U.K. Telegraph appoints Mnangagwa as Mugabe's successor

'Robert Mugabe strikes secret deal to hand Zimbabwe power to Emmerson Mnangagwa' is the kind of headline that is impossible to ignore when it appears on a news alert in your email inbox. Noticing it is from an article in the Mugabe-obsessed, generally Africa-unfriendly British Telegraph immediately reduces the newsworthiness and punch of the sexy-sounding heading. The Telegraph has had a few of what can be considered Mugabe/Zimbabwe scoops, but it has also cooked up many unlikely conspiracies and dubious stories around the person of Mugabe. The British paper makes its bitterness against Mugabe for his treatment of Zimbabwe's British-derived white farmers clear, and its main jump-off point for its Mugabe/Zimbabwe reportage. But even if this latest Mugabe story turns out to be as thin as many of the Telegraph's previous ones, the typically heavily anti-African readers' comments are sure to be revealing of a particular British mindset on the very emotional-for-them subjects of Mugabe and Zimbabwe.

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Why Africa has no leverage at the UN Security Council

One of President Robert Mugabe's favorite subjects is UN Security Council reform to make that body more 'democratic' and representative of the world's population. He has spoken about this issue for years, with more passion and conviction than he does on most of the issues that many Zimbabweans worry about on a day to day basis. These kinds of broad, grand issues are what are closest to Mugabe's heart, rather than the nuts and bolts of problem solving. While many of Mugabe's arguments make sense, it is ironic that he misses a key point about why not many take Africa seriously when its leaders, such as he, advocate for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

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On the death of Solomon Mujuru, intrigue and conspiracy theories galore

In Zimbabwe the death of any prominent senior member of the ruling elite is an occasion for mass catharsis on some level. Ordinary people discuss whether the deceased's life record was net positive or net negative, and what he or she could and should have done differently to contribute to shaping the country's trajectory. In all these respects and many more, Solomon Mujuru's death will be 'off the charts.'

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