White Lies and Black Victims - Essay Example

 In addition, corruption and tyranny have not helped either. The drought affected the economy very badly and reduced grain production levels. On top of that, the ‘financial bondage’ was imposed by the IMF and the World Bank, although this term is not used in the article. In league with other Western powers and the media, they engaged in lies about Zimbabwe that made matters difficult for the country. Together with the land issue re-erupting after war veterans demanded compensation, these circumstances led to Zimbabwe’s financial woes in 1997 and more troubled years ahead.

The land issues have roots in the 1930 Land Appropriation Act, which restricted the native black people’s access to land under British colonial rule in favor of the white settlers. This put pressure on the limited land available to blacks in tribal reserves. After independence, the Lancaster House Agreement only postponed resolving the problem by protecting white owners for another decade. The 1985 Land Acquisition Act did try to alleviate the problem through land redistribution, but problems such as racial tensions and overcrowding persisted.

Then the demands of the war veterans only added to the pressure. President Mugabe took a bold step by forcefully taking the land back from whites and distributing it among the majority of blacks, but favoritism and corruption were evident, and therefore, ordinary Zimbabweans continue to suffer.Zimbabwe is in dire need of addressing issues of inequality, ensuring self-sustenance, protection from outside exploitations, elimination of corrupt and the implementation of fair practices, and above all good governance if it is to prevent a total collapse.