On the 11th of February, 2009 Morgan Tsvangarai, leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe was sworn in as Prime Minister of his country. This came on the heels of months of international pressure on him to adhere to a power sharing agreement between his party, Movement for Democratic Change, and President Robert Mugabe���s ZANU-PF.

Tsvangarai defeated Mugabe in the first round of Presidential elections held last year in March, but pulled out of the race after he and his supporters were threatened and attacked by Mugabe. After that, the two men entered into the power-sharing agreement, but Mr. Tsvangarai has resisted signing on until now. The deal came apart over Mr. Mugabe���s refusal to allow the MDC to have any real control over state run institutions.

Zimbabwe���s descent into chaos has been well documented in the press. Inflation stands at trillions of percent, and Zimbabwe currency is essentially worthless. Government institutions have gone defunct en masse and employee salaries are not enough for them to even afford bus tickets to and from work. Close to 7 million people are subsisting on food aid provided by organizations like the World Food Programme (the total population is 12 million). The country is still under international sanctions until it can prove that the power sharing agreement is truly taking effect. Once the bread basket of Africa, Zimbabwe is now facing near starvation and a cholera epidemic that has claimed close to 4000 lives in just six months. There is raging unemployment as thousands have fled to neighbouring South Africa illegally. Dissenters are routinely arrested in the middle of the night and tortured. All this and more has been engineered by Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe���s long time dictator.

While most of the international community has been unanimous in its condemnation of Mr. Mugabe���s tyranny, few have actively discussed removing him from power and subjecting him to an international enquiry for his actions against opposition members. South Africa, the head of the SADC, and the most powerful regional country has for long refused to even consider the idea of pressurising Mugabe to quit and hand over power to Tsvangarai. South Africa has been vehement in its support of Mugabe���s presidency.

The United States and the EU countries have refused involvement until the government can demonstrate that it is adhering to rule of law and democracy. Senior African leaders will be unwilling to cross regional power South Africa to call for Mugabe���s removal. The only outspoken African leader has been Botswana���s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama, who has been repeatedly drowned out by other leaders in the region.

However, no one seems convinced that Mugabe will cede power to Tsvangarai and allow him actual control over important institutions, especially the security forces. Mugabe went so far as to say that Zimbabwe was ���his��� in a recent interview. While Mugabe has a tight grip on power in Zimbabwe, his allies and members of his party are wary that any actual power in the hands of Tsvangarai and MDC leaders could mean their arrest and prosecution for corruption and criminal acts. Tsvangarai, after taking power, mentioned that he had done so to attempt to prevent any further damage to the country and the people, but seemed resigned to having very limited access to control and resources. He has had to be careful not to criticise his President openly, for fear of serious repercussions. Even as Tsvangarai has taken power, there have been signs to show that the real power still lies with the man they refer to as the ���wily crocodile���. Peaceful protesters were arrested and one of the new PM���s key allies, and a vocal Mugabe opposer, Roy Bennett was arrested.

While these conditions persist, no real change can occur in Zimbabwe, and it is important that conditions improve, and improve quickly. Immediate steps will have to include reviving medical facilities and attempting to curb inflation. If Zimbabwe is to survive, food aid will have to be significantly increased to the country and distributed more quickly and efficiently. Human rights activists and political opponents who have been jailed will have to be released. It is obvious to anybody who has even cursory knowledge of the situation that these conditions will persist as long as Mugabe and his supporters are in control of Zimbabwe.

If the international community wishes to avoid the complete and total destruction of Zimbabwe, the only solution will have to be to intervene to remove Robert Mugabe from power and bring him to justice in an international forum. Merely imposing economic sanctions has been woefully inadequate and has in fact ended up hurting the people of Zimbabwe more than their leader. Robert Mugabe���s crimes have stemmed from his belief that he can not be touched while he remains in Zimbabwe and that his powers are absolute. While his grip on the country remains, he will continue to act on this belief, wreaking further havoc on an already battered people. The ���responsibility to protect��� clause of the United Nations and its member countries must surely extend to this particular situation. If the international community does not consider these extraordinary circumstances, then they will have sat idly by as Mugabe continues to perpetrate a massive crime on humanity.