Parade Magazine rates Robert Mugabe as the number one Worlds Worst Dictator
Mugabe is ahead of some of the most vicious despots the world has ever known, like Omar-Al- Bashir of the Sudan, Kim Jung 11 of North Korea and Than Shwe of Myanmar. (See Parade article here).
No wonder this brooding climate of fear still exists in Zimbabwe.
It was Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) week in Bulawayo: fifty years of excitement, buzz, rush, money to be made, cocktails parties to attend, ZITF tickets to be obtained. Nothing like that however for several years now.
No more Surf Pick a Box show, no David Whitehead Fashion Shows, no Texas Rock Band Competition. Even the military parade and the police dog shows are lame and poorly attended. The Air force flyover at the Official Opening is the butt of many jokes with their time keeping abilities and unlike the olden days when an invite to the Official Opening Ceremony was much sought after, nowadays people do anything NOT to be invited to the Official Opening Ceremony.
Trade Fair is useful though for many reasons. Hooray our roads were painted (only those access roads to ZITF). Potholes filled, traffic lights en route to ZITF from the airport magically had globes, grass slashed in the immediate vicinity and banners festooned the tatty light poles.
Another benefit of Trade Fair week is thatwe were less likely to have power cuts …
But with the arrival of ministers, parastatal bosses and visiting dignitaries, also comes that same climate of fear that haunts the City of Harare on a daily basis.
The motorcades that we seldom see here, screaming motorcycles with shrieking sirens and flashing lights, rows of policemen with brand spanking new luminous yellow sleeves on every corner. Gleaming black Mercedes with nervous ministers cowering in the back seats.
It was the Golden Jubilee of the Trade Fair. Fifty brilliant years of promoting Business in Zimbabwe, thirty years of business conducted in a Mugabe induced “Climate of Fear.”
May 4th, 2009 16:51
This is rather misleading. In the article he is number 7.
May 4th, 2009 22:07
Apologies. I was alerted to the link error earlier (Mugabe was at No.7 in 2007) and thought I had made the necessary changes, but it looks like I messed up the post updating. The link has been changed for the correct 2009 link now. Here it is:
http://www.parade.com/dictators/2009/