No bottle popping for Robert Mugabe!

Although one is to celebrate their golden years with grace, humility and a positive outlook on life for being able to live to such an age, Robert Mugabe seems to be the exception to this understanding.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="298" caption="Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai"][/caption]

A year after a historic coalition government was formed, most Zimbabweans are in no mood to celebrate today's anniversary. Civil servants are on strike, reforms are stalled, farmers are under attack, and the autocratic Robert Mugabe still controls most of the levers of power.

The coalition, which allowed opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to become the Prime Minister, has staggered through a rough year. The economy has improved, but the government is paralyzed by internal feuding and fierce resistance from Mr. Mugabe's allies. And it faces the risk of collapse if the squabbling persists and foreign donors remain unwilling to help.

Mr. Mugabe, still President at the age of 85, is showing no signs of surrendering power. He has stubbornly blocked the political reforms that were supposed to flow from a breakthrough 2008 agreement between the opposition and the ruling ZANU-PF party.

That agreement, which led to the coalition government that was sworn in a year ago, is now "becoming a joke," according to Eddie Cross, a senior member of Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.

Only 12 per cent of the agreement has been put into effect, Mr. Cross estimates. A top MDC leader, Roy Bennett, is still being prosecuted on charges widely believed to be trumped up. Many other MDC members have been arrested or harassed. Deadlines for reform have been repeatedly ignored, and commercial farmers are still losing their farms to invading thugs.

Mr. Mugabe and his supporters are increasingly hardline, refusing any concessions unless Mr. Tsvangirai persuades foreign governments to lift targeted sanctions that prevent Mr. Mugabe and his cronies from travelling to Europe or North America. Meanwhile, all negotiations are deadlocked.

Mr. Mugabe has "made a complete fool" of the regional leaders who brokered the coalition deal, Mr. Cross said on his website. "While they fiddle - Zimbabwe burns. No progress with health and education or economic recovery and investment. No reduction in political violence and human rights violations. No change in the media and the daily outpouring of propaganda."

Mugabe is living off his past legacy as a foot soldier and leader of Zimbabwean independence. The problem is that he never left or put aside his rebel insurgent mindset and adapted a governing mentality for the country. Mugabe is like

a wounded bull, still dangerous to its pursuers. The MDC is willing to finish the fight, but this might leave it fatally wounded, too....The region will have to decide whether to leave the old bull to die on its own and simply let Zimbabwe slide back into chaos.

Mugabe has repeatedly complained about Western interference and used colonialism as a threat to Zimbabwe's sovereignty. The only logical and substantive outcome would be more international involvement with a tougher stance. The friendly approach has run its course, especially with South African input. This should be led by the U.S. since it has less or no historical "slave-occupation", unlike some European countries. This would be one area of the world where President Obama can quickly and decisively have a lasting and positive impact-legacy.

Private education sprouts up in Zimbabwe

Private schools are sprouting up in Zimbabwe as public system struggles due to bad mismanagement by the current regime of Robert Mugabe.

"No disruption to learning" touts a newspaper ad for a new private Zimbabwean school, one of many springing up in living rooms, backyards and plots across Harare.

It's a big selling point in a country where government schools lost an estimated 20,000 teachers in 2008, a year when students attended class only 50 days. Teachers launched a new strike on Friday, raising worries about the new school year that began just last month.

Zimbabwe's crisis in education eased last year with the creation of a unity government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

That ended Zimbabwe's economic freefall and halted the political unrest that saw nationwide attacks mainly against the premier's supporters.

But government schools still struggle with up to 50 students in a class and 20 children sharing a book.

Cashing in on the situation, new private schools run by individuals, families and organisations are sprouting across the country, often inside homes, in yards and in plots designated by the municipalities, offering an alternative to parents.

Parents have no choice but to do whats in their children's best interest, especially the way things are being run by the current power sharing government. It is surprising that in the current economic climate, especially in Zimbabwe, that the government is charging fees, which is

frustrating many parents who say they see little result for their money.

"There is an admission that in the public school system there are problems, hence they are registering more players in the education sector, some of them charging slightly above government rates," Wellington Koke, who runs a private school in central Harare, told AFP.

With a total enrollment of 50, Koke say his school will insist on small classes unlike government schools where a teacher can have a class of 50 pupils. His school is a refurbished home.

"We have always had this idea of having well-paying pupils who are well-serviced," Koke said.

After government abandoned the local currency one year ago, teachers and other civil servants began receiving a flat salary of 150 US dollars a month -- which was a significant improvement but still too little to make ends meet.

Teachers and civil servants are clamouring for raises, sparking fears among parents that their children could lose another year in the classroom to strike action.

The only and reasonable end solution to this problem is for Mugabe to resign, or just leave the country all together. Even though i am an optimist, that won't happen any time soon. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is the country's only hope for any salvation. Which is unfortunate since the "bread basket of Africa" deserves better.

Here is a short press meeting of his trip last summer to Washington and the White house with President Obama.