After two decades of political rot, Zimbabwe is coming apart at the seams

Western governments that berated long-time ruler Robert Mugabe for violating civil rights are leveling similar criticism against his successor

In Zimbabwe, pregnant women are left alone in hospitals to give birth, taps have run dry in major urban centers, infrastructure has all but collapsed and more than half the population needs food aid.

This is the toll that two decades of economic mismanagement have taken on a nation once considered one of Africa’s shining stars. Promises of an economic revival and more political freedom made by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, now in his third year of rule, have rung hollow and public anger over intolerable living conditions has spurred protest action that’s been brutally quashed by the military.

Western governments that berated