Published by the government of Zimbabwe
9 August 2005
Harare — PRESIDENT Mugabe has once again ruled out talks with the MDC, saying he would rather meet the principal of the opposition party, British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The President told thousands of people gathered at the National Heroes Acre for Heroes' Day commemorations yesterday that he was aware that there were shrill calls from many quarters - including those which he expected to know better - for the so-called talks with the MDC.
"Some of these calls have been motivated by the MDC leadership, which wrongly thinks it can use international pressure to compel us to talk to it.
"Today, we tell all those calling for such ill-conceived talks to please stop misdirecting their efforts. The rest of the world knows who must be spoken to.
"In case they do not, we tell them here at Heroes' Acre that the man who needs to be spoken to in order to make him see reason resides at Number 10 Downing Street (the official residence of the British Prime Minister).
"That is the man to speak to and those at Harvest House (the MDC headquarters) are no more than his stooges and puppets. What does it pay us to speak to them? We would rather talk to the principal," he said.
The President said it was strange that MDC leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai wanted to meet him in view of the fact that Mr Tsvangirai himself had maligned and criticised his deputy, Mr Gibson Sibanda, for accompanying Speaker of Parliament Cde John Nkomo to State House to pay a courtesy call on him as the Head of State.
"What does he (Mr Tsvangirai) want to meet me for? No, Sir, I don't want to meet him," the President said.
President Mugabe said if the MDC was serious, they should call for an end to the odious sanctions that they invited to afflict the country in the hope that the resultant difficulties on the people would create an opportunity for them to take over power.
"When will they learn that power to rule Zimbabwe comes from the people of Zimbabwe?
"When will they ever learn that the source of power is here at the Heroes Acre?
"The promise by their masters of 'regime change' will be sternly resisted by the people of this country.
"These heroes who lie here and others who lie elsewhere sacrificed their lives to free our country and its people from British imperialism.
"He who courts that imperialism and goes to bed with it is worse than a traitor to those people who sacrificed their lives to free this country."
President Mugabe said it was critical for the people of Zimbabwe to unite and work for the economic prosperity of the country as well as showing true loyalty to the country in respect of the men and women of honour who lie at the Heroes' Acre.
"They challenge all of us to serve this country in the true spirit of patriotism.
"The best way of honouring all these heroes is that of renewing our collective oath to this nation, binding ourselves anew to its total defence and to upholding the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of our liberated country, the Republic of Zimbabwe, for all time," he said.
President Mugabe said it was because of the sacrifice of the gallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe that the land was freed and it was now possible to build homes for the people under Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, which preceded Operation Restore Order /Murambatsvina.
He said the Government had deliberately embarked on the clean-up operation because it wanted to put an end to unplanned settlements and activities.
"We acted decisively, but always mindful that the chief end was to accommodate displaced persons by providing them with better shelter.
"This is why Operation Murambatsvina soon gave way to Operation Garikai/ Hlalani Kuhle, through which an expanded national housing delivery programme is crystallising around the preceding clean-up operation," he said.
The President said Government, which has a prime responsibility of providing houses for its people, would continue to do so despite dissenting voices of its detractors.
"Let those loud hypocrites who speak in defence of slums that brutalise our people tell us what they have done for our people in the area of housing ever since.
"Let those long-distance philanthropists, who want to romanticise shacks as settings and habitats for human rights, tell us why they do not allow them in their own lands.
"Surely their own people need and deserve human rights which we are told are the same everywhere.
"Above all, let them tell us why they have slapped the same people they say they love and cherish so deeply, with illegal sanctions," he said.
The President paid tribute to China, Russia, Algeria, Tanzania and Benin for standing by Zimbabwe at the United Nations and thwarting attempts by Britain and its European and American allies to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the Security Council.
He said the deliberate policy by the country to look East was rooted in the country's struggle where, with the exception of the former Soviet Union, China was largely responsible for the material assistance that helped liberate the country.
"I am happy to announce that the 'Look East' policy is beginning to assume concrete form and yield quantifiable economic results for our nation.
"My recent State visit to China was most beneficial, and is set to transform our economy in a fundamental way," he said.
Apart from freeing the land for residential purposes, the gallant heroes of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe said, had also freed the land for farming and it was critical that those who got farms utilise them to the maximum.
"They (fallen heroes) want it worked productively so it can do much more than just feed our nation.
"There is, indeed, the urgent need to move away from the current economic structure which still sees us rely on substantial imports for our basic requirements, because we fail to produce what we need.
"Today I repeat that wartime slogan which motivated us to share burdens of the struggle: 'Iwe neni tine basa' (You and me have work to do')," he said.
President Mugabe said it was critical that the nation feeds itself in order to safeguard its sovereignty, which continues to be challenged by the same forces that colonised the country.
Apart from the thousands that thronged the national shrine for the Heroes Day commemorations, also in attendance were Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, senior Government and Zanu-PF officials, members of the diplomatic community, service chiefs and defence ministers and chiefs from neighbouring countries who are in the country to attend today's Defence Forces Day commemorations.
Yesterday's programme kicked off early with some Zanu-PF members marching through the city centre from the ruling party's Harare Province headquarters to the national shrine.
At the national shrine, song and dance, prayers, and a fly-past by Air Force of Zimbabwe jets marked the event.
Posters carrying different messages were pasted all over the National Heroes Acre.
Some of the messages read: "No lying to the UN, flush out sellouts", "We thank the People's Republic of China", "We did not win elections to form a coalition government", "Tanzania, Benin, China and Russia, our heroes salute you", "Change the Security Council regime and not regime change in Zimbabwe" and "Will the real EU stand up?"
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2005 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
