”
  • “Is change imminent? ”
  • “Why is it that the minister of mines became so rich after he attained that job?”
  • “What do you intend to do for your constituency in your first 100 days in office?”
  • “Are we going to have decent salaries which will allow us to own our personal accommodation in Harare, a salary that will allow us not to just survive but to live?”
  • “Why has HCC never organised street cleaners to attend to the terrible state of our town with litter? And will they ever try to educate by advertising not to throw rubbish from taxis and cars? ”
  • “What motivates you sir? Service to the nation or to yourself?”
  • “How much do you expect as salary given the state of revenue inflows?”
  • “ What do you want to do for Zimbabwe now that you failed to do in the past 33 years?”
  • “ Where did you put the $50,000 for constituency development allocated for Mskavanhu?”
  • “ I would ask why is it that junior civil servants are being paid more than their seniors. What criteria is being used?”
  • “ What contribution are you going to make to revitalise the economy?”
  • “ What are you going to do which is different from those who occupied the offices before?”
  • “ Justify why you deserve my vote looking at your history, achievements and failures?”
  • “ Why do you think I should vote for you?”

2

Robert Mugabe has received a lot of praise and a lot of criticism. Does Zimbabwe still need him?

Below are some of these responses:

  • “ Zimbabwe no longer wants him ”
  • “ No, Zimbabwe does not need him anymore, why do we need a 90 year old man to rule this country?”
  • “ He's looking only for votes. Mugabe is a liar he pretends to love the masses. The whole country is sick and tired of him. ”
  • “ Mugabe is the father of Zimbabwe so we need him.”
  • “ Zimbabwe is fed up by this guerilla leader.”
  • “ We need him even if he fails to become president: he is our elder. A house without the elderly is dead. He also needs Zimbabwe: it's his motherland just like it is ours.”
  • “ Mugabe is old now and I don't think we need him because the people are saying he must go.”
  • “ Robert has done his job. It is now the right time for him to hang up his boots. We need someone who is fresh and young.”
  • “ We've had the president for three decades. The country needs some fresh ideas.”
  • “ No, he just needed Zimbabwe for his benefit and not for the benefit of the people.”
  • “ Not at his age, hell no.”
  • “ He is no longer relevant, he cannot put food on the table, we need investment, job security, etc.”
  • “ The people of Zimbabwe are no longer interested in him. He is no longer interested in the people and he thinks only about his own life.”
  • “ I don't think so. Most people are only pretending that we still need him but that's not true.”
  • “ God forbid! Zimbabwe is tired of him, we no longer want him as our leader. Thirty-three years of dictatorship is not a joke!”
  • “ I don't like him because he tells lies. We are suffering in Zimbabwe.”
  • “ I think he should rest considering his age, he should give other the chance to give their best to the nation.”
  • “ No, he is evil and wants to die on the job.”
  • “ Yes, Zimbabwe still needs Mugabe, but now in a different post. He has done a lot and we cannot forget all that he has done. It is now time to pass the baton. My wish is for him to become a government advisor.”
  • “ 95% of the people of Zimbabwe need Mugabe because he has managed to bring peace, health and education.”
  • “ The people don't need Mugabe, he misled Zimbabwe.”

3

Do you believe that the Government of National Unity (GNU) delivered on its promises?

Below are some of these responses:

  • “ No, they have poor ministers of finance, education and energy.”
  • “ They failed, violence is still present, and the employment question is unanswered.”
  • “ I don't think that the inclusive government has lived up to its promises, especially for the welfare of its citizens.”
  • “ They managed to bring economic stability, better health and education but they offered empty promises to the civil service.”
  • “ Yes, but some things were not fixed. They did not change the rule of law, MDC activists are still getting arrested, there have been no increases in investments in the country for more employment and food is still expensive.”
  • “ No, because the coalition government has been characterized as a field of contestation. We need jobs but where are they?”
  • “ No, industry hasn't improved, and all members were self-centered.”
  • “ No! The government hasn't delivered at all. Unemployment, corruption, hopelessness, and poverty have been the result. Please not another coalition!”
  • “ The best government since 1980, given the frightening economic collapse. The answer is a big yes.”
  • “ The coalition did its best bearing in mind the differences in ideology between the parties, more so because the crisis of 2008 was like death, and we rose from it.”
  • “ The inclusive government succeeded in crafting a new constitution which is the foundation of any state.
  • “ The coalition government delivered greatly. Many people bought cars and built houses.
  • “ The introduction of multicurrency, the resumption of the Tokwe Mukosi Dam construction and the improvements in the Bulawayo-Harare highway were all successes.”
  • “ No, the coalition principles were at a tug of war for the past four years, worsening development.”
  • “ There were too many disagreements because no one wanted the other to be praised by the masses.”
  • “ It failed absolutely.

Kubatana is an online media community that uses social media and SMS messaging to improve the accessibility of human rights and civic information in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe's decades in power.

Al Jazeera's Azad Essa spoke to dozens of Zimbabweans about their memories of President Mugabe's leadership. These audio bytes together with an associated timeline are presented below:

1980-91

Independence and After

April 1980

ZANU-PF party wins elections after independence. Robert Mugabe takes office as Prime Minister.

Thinking about Zimbabwe in the 80s

Al Jazeera talks to Gracious Ml, 41, who works with the physically challenged in Harare.

February 1982

Zimbabwe's government accused Joshua Nkomo, founder of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union, an opposition party in government coalition with ZANU-PF, of staging a coup. Nkomo is thrown out from the cabinet and leaves the country amid bloody violence.

Zimbabwe: Our lives were better 30 years ago

Al Jazeera talks to Lovemore S, 65, a retired civil servant in Harare.

December 1987

The constitution is reformed, Mugabe becomes president, and the prime minister's office is abolished

Mugabe Should Have Stepped Down Years Ago

Al Jazeera talks to a media lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe

April 1991

Zimbabwe officially becomes a republic.

1992-99

Zimbabwe Economic Crisis

February-December 1992

A severe drought heavily affects food stores throughout the country. Agricultural production decreases by 24 percent.

Zimbabwe needs a dramatic change

Al Jazeera talks to Emmerson Sibanda, 57, General Secretary of Zimbabwe Tobacco Workers Union.

1992

The Land Acquisition Act is implemented. It limits the size of farms and institutes a land tax (although the tax was never enforced).

1993

Mugabe calls gay people "worse than dogs and pigs".

1991-1996

Robert Mugabe implements the World Bank's Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP), causing accelerated hyperinflation. Beginning in 1992.

April 1995

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party wins 98 percent of seats in parliament (63 of 65).

August 1995

235,000 government workers go on strike, winning wage increases and the right to unionise.

1996

Mugabe wins, unopposed, for another six-year term as Zimbabwe's leader.

1997

Nearly 25 percent of the population has HIV/AIDS.

May 1997

The government unilaterally bans anti-personnel mines

December 1997

Mugabe signs the Mine Ban Treaty.

1998

Mugabe sends troops into the Democratic Republic of Congo to support Kabila's government in the Second Congo War, which involved nine African nations and dozens of armed groups. Ten years later, more than five million people had died in the war - the bloodiest since World War II.

September 1999

The government spends one million US dollars a day in the DRC, and with mounting costs and casualties, the military decision proves deeply unpopular among both troops and civilians.

Zimbabwe headed for education crisis

Ex-teacher compares Zimbabwean education system today to the past.

September 1999

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions creates the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

2000-02

Farm Seizures

June 2000

ZANU-PF's slogan for the general election is "Land is the Economy and the Economy is Land"

We left Zimbabwe because of the crisis

Al Jazeera talks to James Mapanga, 21 year old student living in Pretoria, but back in Harare for now.

July 2000

Fast track land reform begins - the goal being to take ownership of 3,000 farms for redistribution among poor farmers.

February 2001

2,706 farms are listed for compulsory acquisition.

October 2001

The government's list now extends to 4,558 farms - nearly nine million hectares of land in a country with a total area of 39 million hectares.

December 2001

Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, runs out of maize.

January 2002

Zimbabwe's inflation is at 116 percent, unemployment is at 60 percent.

July 2002

Zimbabwe becomes a food-deficit country; six million people face starvation.

September 2002

300 white farmers refuse to vacate their land to make way for black settlers. They are all arrested.

November 2002

The state-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB) tightens its grip on food supplies. ZANU-PF rewards supporters with food, and cuts off food supplies to opposition-held districts.

December 2002

Government officials claim that nearly 10 million hectares had been made available to "new farmers".

December 2002

Zimbabwe has a $660m foreign currency deficit.

2002-05

Food Shortages

January 2003

More than 7.2 million people (of a total population of around 12 million) are now facing starvation.

The 2000's was a hard time to live.

Al Jazeera speaks to Sharon Shaya, 42, a vendor in Harare. (translation follows at 0:36)

April 2003

Aid groups are unsure about Zimbabwe's food security.

July 2003

Mugabe raises his salary by 1,000 percent. Officially, he now receives around $35,000 a year.

August 2003

A new 25-bedroom palace is constructed for Mugabe at huge expense.

January 2004

Mugabe eyes foreign-owned farms. The GMB looks to seize South African-owned farms.

July 2005

Uganda calls Mugabe "another Idi Amin". Uganda's state-run newspaper goes on to say: "Mugabe's government is subjecting its own poor citizens to extreme suffering, with unplanned slum demolitions."

November 2005

Food production slumps by 60 percent, a downturn widely attributed to the seizing and redistribution of farms.

2006-07

Galloping inflation

May 2006

Due to poor management of the country's agricultural economy and corruption, Zimbabwe's inflation jumps 1,000 percent - the highest in the world.

October 2006

The market reacts to Zimbabwe's dire situation, valuing Z$250 to one USD.

May 2007

Inflation is at 11,730 percent, where Z$3,000 buys just one USD.

December 2007

Inflation is at 24,000 percent. The country's bank is printing Z$250,000, Z$500,000, and Z$750,000 bills.

2008-10

Election Crisis

June 2008

Runoff results: 42 percent turnout; Robert Mugabe wins by more than 80 percent.

Zimbabwe's independence favoured few

Al Jazeera talks to Lovemore S, 65, a retired civil servant, in Harare.

March 2009

ZANU-PF is broke and desperate for funds.

April 2010

Zimbabwe celebrates its 30 year anniversary.

2012-13

Run up to elections

August 2012

ZANU-PF threaten immediate elections if MDC stalls over draft constitution.

Life improved in Zimbabwe after 2009

Al Jazeera talks to Thokozile Mukanda, 40, a vendor in Harare.

January 2013

The new constitution allows Mugabe to rule for another 10 years.

March 2013

Mugabe plays a role in choosing ZANU-PF candidates for party elections.

May 2013

ZANU-PF gives food to its supporters in the run-up to elections.

June 2013

ZANU-PF primaries leave party in disarray, with losing candidates contemplating runs as independents.