The Invisible Lion In The Heart of Africa

6 min readJan 4, 2021

Once the breadbasket of Africa… how to strip away a prospering country

Nearly fifty-five years ago on this day, the Republic of Rhodesia declared independence from the British Crown. Rhodesia’s Prime Minister, Ian Smith, became the first and only white colonial leader of Rhodesia. The Republic of Rhodesia lived an extremely short life, which was viewed by the United Nations as complete outcasts. They however lived existence for about fifteen years, before promptly dying. Smith looked upon himself as a preacher of Cecil Rhodes’ beliefs. Cecil Rhodes, the British mining magnate, an imperialist, and a successful businessman, gave Rhodesia its name. Rhodes had long thought about the dream and desire of building a railway across the entire continent of Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town without ever leaving British territory. Of what he once said, “Why should we not form a secret society with but one object, the furtherance of the British Empire and the bringing of the whole world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire?”

In 1965, Rhodesia was the home for around 200,000 whites, mainly from European descendants, and four million blacks. Prime Minister Ian Smith shared a variety of Rhodes beliefs in colonization and government ideals, which include a white-majority rule in Rhodesia stating, “ I don’t believe in black majority rule ever in Rhodesia — not in a thousand years. I repeat that I believe in blacks and whites working together. If one day it is white and the next day it is black, I believe we have failed and it will be a disaster for Rhodesia.”

Smith was wrong.

After the Rhodesian Bush War ended, which claimed around thirty-thousand lives, the Lancaster House Agreement led to a change in the government in which Black-Africans were included in the leading government positions for the first time. Under the agreement, Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, and the first general political election was held the following year in 1979 on April 24th. Abel Muzorewa, who signed the Internal Settlement alongside his fellow African Nationalist, becomes the first Prime-Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, ending the white-majority rule in Rhodesia.

The sanctions that were placed on Rhodesia by the international community and the responsibility of the creation of the UDI was not Smith’s fault alone. The blame must be shared along with Britain and the commonwealth for the disengagement of Britain’s African colonies, leaving them vulnerable to fall. Despite that, Rhodesia was a prosperous country, not fairly treated by other countries who followed particularly the communist path of government. Rhodesia held great promises for a future, many people flocked to Rhodesia from Great Britain and neighboring African countries. Again, the UDI of Rhodesia ( the Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence) was rather the downfall of Rhodesia, which resulted in many sanctions that were placed on them by all besides South Africa and Portugal. This resulted in the best of Rhodesia. This forced Rhodesia to survive, they began manufacturing their own vehicles, trains, weapons, and other essential tools and products for a modern first-world country. The Rhodesian State created the best education opportunities for white-Africans and black-Africans, with at the time the literacy rate was nearly eighty-nine percent. There was mass employment for all Africans living in Rhodesia and most people lived happily in comfort rather than in modern-day Zimbabwe. Rhodesian houses Victoria Falls one of the natural seven wonders of the world, and then clean-gushing Zambezi River. “The breadbasket of Africa.” As Rhodesia was once called.

As things rise they must fall.

In April of 1980, the shadow of Robert Mugabe entered Zimbabwe, which would last nearly forty years. But in the ’70s Mugabe led ZANLA Guerrillas against white Rhodesian bush-fighters during the Rhodesian Bush War. Mugabe who was labeled by Prime Minister Smith as a “Marxist terrorist” and was imprisoned for more than a decade in Rhodesia. But for the people of Zimbabwe… Mugabe was looked at as hope for the future of the newly formed country.

But in time, Mugabe changed from a liberator to a bloody dictator slaughtering any of his political opponents. Mugabe began taking “revenge on the white Zimbabweans” by arresting white farmers and evicting them from their land. By the beginning of the 21st Century, Zimbabwe was hanging by its neck over a cliff of economic crisis. Riots began taking place over food shortages in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, and Gweru. Widespread strikes took place on the streets often turning violent, inflation began at rates of over one-thousand percent. And who did Robert Mugabe blame for these issues? Past white colonial rulers. Mugabe’s distrust began again when sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, he turned on then Great Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying… “Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe.”

But for Mugabe, destroying a whole prosperous, bright nation, became second-nature to him. Because during his nearly four-decade-long position of power he committed virtually every single human violation there is on this planet. Under Mugabe’s powerhouse, hundreds upon hundreds of white farmers were evicted from their farms, sometimes in a forceful violent way, ending sometimes in an innocent farmer’s death. The land was handed over to black-farmers of whom the majority had no agricultural backgrounds and in many cases, the land became neglected and unproductive. Leading to less food in Zimbabwe. On paper, Mugabe’s idea seemed alright to his supporters, but putting it into action was the issue. In the early 2000s, Robert Mugabe gave the yes to many of his parliamentary supporters which included the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association ( ZNLWVA), to march on white-owned farms in rural Zimbabwe, seizing some twenty-three million acres of land without compensation to the farmers. To make matters worse, this land reform was the total food production in ZImbabwe fell an alarming sixty-percent in just one decade. These farm seizures sent a rippling wave of issues throughout the country’s economy. Many food processing plants and factories were forced to shut down, nearly eight-hundred companies had to close their doors by the end of 2001, and foreign agricultural exports halted. To nobody’s surprise, the export earnings imploded, resulting in nationwide shortages of imported goods like food, cars, and clothing.

Looking back into the history books, countless countries have seen a fall of grace. But for Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, it has truly had a fall from grace. Of what Mugabe once said… “ let me keep my Zimbabwe.” As for most kids who play with toys, they will eventually wear out. For Mugabe… he played with Zimbabwe too long, going to the point where the chances of repairment are impossible.

Notes:

Thomas, Neil H. “Land Reform in Zimbabwe.” Third World Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 4, 2003, pp. 691–712, www.jstor.org/stable/3993432?seq=1. Accessed 11 Nov. 2019.
‌Kairiza, Terrence. Unbundling Zimbabwe’s Journey to Hyperinflation and Official Dollarization.
Justin, Parkison. “Why Is Cecil Rhodes Such a Controversial Figure?” BBC News, 1 Apr. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32131829#:~:text=His%20famous%20desire%20was%20to. Accessed 25 Dec. 2020. “Why should we not form a secret society with but one object, the furtherance of the British Empire and the bringing of the whole world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire?”
‌Peter, Godwin. “Peter Godwin: If Only Ian Smith Had Shown Some Imagination, Then More of His People Might Live at Peace.” The Guardian, 25 Nov. 2007, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/nov/25/comment.zimbabwe. Accessed 25 Dec. 2020. “ I don’t believe in black majority rule ever in Rhodesia — not in a thousand years. I repeat that I believe in blacks and whites working together. If one day it is white and the next day it is black, I believe we have failed and it will be a disaster for Rhodesia.”.

*Originally Published on November 11th, 2019 by TBP Press- Written by Alex T. Wolf*

(Revised August 8th, 2020- Republished on Medium.com on January 3rd, 2021)

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