Talk:Zimbabwe/Archive 3
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GA Review: Failed
I have reviewed this article according to the requirements of the GA criteria and have failed the article because the below issues should be addressed.
"The constitutional changes went into effect on January 1, 1988, with Robert Mugabe as President." Reword the last half of the sentence to "electing Robert..." or "establishing Robert..." or something to that effect.
"Under the leadership of current president, Mugabe..." Reword to "...leadership of President Mugabe..."
"Political opponents and critics of Mugabe formed the Movement for Democratic Change in 1999, campaigned for an end to "Mugabe's Reign of Terror."" Reword to "1999, to campaign...".
Go through the article and make sure that all inline citations go directly after the punctuation with no spaces in between.
The first sentence in the "Precolonial era" section needs to be reworded or split into two sentences, as it can be difficult to read.
"In 1895 the BSAC adopted the name 'Rhodesia' for Zambesia, after Cecil Rhodes, and in 1898 'Southern Rhodesia' was officially adopted for the part south of the Zambezi,[9] which later became Zimbabwe, while the part to the north was administered separately by the BSAC and was later named Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia." Split this into two sentences.
If Image:Udi2-rho.jpg & Image:Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe President Canaan Banana.jpg are going to be included in the article, a heading on the image page must state "Fair use rationale for Zimbabwe" with a detailed explanation included.
"Over the years, the guerrilla fighting against Smith's UDI government intensified. As a result, the Smith government opened negotiations with the leaders of the Patriotic Fronts -..." Change the hyphen to —. Fix all other occurrences in the article, if applicable.
"As the result of an Internal Settlement elections were held in April 1979." Reword "As a result of the Internal Settlement, elections..."
"However, on June 12, the..." Remove the wikilink for the date.
"On December 1, 1979, delegations from the British and Rhodesian governments and the Patriotic Front met in London and signed the Lancaster House Agreement, ending the civil war.[17]" Single sentence shouldn't stand alone. Either expand on this statement or incorporate it into another paragraph. Fix any other occurrences throughout the article if applicable.
"...the Mugabe-led process has been seen as a diversion away from an ill conceived war..." Change "ill conceived" to "ill-conceived".
"The legality and constitutionality of the process has regularly been challenged in the Zimbabwean High and Supreme Courts" Add a wikilink for the High and Supreme courts if they have articles. No such articles exist as of yet Mangwanani 18:54, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
"5.5 million Zimbabweans currently live with HIV." Sentences shouldn't start with a number, reword.
"The lowest point of Zimbabwe is the junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m." In the sentence prior to this, it includes a conversion to feet, due the same for this one.
"There are several environmental issues in Zimbabwe including deforestation, soil erosion, land degradation, air and water pollution." Add "and" before "air".
"One faction, led by Welshman Ncube contested the elections to the Senate, while the other led by Morgan Tsvangirai opposed to contesting the elections..." Reword to "One faction, led by Welshman Ncube contested the elections to the Senate, while the other, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, opposed to contesting the elections..."
"2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections were held on March 31 and..." Remove the wikilink for the date.
Image:ZBC logo.jpg needs a detailed fair use rationale.
"...such as the crackdown on a March 11, 2007..." Wikilink full dates; go through the rest of the article and fix any other occurrences if applicable.
"...with the commanders of both the Army and the Air force falling under his command." Air Force should be capitalized.
"was promoted and appointed Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces." Should this be "Commander of Zimbabwe..."?
"Lieutenant General P. V. Sibanda replaced him as Commander of the army." Army should be capitalized.
"The current main service rifle is the L85A2 assault rifle." This sentence isn't necessary for inclusion. However from the Military of Zimbabwe article, consider adding "The ZNA currently has an active duty strength of 30,000. The air force has about 5,000 men assigned." if it can be sourced.
"integrated to a greater or lesser extent with combatants from the ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrilla movements (the armed wings of, respectively, ZANU and ZAPU." Add the other parenthesis.
"In 2005, the government, led by central bank governor Gideon Gono, started making overtures that White farmers could come back." Add wikilink for "Gideon Gono" and lower-case "white" (do the same for the rest of the paragraph).
Some of the dates in the "Economy" section are out of order, reorder the paragraphs so it flows better.
"In August 2006, a new revalued Zimbabwean dollar was introduced, equal to 1000 old Zimbabwean dollars." Reword to "equal to 1000 of the prior Zimbabwean" or "equal to 1000 of the older", or something to that effect. Do the same for the next sentence.
"Mugabe points to foreign governments and alleged "sabotage" as the cause of this..." What is "this"? Specify.
"Mugabe has repeatedly blamed sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the European Union..." Add a wikilink for EU.
"The largest Christian churches are Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Methodist." Add wikilinks for the different religions.
"Mwari simply means God the creator, musika vanhu." Reword this sentence, what is "musika vanhu"? Also add quotation marks around "God the Creator".
"An estimated 3,4 million Zimbabweans..." 3.4 should have a period, not a comma. We use commas for decimal places in Zimbabwe not full stops (period) Mangwanani 19:14, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
"Zimbabwe has an adult literacy rate of approximately 90%.[73][74][75] This is amongst the highest in Africa." Merge these two sentences into one.
"The majority of the wealthier portion of the population send their children to independent schools as opposed to the government run schools..." Add hyphen to "government-run".
"The University of Zimbabwe, the first and largest was built in 1952..." Add a comma after "largest".
"However, education in Zimbabwe became under threat since the Economic Changes in 2000..." I don't think that Economic Changes should be capitalized.
Image:ZBWE2.jpg needs a detailed fair use rationale.
"Zimbabwe celebrates its independence on April 18, 1980." This sentence should definitely be expanded on. Mention how they celebrate or any other relevant details.
"The Shona have many sculptures and carved idols of gods made with the finest available materials." Reword, "finest available materials" sounds like an advertisement, maybe consider "with local available materials" or something else you can think of.
"Zimbabwe is not renowned for literature..." This statement isn't necessary, since in the next half of the sentence it is mentioned that there are some notable authors.
"The book "The House of Hunger" by Dambudzo Marechera won an award in the UK in 1979 and the Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing's first novel "The Grass Is Singing" is set in Rhodesia." The books should be italicized instead of included in quotation marks to remain uniform in comparison to the other books mentioned in the section.
"As many other Africans, a majority of Zimbabweans depend on staple foods." "As like many..."
"The country's flagship airline Air Zimbabwe still flies to the United Kingdom but has to make several stops en route for refuelling purposes." It isn't necessary to mention that it needs to refuel.
"at 2593 metres" and "60-70 km" should include the feet/miles equivalent and also metres doesn't need to be spelled out, just include the abbreviation.
"Possibly the most famous of these are the Great Zimbabwe ruins in Masvingo which survive from the Monomotapa Empire." "survived".
"...but the most spectacular development is in Zimbabwe with the Matobo Hills in Matabeleland being the most remarkable of all." Spectacular and most remarkable of all need to be sourced if said by someone in a quote (which in that case they need quotation marks around them). If not, they should be removed since it may appear to be POV.
"Blessed be the Land of Zimbabwe" Should have quotation marks around it since it is a song title.
Add inline citations for:
"Iron Age Bantu-speaking peoples began migrating into the area about 2000 years ago, including the ancestors of the Shona, who account for roughly four-fifths of the country's population today." Add an inline citation for the 4/5ths figure.
"In the free elections of February 1980, Mugabe and his ZANU won a landslide victory."
"The chaotic implementation of the land reform led to a sharp decline in agricultural exports, traditionally the country's leading export producing sector."
"The black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching."
"In particular, the elections of 1990 were nationally and internationally condemned as being rigged, with the second-placed party, Edgar Tekere's Zimbabwe Unity Movement, winning only 20% of the vote."
"As of 2007, the Tsvangirai-led MDC has become the most popular, with crowds as large as 20,000 attending their rallies as compared to between 500–5,000 for the other splinter group."
"According to human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch" If this is stated, then inline citations need to be added that they said this.
"After his release, Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC that he suffered head injuries and blows to the arms, knees and back, and that he lost a significant amount of blood."
"There is also an abuse of human rights in the media."
"The Zimbabwean government suppresses freedom of the press and freedom of speech."
"For the first year a system was followed where the top-performing candidate became battalion commander."
"Mineral exports, agriculture, and tourism are the main foreign currency earners of Zimbabwe."
"Zimbabwe is the biggest trading partner of South Africa south of the equator."
"The IMF predicted inflation will reach 6,430% by the end of 2008."
"In 2001 it was measured at its highest level ever of 33.7% for people aged 15–49."
"Around 1% of the population is Muslim."
"Bantus of other ethnicities are the third largest with 8 to 10%."
"The white population dropped from a peak of around 300,000 in 1975 to possibly 120,000 in 1999, and was estimated at no more than 60,000 in 2006, possibly much less."
"Also, a recurring theme in Zimbabwean art is the metamorphosis of man into beast."
"The ruins, which gave their name to modern Zimbabwe, cover some 1,800 acres (7.3 km²) and are the largest ancient stone construction in Zimbabwe."
Since there are so many things that need to be addressed, I have decided to fail the article instead of putting it on hold. However, if the above issues are addressed, the article should definitely be renominated at WP:GAN. The article does a good job on meeting the broad requirement and had some interesting sections to read about. I may have missed some things in the article, so consider having another editor or two copyedit the article before nominating. If you disagree with this review you can seek an alternate opinion at Good article reassessment. If you have any questions about this review, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Happy editing! --Nehrams2020 10:04, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks for all your suggestions! I'll try to make some corrections now .... -- Stan talk 17:49, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
Zimbabwe Independence
In the "Independence" section, the author does not state anything about the independence or any of the events that occurred. Also, the author did not indicate that there were ceremonies that took place. Could someone please fix this? Dan Hickman (talk) 15:08, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
GA passed
Since I reviewed the article before and you have made the necessary changes, I reviewed it again so you can avoid the large backlog. Good job with addressing the above issues. I have passed this article according to the requirements of the GA criteria. I made a few minor corrections that weren't completely fixed from the last review. Continue to improve the article, making sure that all new information is properly sourced and neutral.
Also, to anyone that is reading this review, please consider reviewing an article or two at WP:GAN to help with the very large backlog. Instructions can be found here. Each new reviewer that helps to review articles will help to reduce the time that articles wait to be reviewed. Keep up the good work, and I hope that you continue to bring articles up to Good Article status. If anyone disagrees with this review, an alternate opinion can be sought at Good article reassessment. If you have any further questions about this review, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I have updated the article history to reflect this review. Happy editing! --Nehrams2020 (talk) 07:26, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
Bad choice of words
"The current unofficial inflation rate is above 11,000%" - given how fast this is changing, "current" is an even worse word than it usually is on WP (and it's usually bad). Could someone please change this to a specific date? 86.143.48.55 (talk) 21:14, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
The unofficial inflation rate is now 150,000% and rising-Ted Fox 02:13, 15 March 2008 (GMT)
Autocracy?
Is Zimbabwe really an autocracy? I personally don't think so. Shouldn't that be labled as POV? - XX55XX (talk) 03:51, 18 February 2008 (UTC)
- I do not think Zimbabwe is an autocracy!! Is UK a dictorship, since Brown has not been elected PM? Is the USA a colonial dictator that bombs other countries and then force into submission? All relative!!!! Ahaaa...the Rhodesians are busy trying to confuse the world..Because they themselves are confused. Rhodesians are only accepted as africans in the UK, but in the USA most people consider them "strange and fun"Zvidzai (talk) 04:12, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
I was about to start this discussion myself. Strictly speaking, Zimbabwe is not an autocracy, although in reality, who knows... Perhaps Zimbabwe is best either definied as a "presidential republic"? - Anonymous 8 March 2008
The majority of educated people will agree that Zimabwe is an autocracy. The widespread election rigging that is known to take place effectively means that President Robert Mugabe is self appointed.
Autocracy is a very subjective word, in the infobox the formal and official state of government should be shown. Critisism is to the put in the text. --Jonte-- (talk) 17:17, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
- If we are lucky enough, in a few hours we should be able to definitively call the country a democracy if not then the debate can continue... Mangwanani (talk) 19:38, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
- I think this is principable question, the infobox should show offcial data, critisism is to be put in the text. --Jonte-- (talk) 18:51, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
- My opinion is to wait after the election results are announced. If they are in favour of Tsvangirai, as it seems it should be, then we can safely call it a democracy. If, however, Muagbe rigs the elections as per the norm, then we shall have to decide one way or another. Mangwanani (talk) 19:33, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
If white people overwhelmingly are against one party, how democratic is that? They had from 1965 to 1980 to introduce democracy in Zimbabwe, but instead they fought tooth and nail, committing many war crimes, including biochemical attacks on the people of Zimbabwe. Did they intoduce democracy at least in the bantustans or native reservations they created? But now they are interested in the rule of law, and democracy? Only when it serves their own narrow interests. They are interested in Zimbabwe's land, and it's natural resources, like they have always been. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MrSativa (talk • contribs) 17:58, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
Since, officially anyway, Zimbabwe is a democracy, even if some actions of its government or President seem undemocratic, we can mention that in the article, but note in the info box that it is officially a republic... then again, they don't arrest people for being gay in a democracy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.10.119.82 (talk) 22:09, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
Some seemingly missing issues
Maybe these aren't missing so much as not given prominence - I was expecting to find more immediately accessible information about the land redistribution effort and the health situation in Zimbabwe, as well as more specific and up to date information about hyperinflation and the state of the economy currently. I think since the article is pretty comprehensive, any issues of recentism are mitigated. Thoughts? Avruch T 16:33, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
- Except for the health situation, the land distribution issues and the economic "developments" are still in a state of flux so it's really difficult to incorporate them comprehensively into the article at this time. Most statements are overtaken soon after being written--AssegaiAli (talk) 18:21, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

