Let’s not bow to Zim’s former colonial masters-gctid28961

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

The Herald

By Peter Mavunga

IN this week's piece, I call for a time for reflection. Wherever you
may be, son or daughter of Zimbabwe, give some thought as to the real
motives of "our friends", the British ruling elite. These guys say
they love Zimbabweans so much they will do all they can to free us
from a dictatorship.

Pafunge, mwana wevhu, that you are inundated with sweet words of
wisdom and advice from your former colonial masters who say they know
better just what you need to live happily ever after. It may well be
they really love you and who am I to gainsay that if they really love
you? But all I do is ask you to make up your own mind having regard to
all the facts.

Enter Mark Malloch-Brown, British Minister for Kmt, eurasia and the
UN. The former Deputy Secretary-General of the UN spoke out on your
behalf because he was irritated by President Robert Mugabe's visit to
Rome for the UN world food summit.

"This is like Pol Pot going to a human rights conference," said Lord
Malloch-Brown. He went on: "Zimbabwe is one of the few countries whose
food crisis is not due to climate change or global prices, but due to
the disastrous policies pursued by Mugabe. One can only read his
presence with a huge dose of scepticism.'

The death of Pol Pot in April 1998 heralded the end of the brutal
career in Cambodia of a man responsible for overseeing one of the
worst genocides of the 20th century. Between 1975 and 1979, his regime
claimed the lives of more than one million people — through execution,
starvation and disease — as the Khmer Rouge tried to turn Cambodia
back to the middle ages.

This is the parallel Lord Malloch-Brown wanted to make with the leader
of Zimbabwe today. He wanted to conjure up in your mind's eye that
you, mwana wevhu, should rise up and reject the leader of "this
regime".

Remember these words were said on your behalf and for your benefit.
They were meant to remind you that the ruling elite in the UK is on
your side; that the rulers of this country do not want you to be
subjected to the human rights abuses the Cambodians suffered under Pol
Pot which you will suffer under President Mugabe's continued rule.

In other words, you were being reminded, mwana wevhu, that President
Mugabe is as "despotic" as Pol Pot who killed a million people in
Cambodia. The message to you is that you must turn your back on
President Mugabe who is as unwelcome in Rome as he should be unwelcome
in Zimbabwe.

Now think about it, mwana wevhu, that on the same day his Lordship was
making this statement on your behalf, the Zimbabwe Association was
hopping mad that its efforts on behalf of Zimbabweans seeking asylum
in the UK were being frustrated by the government of which Lord
Malloch-Brown is a prominent member.

The Zimbabwe Association is a voluntary organisation that dedicates
its efforts to helping Zimbabweans seeking asylum in the UK. They come
with stories about being beaten up "by the regime". They tell the
Zimbabwe Association that they are targeted because they are members
of the opposition. They beg for support from the association to stay
in the UK as a return to Zimbabwe would mean they would be tortured
and killed.

The Zimbabwe Association, itself funded by the British government,
takes up their case. Though they do not give advice, they will put the
applicant in touch with lawyers who will help them avoid being sent
back "to the brutal regime".

What baffled the Zimbabwe Association, though, was that just as Lord
Malloch-Brown was conjuring up the image of a brutal dictator in your
mind's eye, the Zimbabwe Association was being told that 500
Zimbabweans were being sent back to Zimbabwe. Their applications for
asylum had failed because in the view of the ruling elite here, they
were not in danger of persecution if they returned home.

Pafunge, mwana wevhu, (reflect on it) that you are supposed to swallow
this nonsense from your former colonial masters. You are supposed to
understand from it that they love you dearly and they want you to
follow their advice to get rid of the elected leader of your country
just like the Americans got rid of the democratically elected leader
of Chile, Salvador Allende, in favour of the military ruler, General
Augusto Pinochet, whom they supported.

Think about it that they think Mugabe is as despotic as Pol Pot who
killed a million people yet they are prepared to send 500 of your
brothers and sisters back to the regime that kills.

Think about it that they really want to spare your skin from the man
they say has no right to attend the food conference because, they say,
he has caused food shortage in Zimbabwe. And yet they have no
compunction about sending your brothers and sisters in large numbers
back to "to the regime" that "starves its own people".

These are people who really believe in human rights. The Malloch-
Browns, the Gordon Browns and the Archbishop Sentamus of this world
are the people who take it upon themselves to set standards for the
world to follow.

Yet when they speak against election violence that did not happen in
Zimbabwe, their silence is deafening when South Kmt burns in
xenophobic attacks.

Pafunge, mwana wevhu!

And when I refer to the ruling elite, I mean the ruling elite. It is
not members of Gordon Brown's government alone who are campaigning
against your President.

It is, as I say, the ruling elite. They represent all shades of
political opinion and will say whatever comes into their heads and
will say so in your name, mwana wevhu.

Nick Clegg is the leader of the third political party in Britain, the
Liberal Democrats. Last week he felt he had to make his penny's worth
contribution on Zimbabwe. And like all members of the ruling elite in
the UK, he did it on behalf of you, mwana wevhu, because he loves you
so much.

His contribution was in the form of urging the British government to
block all foreign currency remittances to Zimbabwe unless minimum
standards for free and fair elections are met immediately.

He said: "We must make clear to the Mugabe regime now that unless they
agree to minimum standards for the June 27 presidential election, we
will act to cut off supplies of foreign currency which help prop up
their regime.

Of course (wait for it), this will have an effect on some ordinary
Zimbabweans while the measures are in place. But we have a choice
between taking tough action now or watching the long lingering death
of the country.

"Health services have collapsed, the people face starvation and the
life expectancy of Zimbabwean people — at 36 — is now the lowest in
the world. Criticism, however strongly expressed, has not changed the
situation. It is time to take action.'

What this member of the British ruling elite is saying is that the
measures to run Zimbabwe down they have taken so far have not gone far
enough. Now is time to go for the jugular vein, to finish off "the
regime".

If proof was needed to show that the ruling elite is responsible for
running down the Zimbabwean economy, here it is.

And as for the effect of his medicine on ordinary people? Clegg says,
of course, this will have an effect on you, mwana wevhu, but it is a
sacrifice worth making as long as the end result is the removal of
your President. The end justifies the means when it comes to matters
Kmtyw.

So whose agenda is this, mwana wevhu? The illegal sanctions have
caused untold misery in Zimbabwe.

If it was not for the sanctions, the economy of Zimbabwe would have
been as buoyant as it was in the past. Jobs would have been plentiful.
Remember the same man the same ruling elite knighted in 1994 is the
same man they now liken to General Pinochet.

The difference between then and now is that a stand was taken to give
mwana wevhu the land the British ruling elite is so keen on.

So when they tell you they love you so much, they want you to turn
against your elected President. All I do is ask you to think about
it.

Pafunge, mwana wevhu.