The leading archbishop of Zimbabwe says Britain should invade the country to relieve the suffering of its citizens, Times Online reported July 1.

“I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe,” Pius Ncube said. “We should do it ourselves but there’s too much fear. I’m ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready.”

Zimbabwe, called Southern Rhodesia when it was a colony, broke from the British crown in 1965. Fifteen years later, Robert Mugabe was elected president in the nation’s first free elections. He promised to all but eradicate British influence in the nation. Since that time, Mugabe has administered Zimbabwe as a police state and has rigged elections to stay in power. Thousands of dissenters have been killed or disappeared since he took office.

The archbishop appears to think that the days of British rule were better.

In fact, many feel just about anything would be an improvement over current conditions. Shoppers race with clerks who re-price goods according to the latest inflation rates, which sometimes double in a week. Currently, inflation is thought to be at 15,000 percent—literally increasing faster than presses can print money. One U.S. dollar currently exchanges for more than z$300,000.

Most Zimbabweans cannot afford essentials. One teacher, whose salary no longer even covers the cost of her 15-mile bus ride to work, estimates that three out of every four teachers at her school have become prostitutes just to feed their families.

For many, homes are a luxury. “A whole community of people whose homes were demolished by the government two years ago now live on the Richmond rubbish dump, surviving by foraging for glass bottles and plastic,” notes reporter Christina Lamb. In the countryside, it is no different. A severe drought coupled with Mugabe’s disastrous land grab has resulted in the loss of about half of the nation’s maize crop. It is estimated some families will run out of food within a month. Many live on one small meal a day, some even less, and almost a third of the population has fled the country.

“The near-total destruction of the economy is, without exception, attributable to the combination of government’s gross mismanagement, and of its abysmal policies,” editorialized the Zimbabwe Independent (June 29).

As his people starve, Mugabe spends us$1.2 million on his birthday party, and those with government connections dine on prawn in massive mansions. A further us$2 million has been spent on surveillance equipment to protect his regime.

Most Zimbabweans live on less than a dollar a day.

Can Britain—or anyone—help Zimbabwe in these desolate times? Britain’s former colonization brought prosperity to Africa, but that was rejected and Britain was expelled. Britain lacks the capability it once had, with problems of its own springing up daily. Something will be done about such large-scale human suffering, but it won’t be the British saving the day. Read more about Zimbabwe and the solution to its problems here.