Some might go so far as to make off-colour jokes and relish the decline of the octogenarian autocrat.

NEWS that Robert Mugabe has suffered a health setback is unlikely to stir anxiety in Zimbabwe. He has ruined many lives, destroyed a country and severely damaged the regional economy.

But treating Mugabe’s misfortune with remarks in poor taste is not the appropriate response.

It is more important that we once more pay attention to the future of Zimbabwe, a future on which a substantial piece of this region’s fortunes rests.

Mugabe might soon have to vacate the Zimbabwean stage, but if he does, what will he leave behind?

A thriving democracy? A country on the road to economic recovery?

Or will his legacy be a land that still does not have a functioning democracy and that has a devastated rural economy?

The government of national unity in which Mugabe shares power with opposition Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai notwithstanding, it is the latter scenario that is more likely.

There are few signs that Zimbabwe is embracing democracy following the failed presidential elections of last year, in which there was no clear winner.

Without democracy and the proper oversight of the executive by independent institutions, Zimbabwe is likely to continue as a feudal empire.

As long as power is negotiated and passed around among the elite, instead of drawing its strength from the well of democracy, Zimbabwe will fail to win investment and the goodwill of democratic states that could help resuscitate its economy.

Mugabe might or might not leave the stage, but his country will remain in peril.

Source: Editorial

By The Times (SA)

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