Prominent

In week one of term one in Research Project Mr. Street gave us some questions for us to be able to write down our interests, hobbies and activities. These questions were:
 * Week One **
 * 1) List your interests, hobbies and activities?
 * 2) What course subject are you doing?
 * 3) List something you want to find out more about.
 * 4) For 5 activities brainstorm using “inspiration 6”


 * ** Interests ** || ** Hobbies ** || ** Activities ** ||
 * Politics || Playing soccer || Watching T.V ||
 * Law || Listening to music || Cooking ||
 * Humanity || singing || Cleaning ||
 * || Playing basketball ||  ||

These were my interests, hobbies and activities that I wrote down


 * __ Course Subject __**

Research Project

Psychology

Health

Biology


 * __ What I want to find out more about __**

I outlined a mind map of what I wanted to research about. My question has always been about why Mugabe is still in power. Mr. Street told me that it was a broad topic and I needed to narrow it down. I thought I was going to be able to solve my question if I categorized my research into smaller topics as well as analyzing. The first research I want to do is about the 2008 elections that Mugabe lost and refused to be off power. I want to look at the reasons why he refused by analyzing my research.

I wrote some guiding questions to be able to give me a basic idea about what I was going to research about. These are my guiding questions:

1. Is Mugabe in control of the army?

2. Does he threaten people who want him to be off power?

3. Has he been winning the elections in all these years?

4. Are the elections done fairly?

5. Is he afraid to be killed?

6. Is he a good leader of Zimbabwe?

7. What is the power and political corruption beyond Zimbabwe?

8. What is Robert Mugabe’s party political influence in insisting Mugabe to be off power?

9. Why did Mugabe decide to have a Power Sharing Government?

10. Why did Tsvangirai decide to agree with Mugabe’s idea of the power sharing Government?

11. Why did Mugabe refuse to be off power after he lost the 2008 elections?

12. What was the power corruption beyond the 2008 electio

My guiding questions were not very clear and this did not satisfy me. However, constructing these guiding questions was going to help me for a start. I showed Mr. Street my guiding questions and simply told me that my topic was broad. I knew my topic sounded broad but I still thought there was a way I could make my topic easy to deal with. I thought I should research some of the reasons why Mugabe was still in power and then put my reasons into topics. This week I was very happy at least I had an idea of what I wanted to research about and had successful a rough mind map full of ideas about my topic. I already knew some information about the reasons why Mugabe was still in power. I clearly knew he lost the 2008 elections and violence he used during this time. This enabled me to construct a mind map. I had many reasons as to why I am interested in this topic about Mugabe. One of these reasons was about why he refused to be off power after he had clearly lost the 2008 elections.
 * __ Week 2 __**

I have researched on some of the reasons why Mugabe was still in power. I thought my research was too big and decided to divide it into smaller topics. The topics were Election Corruption, Personality/ideology, and Uses fear and intimidation. These three topics would help me to analyse the reasons why Mugabe is still in power. I have researched about Mugabe losing the 2008 elections and also the power he uses over the country.

Power of Mugabe - the Zimbabwean elections – the 2008 elections

Elections exist for a democratic country to determine who the people want as a leader as well as creating a fair go in leadership and power. The Zimbabwean, President Robert Mugabe has been in power since 1980 and has allegedly engaged in corruption in the country in which he continued to declare to be in power after he had lost the 2008 election.

‘Dictator Robert Mugabe has for the first time publicly admitted that he lost the disputed March 2008 election.’ ([])

This situation provides obvious evidence of corruption, as well as using his power and authority over people in a wrong way to put people in fear of him as well as following his orders. Mugabe is currently the President of Zimbabwe and his opposition Morgan Tsvangirai is the Prime minister of Zimbabwe in which Mugabe still has power over the country after he had lost the election against him.

There is a reason beyond the election corruption that keeps Mugabe in power of the country.

"There are people in this country who have been killed, raped and assaulted and we're saying the government must take responsibility." (http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/155565/20110601/tsvangirai-opposes-early-elections-in-zimbabwe-but-mugabe-wants-to-press-forward.htm)

‘During the ensuing campaign, the violence intensified. Tsvangirai's supporters were beaten up, arrested, and killed.’ The government admitted that its party had lost the parliament. Mugabe's opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, claimed the presidency, as well, but the government delayed releasing official presidential results for weeks. ([])

These are the actions of a dictatorship, and instead of building the country, Mugabe seeks out ways of destroying it. The work of a government is to ensure that people obey the rules yet the government itself does not follow human rights’ directives. The country will have more corruption, leading to the maintenance of the status quo. This is because people knew that Mugabe has clearly lost the election but they decided to do nothing about it because of their fear of him and thinking that they might get killed:

‘Mugabe and his allies in the military, police, and ruling party have unleashed a wave of intimidation against an opposition party that appears poised to unseat him. Abductions, torture, more than 2,000 beatings, and at least 36 political killings have followed an inconclusive first round of elections in March, Human Rights Watch reported last week.’ http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2008/06/13/zimbabwes-corrupt-ruler-uses-violence-to-hold-onto-power

Treating people in an inhuman way does not save Robert Mugabe as a leader nor demonstrate that his intention is to make a change for the better in his country. If he had the intention to see a change he wouldn’t have caused corruption and instead, accepted the fact that he had lost the election.

//HARARE, Zimbabwe — President Robert Mugabe declared Thursday that Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak is under control, but the United Nations said the death toll was rising.//

//Cholera has spread rapidly in the southern African nation because of the country's crumbling health care system and the lack of clean water. The United Nations said 783 have died from the epidemic and 16,403 cases have been reported.//

//Last week, Zimbabwe declared a health emergency//

//.// [|//http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28172861/ns/world_news-africa/t/zimbabwes-mugabe-cholera-crisis-over///]

Mugabe does not have an interest upon the country’s crisis but his own personal interest. This basically classifies him to be selfish because he does not consider the majority of people in the country. Mugabe declared that cholera was under control yet it wasn’t under control. Zimbabwe was actually declaring for a health emergency as seen in the above quote. Mugabe’s reaction towards this situation shows no sympathy, empathy or compassion towards the people who are digging for any possible help from other countries. It is my understanding that Mugabe did not want the United Nations involvement within Zimbabwe for his personal benefits.

//Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe bought a $5.7 million house in Hong Kong at the same time his country is dealing with 94-percent unemployment and a cholera outbreak that’s killed 3,467 people, the Sunday Times said.// [|//http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYffeYM4JIVM&refer=africa//]

One of the reasons why Mugabe wants to sustain power is due to his greediness. Money can be used as a form of power. However it is useless for Mugabe to use the money for his personal purposes instead of the country. Mugabe already has riches as well as a luxurious life but he still claims for more. The country continues to be in crisis with much suffering. His above actions show that his priority is not his country but himself and his own greed.

This brief analysis would help me come out with some of the reasons that Mugabe is still in power. The information I researched was relevant to my topic which made me happy. This enabled me to be able to analyze some of the reasons why Mugabe was still in power. I only took few quotes from the internet which were useful for me to be able to justify and analyze the reasons why Mugabe was still in power.


 * 1) He is Greedy
 * 2) He uses his power to put people in fear during elections. The fear is due to the violence that he causes using his army, political party and police. the It means that people would be scared to protest because they may be bashed, threated or even raped.
 * 3) Mugabe is a corrupted man, which enables him to stay in power. This is the reason why he refused to be off power after he had lost the 2008 elections and used physical, sexual abuse as a way to gain his power back. This put a lot of people in fear because he is in control of the army and there for has the power to do anything.
 * 4) His selfishness. Mugabe has caused a lot of corruption in the country and has also disconnected the country from accessing goods from European nations. Mugabe is racist and did not follow the rights and regulations of the United Nations. He also did not create peace amongst the European nations. Mugabe does not consider the welfare of the country which classifies him as being selfish. Mugabe uses billions of dollar for his personal interest instead of the country Hence Zimbabwe has a large number of poverty and also people who do not have access to hospitals.

I wrote some of the reasons why Mugabe was still in power in a blue colour. I copied some of the reasons from the analysis I did above. I only expanded some of this reasons with my own opinion and justification. I think I need to do more research to find out if my opinions and justifications might also had been some reasons why Mugabe is still in power. I thought I would do my research in three topics that I constructed according to my analysis. These topics were Election Corruption, Personality and ideology as well as uses fear and intimidation. Each of the reasons why Mugabe is still in power would fit in one topic or the other. My analysis would enable me to construct clear guiding questions.


 * Reasons why Mugabe is still in power **


 * __ Election Corruption __**


 * ** Lost the 2008 Elections **

‘During the ensuing campaign, the violence intensified. Tsvangirai's supporters were beaten up, arrested, and killed.’ Tilhe government admitted that its party had lost the parliament. Mugabe's opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, claimed the presidency, as well, but the government delayed releasing official presidential results for weeks. ([])


 * “The President of Zimbabwe has agreed to make the opposition leader his prime minister, with the two men at the head of a coalition government, but sceptics fear that Mr Mugabe has no intension of ceding any real power to the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). “**


 * There is an obvious evidence of a corrupted government alleged by the Mugabe Regime. In that matter of fact Mugabe had clearly lost the 2008 elections. Mugabe therefore persuaded his opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai into the power sharing government. However despite losing these elections he still did not have an intention to hand over power to the opposition (MDC). It shows no opportunity of legitimate fair go in leadership in this matter of fact. Mugabe therefor e agreed to be in the power sharing government, hence did not want to hand over power to the opposition leader. That brings intention on why he did not want to hand over the power to the opposition leader. There are therefore grounds accompanied by this action. These ground maybe his actions, treatment to the country, what he wants to achieve and his party (ZANU PF) or his supporters. **


 * “The power-sharing agreement will put the MDC in control of the police, but Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) will retain command of the Army. The precise make up of the Cabinet and country's Council of Ministers will be released later today. Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a smaller opposition faction, becomes deputy prime minister under the deal. “**


 * The action of giving Tsvangirai less power than him would mean that he is in control of the country. It would mean that Tsvangirai will not have an intention to oppose Mugabe’s actions because he would be in fear of Mugabe due to him having greater power than anyone would possess. It is the biggest reason why Mugabe placed Tsvangirai on a lower level of power in-order to manipulate the country to put them in fear of having a war breakdown if they choose to strongly turn against him. This would also be a reason beyond why the people of Zimbabwe are in fear of protesting for fear go in leadership and kick Mugabe out of power. As an end result the country have no other way of going about with the ongoing situations and tribulations unless if they choose war as a way of solving their problems. No-one wants to die or see someone dying. As an end result it becomes a controversial issue. **


 * ‘Such is the tension between the rival camps at a time of economic meltdown, however, that violence broke out near to the Rainbow Towers Hotel as the accord was being signed inside. Several hundred people broke through the perimeter fence surrounding the hotel as the ceremony ended. Stone-throwing broke out among several thousand supporters of the rival parties and police fired warning shots and set dogs on the crowd. Officers had managed to close the gates this afternoon but were struggling to contain both those inside and outside. ‘**


 * This shows that some people were not in support of the power sharing government and Mugabe’s intention. There are also bad things going on in the country such as economic breakdown. As an end result of economic breakdown, there is a bigger range of poverty in the country. However the people do not have enough power to oppose the idea of a power sharing government nor convince the government to hand over power to Tsvangirai who had won the elections. As an end result Mugabe remains in power because he is under control of both the police and army. Even though people do not agree to his actions he enforces them by the power he has of being in control of the police and the army. **


 * //‘Signing the agreement, Mr Tsvangirai said: “I, the prime minister of Zimbabwe, call Zanu (PF) and MDC to unite Zimbabwe. Divisions belong to the past."//**


 * As oppose to Tsvangirai agreeing to be the prime minister of Zimbabwe it leaves Mugabe with a chance of not being in battle with any other party. MDC was nearly the only party over the years that have been battling for power in the country and a change against (Zanu Pf). It also lives no chance of Tsvangira being the president which brings less pressure on Mugabe **


 * The United**


 * __ Personality /ideology __**


 * Mugabe still remains in power because of his selfishness, greed and just wanting to be able to control and manipulate people.

HARARE, Zimbabwe — President Robert Mugabe declared Thursday that Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak is under control, but the United Nations said the death toll was rising.

Cholera has spread rapidly in the southern African nation because of the country's crumbling health care system and the lack of clean water. The United Nations said 783 have died from the epidemic and 16,403 cases have been reported.Last week, Zimbabwe declared a health emergence. [] Mugabe does not have an interest upon the country’s crisis but his own personal interest. This basically classifies him to be selfish because he does not consider the majority of people in the country. Mugabe declared that cholera was under control yet it wasn’t under control. Zimbabwe was actually declaring for a health emergency as seen in the above quote. Mugabe’s reaction towards this situation shows no sympathy, empathy or compassion towards the people who are digging for any possible help from other countries. It is my understanding that Mugabe did not want the United Nations involvement within Zimbabwe for his personal benefits.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe bought a $5.7 million house in Hong Kong at the same time his country is dealing with 94-percent unemployment and a cholera outbreak that’s killed 3,467 people, the Sunday Times said. []

One of the reasons why Mugabe wants to sustain power is due to his greediness. Money can be used as a form of power. However it is useless for Mugabe to use the money for his personal purposes instead of the country. Mugabe already has riches as well as a luxurious life but he still claims for more. The country continues to be in crisis with much suffering. His above actions show that his priority is not his country but himself and his own greed.


 * There are three main personalities and ideology of Mugabe which include **


 * ** Greediness **
 * ** Selfishness **
 * ** Wanting to control and manipulate people **


 * __ Uses Fear and intimidation __**

"There are people in this country who have been killed, raped and assaulted and we're saying the government must take responsibility." ([] )

‘During the ensuing campaign, the violence intensified. Tsvangirai's supporters were beaten up, arrested, and killed.’ The government admitted that its party had lost the parliament. Mugabe's opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, claimed the presidency, as well, but the government delayed releasing official presidential results for weeks. ([] )

I have roughly allocated the reasons why Mugabe is still in power under their suitable topic. I did a brief research under each of the topics and some of the information I just copied and pasted from my analysis. I found out that under the topic election corruption I would talk about Mugabe losing the 2008 elections and how he persuaded opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai into the power sharing government after Mugabe had clearly lost the elections. I showed Mr. Street what I had been working on and he thought that I was on track. Mr. Street gave me some ideas on my topic. I am so far happy about my progress for the week.