Like him or not, this week’s person of the week in the SADC region goes to Robert Mugabe. On August 17, 2010 during the closing ceremony of the 30th Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Namibia, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe received a standing ovation, a gathering that included Africa’s present and former heads of state.
A fiery critic of the west, Mugabe urged African leaders not to invite imperialism back. Instead he asked Africa to pool resources together for the continent’s economic development in order to cut down dependency on foreign funding.
Is Mugabe simply saying what other African leaders are afraid to say or this is Mugabe, the demagogic leader, doing what he knows best to build his populist persona as Africa’s liberation leader?
Chime in…what do you think?