Good news out of Zimbabwe. It looks like President Robert Mugabe is at least conceding that he didn’t win the recent election. I won’t pretend to know much about African politics — in fact, I know very little — but what I do know is that Mugabe has nearly destroyed a nation that once was a real bright spot on the African continent. He started as its prime minister in 1980, and became president in 1987. He was hugely popular at the time, but under his control (which is a nice way of saying “under his oppressive regime”), Zimbabwe has completely tanked. Human rights have been violated at every turn. The once-prosperous country has been pounded into a state of poverty with the deadly combination of sky-high inflation and drought. Life expectancy has been cut in half thanks to starvation and disease.

Short story: Mugabe was the direct cause of a lot of these things, and he needed to go. Hopefully he’s on his way out.

Why do I care about Zimbabwe and Mugabe? I’ve been keeping up with events there after having spent some time researching it for an article I wrote for Paste last summer about Dispatch and their reunion shows in Madison Square Garden. All the proceeds from those shows went to benefit Zimbabwe. The guys are big advocates for Zimbabwe since Chad Urmston used to live there and through the band’s connection to The Elias Fund.

Anyway, you can read the full Paste article here.

Learn more about Zimbabwe here.

And read more about the work Dispatch is doing in Zimbabwe here.

Stay informed. Pray for change. Work for justice.