World News and Trends Zimbabwe a crisis torn country
Zimbabwe, at one time a prosperous African nation, is seriously short of food, and a lack of fuel has brought industry to a standstill.
The country's infrastructure is fraying badly, with schools and hospitals struggling to survive. More than half the work force is unemployed, and one third of the army is helping the Congo's president, Laurent Kabila, in an expensive civil war in the Congo. Most blame these misfortunes on the brutal regime of Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe.
As Financial Times reporter Victor Mallet observed: "Millions of Zimbabweans have tired of old-fashioned anti-imperialistic rhetoric and want a change of faces at the top."
The Sunday Telegraph reported: "With the country's economy in tatters, thanks to years of misrule, Mugabe thought he had a guaranteed vote winner when his loyal constitutional panel drew up clause 57, to enshrine land confiscation and demand compensation for white farmers [from] the old colonial power: Britain."
Zimbabwe's government was in shock after citizens found the courage to stand up to the regime by voting no in a recent constitutional referendum. Yet widespread reports persist of the occupation of white-owned farms following that national vote, with some farmers and farm workers attacked and killed.
The Zimbabwe dollar was worth 50 British pence when President Mugabe assumed power. It is now valued at 1.5 pence. And as The Independent on Sunday observed: "Every week 1,200 Zimbabweans die of AIDS and life expectancy since 1980 has fallen from 59 to 42."
A beautiful and formerly prosperous country has been laid waste, and many of British descent are applying for passports at the British High Commission in the nation's capital, Harare, evidently preparing to emigrate.
Yet, in the words of the minister of state in the British Foreign Office: "Zimbabwe could be one of the success stories of Africa: It remains one of the richest countries, with huge mineral and agricultural resources. It has the best-educated population in Africa and a relatively good infrastructure.
"Zimbabwe is too important a country to be allowed to fail. Its people deserve better and its neighbours in Africa deserve better too." (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mail, The Financial Times [all London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2000
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
