My easily confused pea-brain misinterpreted this headline to read "Mudede turns 89," and returned the query "Who's trolling Charles?" before I could correct the process.

Mugabe has faced loneliness before, of course, and conquered it.

But I guess Marx will only provide you companionship when you're in prison.

Charles, it was your earlier post http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive… that really opened my eyes to the heart-breaking loneliness of the aging dictator. I can't look at that video without misting up.

The last paragraph sounds like one of the I'm Just Saying posts from the unregistered racist(s) commenters.

Charles,
I do recall you saying that. And, I agree. Indeed, Zimbabwe is far worse off under Robert Mugabe than under the late Ian Smith. I have even heard sentiment echoed in places like the Republic of Cameroon (where I lived for 3 years, 20 + years ago) that the country would be better off if the colonial mother country (in the case of Cameroon it would have been either Germany, France of Britain) had stayed on longer to ease transition into independence. Alas, that seems to be a most distressing fact. I am deeply sorry for Zimbabwe. Most unforunate.

South Africa's also been a rollicking success story since the natives took over, hasn't it?

@6, south africa has a $400 billion economy! there is no comparison. its another reality. all of the young zimbos have moved either there or england.

@6: also, for your information, since the blacks have been in power: "from 1993 until 2012, South Africa GDP Growth Rate averaged 3.2 Percent reaching an all time high of 7.6 Percent in December of 1994 and a record low of -6.3 Percent in March of 2009." the next year SA bounced back and 4.3 percent growth. yes, it's not china, but those numbers are not bad.

@6 @7 @8 -- Especially when you consider that any country that has to deal with that level of AIDS would be suffering immensely. South Africa has done fairly well.

Zimbabwe, not so much. The big question there is what happens when Mubage dies. There is so much potential in that country that just been squandered. I hope there is a peaceful transition so the country can start rebuilding.

If only the great economist, Ebenezer Mudede could have counseled Mugage. Oh, yeah. He did. Way to go. I guess getting Africans into the 20th century is like herding cats.

It seems to me that there's a risk that population growth turns all of sub saharan Africa into a giant Haiti-like shithole. Island nations like Singapore and Japan showed the way forward for continental Asia, it seems like Africa needs a similar beacon. Botswana and South Africa are less bad, but only by sub saharan African standards. Neither can be held up as having turned the corner and made it to first world prosperity and zero population growth.