PNGBLOGS

by MATHEW TOMIO Zimbabwean leader President Robert Mugabe has successfully stayed in power for nearly 36 years and is now 92 years old.   He is widely made fun of inside Zimbabwe for his senility and vanity.   The Zimbabwean economy by 2009 was only half the size of what it was when President Mugabe first took over in 1980.  At that time, Zimbabwe was sub-Saharan Africa’s second richest country after South Africa.  The economy collapsed completely in 2008, with the Zimbabwean dollar losing value that year at a rate of 231 million percent.  Prices sometimes doubled on a daily basis and today Zimbabweans buy everything using foreign currency.  The country has sanctions against it by the European Union and the United States, including a travel ban on Mugabe and his inner circle. Many people rightfully question how does President Mugabe hold onto power?   Much of it is due to what is called in Africa “preponderance of incumbency”.  Only in Zambia (twice) have incumbent leader