Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Sam Akaki
3 June 2008
opinion
Kampala — Only with the Conservative Party in power in the UK can that country hope to salvage its rapidly deteriorating relationship with Zimbabwe and Africa.
Under the New Labour government, Zimbabwe has needlessly become to the British, what Cuba has been to the United States for the last 50 years. Just as the US has maintained an economic blockade against, and repeatedly violated Cuba's territorial independence, the Labour government has misused its influence in the UN, European Union, G8, Commonwealth, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to ensure Zimbabwe's economic collapse.
From making disparaging remarks in Parliament and the international fora to organising self-demeaning TV gestures by the Labour-voting Ugandan-born Archbishop of York John Sentamu; from boycotting two EU Africa summits to illegally ferrying BBC reporters and Labour MPs into Zimbabwe, and organising a "citizen's arrest" against President Robert Mugabe -- since coming to power in 1977, the Labour government has single-mindedly pursued an aggressive Africa policy aimed at running down President Mugabe, ignoring African views and the dire humanitarian consequences.
The deaths of thousands of Zimbabwean children due to starvation and preventable diseases as a result of the blockade are blamed on President Mugabe.
The BBC, which is funded by the Foreign Office under a Royal Charter but now banned from Zimbabwe, recently boasted: "The BBC's John Simpson confirmed the news while under cover in Zimbabwe."
If this is not a deliberate violation of Zimbabwe's independence, the UN and AU Charters, what else can it be? The Labour government is cynically using the current political dispute in Zimbabwe to create a crisis in South Africa by promoting the view that, unlike the state president Thabo Mbeki, the ANC president Jacob Zuma wants tough actions on Zimbabwe.
Nonsense . . . African leaders are infuriated.
In April, at the special session of United Nations Security Council, they pointedly rejected British attempts to flag Zimbabwe as a threat to international security -- a move which would have necessitated the deployment of foreign troops in country.
The Labour government's obsession with President Mugabe goes back many years. Speaking at the 2001 Labour Party conference, the then prime minister, Mr Tony Blair, said: "Partnership for Africa, between the developed and developing world based around the New African Initiative, is there to be done."
And he concluded: "But it's a deal: on the African side: true democracy, no more excuses for dictatorship, abuses of human rights; no tolerance of bad governance, from the endemic corruption of some states, to the activities of Mr Mugabe's henchmen in Zimbabwe."
The Labour government demonises any other African leader who does not share their view on Zimbabwe, especially President Thabo Mbeki, who has allegedly failed to bring President Mugabe down by cutting off essential supplies.
Mr Mbeki was so infuriated that he exploded during the 4th April Conference of Progressive Centre left parties in Watford, UK, and told reporters: "Zimbabwe is not a province or a former colony of South Africa."
Any wonder that Africa is rebelling against its former colonial master, the UK, refusing to send troops to Somalia, saying they need no white faces in Darfur as peacekeepers and turning to China, a country with nothing in common with Africa except trade.
In December 2007, African leaders spoke with one voice and said they would not attend the European Union-Africa summit, held in Lisbon, Portugal, if President Mugabe was not invited, as demanded by the Labour government.
And, speaking to reporters during the
China-Africa summit, which took place in Beijing in November 2006, the then Botswana president, Festus Mogae, said: "I find
that the Chinese treat us as equals. The West treats us as former subjects. Which is a reality. I prefer the attitude of the Chinese to that of the West."
Isn't it now plainly clear that the British relationship with Zimbabwe in particular and Africa in general will not improve until the Conservative Party takes over in the United Kingdom?
After all, it was Conservative MP William Wilberforce, who spearheaded the fight against slavery in the UK.
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Good on ya mate! Democracy is not something they understand in Zimbabwe, as the ZBC is controlled by the State. If only the truth could get broadcast to the masses. You are certainly not "an imperialist evil do-er" in my eyes.
HERE IS THE TRUTH!
An interesting reflection on, and a wake-up call for, social and political organization in the cultures of Africa , published in the Nigerian Daily Trust newspaper.
Posted to the web 25 October 2007
I Agree with Dr Watson - by Idang Alibi A few days ago, the Nobel Laureate, Dr James Watson, made a remark that is now generating worldwide uproar, especially among the blacks. He said what to me looks like a self-evident truth. He told The Sunday Times of London in an interview that in his humble opinion, black people are less intelligent… [Read Full Text]
The BBC is a subsidized news media outlet and the truth of the matter it is not a private news media like CNN, New York Times etc. That is why there is so much rubbish about Zimbabwe. The overemphasis on Zimbabwe, as if it is the only African country, has lowered BBC standards. Everything about Zimbabwe goes, even the most idiotic propaganda on Zimbabwe can be found on BBC. Most Africans now consider BBC just another British tabloid. If I want to see ugly pictures of my fellow country men, I go on the BBC website! Even, Morgan Tsvangirai supporters… [Read Full Text]
Phiri don't you ever give up? Time and time again I have proven to you that Zimbabwe only gets a few articles at most out of a large number on the BBC Africa news page.
At this moment BBC Africa has 3 articles on Zimbabwe out of 45. Anyone can verify this by going to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/default.stm
YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM THE FACTS PHIRI. ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES!
a quote from Phiri... "Zimbabwean leaders are good at blaming everybody, but themselves. Mugabe blasts President Mwanawasa and Tsvangirai, at every opportunity blasts President Mbeki, as if he is the sole source of the problems in Zimbabwe." I couldnt believe it.
I couldn't believe it either, but then I suspect it's because he has Zambian relatives and Mugabe / Herald were attacking Zambians. Funny how people change their tune when their family is affected by something huh!
Phiri, going along with your assertion that the BBC is highly biased against zimbabwe and mugabe solely because it is a provisional arm of the British Govt as it receives a subsidy and falls way short of high calibre media organisations like CNN...why is it then that CNN is banned from zimbabwe???
The only idiotic propaganda I manage to read without putting my fist through my monitor is the crap oozing out of the Herald...a wholly owned govt mouthpiece that sees absolutely no wrong in mugabe. And in an attempt to disparage Sentamu for speaking out against mugabe it portrays… [Read Full Text]
See all comments (64).
For starters the BBC is not funded by the british government, it is funded by the british people.
Almost every fact in this article is false. I await the claims that i'm just an imperialist evil do-er.