cc It is clear why Zimbabweans want a change of government, writes Adolf Mkenda, but it isn’t clear why the West has been more critical of Mugabe than other leaders with worse records on human rights and democracy. Mkenda argues that two key factors sparked this response: The international connections of white Zimbabweans, and Mugabe’s reneging on the IMF’s structural adjustment program in favour of nationalisation and land seizure, in contradiction with the neo-liberal thinking of the time. ‘International efforts to promote democracy and human rights must be accepted and encouraged, but these must not be allowed to be used abusively as a selective instrument of punishing governments that chart out an independent path for their own people,’ writes Mkenda.