By any of the normal indices by which one judges the success of a leader of a modern nation state, he is a failure, and an abject failure at that. Yet still, after 28 years of disastrous rule, he remains at the helm and, incredibly, at the age of 84 he is putting himself forward again as a candidate - ZANU PF's only official candidate - for a further term as President of Zimbabwe. Such is the overwhelming arrogance of the man, Robert Mugabe. And that, with such a record of shame, he should have even the remotest prospect of prolonging his tenure in office, is testament only to the experience and expertise his regime has acquired in defying the democratic process.

At independence in 1980, Zimbabwe seemed poised on the threshold of an era of great promise. That independence was won at the cost of a bitter and protracted civil war, but now the proud nation was bursting with new confidence. Robert Mugabe was widely acclaimed as a hero - a revolutionary leader who had committed to the cause of reconciliation and the path of pragmatism. Western governments were falling over themselves in the rush to provide offers of aid. In the general euphoria then prevailing Julius Nyerere of Tanzania counselled Mugabe: "You have inherited a jewel. Keep it that way."

This is a story written by a 14 year old child, a victim of the Zanu PF government's Operation Murambatsvina.We give it to you here, literally in her own words. We've obscured some details to protect the child from potential reprisals.

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A Street Kid in Harare

Mandla sleeps under a cardboard box and survives by scavenging for food from the city’s many overflowing and evil-smelling rubbish bins. He has only been on the streets for a few weeks but has learnt quickly, as needs must in this dangerous and disease-ridden environment. There is no one else to turn to for help. His few surviving relatives do not even know where he is. On the streets the law of the jungle operates - literally the survival of the fittest. Frequently it is only rapid reflexes and a swift pair of feet that keep the inhabitants of this shadowy world out of really serious trouble. Mandla Mpofu (*) is one of Bulawayo’s burgeoning number of street kids. He is just eleven years old though from his tough and wiry frame most would assume he was older. Mandla never knew his father and his mother died in 2003, aged just below the national average life expectancy of 34 years.