Think of Zimbabwe and you may have a vision of the majestic Victoria Falls, the breathtaking eastern highlands or the animals of the Hwange.

But the more realistic image of Zimbabwe today is of dictator Robert Mugabe and the swollen, beaten faces of opposition leaders and supporters who dared to attend a peaceful democracy gathering last March and were nearly killed for it.

Elections scheduled for March 29 are not likely to change this scene, despite the outward trappings of a democratic process.

The fact the elections are called for March 29 gives a clue as to the absurdity of Mugabe's attempt to legitimise his brutal dictatorship. This date gives opposition parties scant time to organise and rally their forces, a task already made almost impossible due to crackdowns on media freedom and on public gatherings.

To add crushing insult to considerable injury, the regime in the past few weeks has begun detaining opposition leaders and supporters across the country for acts that in democracies would be normal campaigning activities.

This week, the police have banned door-to-door campaigning and political meetings held in the evening. Yet those of us in the opposition movement take some heart from these tactics. They confirm to us and to the world that Mugabe knows if free and fair elections were allowed, he would lose.

Should he win the March election, it will confirm an election, again, has been shockingly rigged.

This should come as no surprise, not even to Mugabe. Subverting his heroic role in gaining independence for Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia, in 1980, he has become the most significant force holding Zimbabwe back from the political and economic gains that are its right.

In the years following independence, Zimbabwe had the second largest economy south of the Sahara and the third highest per capita gross domestic product. In the first two years after independence, the economy grew by 24 per cent. This was followed by 5 per cent annualised growth in the next 15 years. The highest inflation rate was 12 per cent.

Since then, and especially since 2000, Zimbabwe has gone from being a promising country, full of committed, highly literate and skilled people, to a basket case with a population broken by years of neglect and numerous assaults on their ever-dwindling liberties.

Today, 70 per cent of the country's commercial agriculture has been destroyed by government mismanagement. Only 10 per cent of the winter food crop was planted due to lack of fuel and fertilisers. More than four million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid, 45 per cent of the population is malnourished and unemployment is over 85 per cent. One in four of the population has HIV-AIDS and 350 children in Zimbabwe are orphaned every day due to the disease.

Zimbabwe has the lowest life expectancy in the world. Women can expect to live to 34.

Inflation is running as high as 150,000 per cent. The price of a carton of milk taken from a supermarket shelf can be higher by the time it reaches the checkout.

It should come as no surprise that Zimbabwe has the world's second highest
per capita diaspora, following only Palestine.

This is an election that has significance not just in Zimbabwe. As Africans across the continent come to terms with growing opportunities and the benefits of good governance, a model is needed. A free Zimbabwe could be in a position to offer leadership for a democratic Africa.

Should the world community let this moment pass without ensuring the March 29 poll is sufficiently democratic, despots across the continent will understand that the will to remove their dead hand on African progress has again failed to emerge.

The signs are not good, as few leaders have seen fit to censure Mugabe's ridiculous election timetable or to sufficiently engage the democracy movement in the country.

The time has come for Zimbabwe to remove a dictator who can promise only the direst future for all but a few Zimbabweans. It is incumbent on the global community to ensure these elections are fair and free, for the truth is that today they are not and are not likely to be. That's a tragedy for Zimbabwe and for Africa.

David Coltart is an MDC member of Parliament for Bulawayo South. His website is www.davidcoltart.com