Published by the government of Zimbabwe
24 December 2008
opinion
Harare — IT is one of the ironies of our time that people who are being hounded out of office on account of their ruinous domestic and foreign policies continue masquerading as bona fide international leaders with the moral high ground to lecture Zimbabwe on its internal politics.
In the United States, George W. Bush's regime is on its way out, clothed in shame, trailed by blood and reeking economic ruin with Bush holding the ignominy of being the most unpopular president in US history.
His ratings are far lower than Richard Nixon's at the time of his resignation over the Watergate scandal in 1974.
In Britain, the Labour Party faces the exit at the next polls with Gordon Brown's ratings plummeting faster than those of his predecessor, Tony Blair, who was forced into early retirement.
And these are the people who pretend they have the moral high ground to lecture Zimbabwe when no one in their own countries listens to them anymore.
Over the weekend, one of Bush's foot soldiers -- Jendayi Frazer -- was in South Africa, apparently on a last lap of shame, claiming she was acquainting regional leaders with the "latest US stance on Zimbabwe", saying Washington "was withdrawing support" for the inclusive Government. Frazer's statements were both comical and tragic.
Comical in the sense that not only does Zimbabwe not need US blessings to form a Government, but Frazer was not announcing anything new.
It's not a secret that the US wants regime change in Zimbabwe, which is why it imposed its illegal economic sanctions in addition to sponsoring opposition and quasi-opposition groups here.
From the time the broad-based agreement was signed on September 15, the US never made its opposition to the agreement a secret and has, in fact, kept MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on a leash to prevent him from setting foot at Munhumutapa Building.
As such, Frazer's statement was akin to announcing sunrise on a dry Savannah day.
The statement was tragic in the sense that it only served to expose the hand behind Tsvangirai's flip-flops.
It is important to note that the US would never have publicly made such a statement unless they knew that Tsvangirai would echo it to give Frazer's voice a semblance of legitimacy.
This is the real tragedy we face, that at a time MDC-T has signed an agreement with Zanu-PF, part of which abhors foreign interference in our domestic affairs, Tsvangirai is happy to be used by the discredited Western regimes.
Right now, he remains holed up in Botswana dancing to the tune of outsiders, yet he was invited, several days ago, to come for swearing-in as premier.
Already many in the opposition have lost patience with him. For instance, yesterday we carried statements by former MDC spokesman Gabriel Chaibva likening Tsvangirai to Savimbi, with Independent House of Assembly Member for Tsholotsho North Professor Jonathan Moyo blasting him for puppetry.
We are sure many other Zimbabweans feel the same way.
We, too, believe even if Tsvangirai were to join Government, he would be difficult to work with as long as he dances to the tune of outsiders.
To this end, we believe the nation, Government and region have been patient enough, it's high time we said enough is enough.
It may be worthwhile to engage Tsvangirai's principals directly, for the man will clearly never do anything without their blessing.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 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.
Good evening Excellency. Murambe kuenda ku South Africa. Kana vachida kuita that so called extra ordinary summit, let them come to Botswana. Regai Mugabe ne Zanu vadade mukati menyika, vachakuparai sendarama. Musambotya kana chinhu panyika pano. Only fear God. Mwana Komana Jesu Kristu tinaye President Tsvangirai. Vachinji hapana chatinatyo this Xmas, I believe Mwari vanoda kuti titaure Navo this Christmas. Vana Baba nana Mai wedzerai minamato. Mugabe ne Zanu will be eating and dining, but ordinary people suffering with nothing on their tables. Nzara yatinayo its a blessing to us, nekuti Demon harigare pane nzara. Siyayi ma Demon avabvumburudze ivo vanozviti havashaye chinhu. Nenzara yedu ngatiwedzerei minamato. Afterall, 2008 is the last Christmas yenzara. Ndineurombo kwazvo nekuti Mwari vakataura vakati "Handisiye nyika, nyika ino, haisati yaziva". Mugabe ne Zanu vari busy kupwanya hari dzaBaba, kutambudza kacheche. That kacheche I bet will be President of his generation. Kugarisa kacheche munesikidzi. Manje ticharamba tichinamata kusvikira narini. Nothing is impossible with our Father. God will not fail us. I command release of Jestina Mukoko and all other abductees in Jesus Name. I crush out those crimes against them in Jesus Name. If God is for us, no one can be against us, even Mugabe and zanu. I send the Holy Ghost Fire on these murderers, thieves, abductors, Mugabe and his supporters in Jesus Name. Nezita raJesu ndinovasunungura mumaketani a Satan ana Jestina Mukoko nevamwe vese vakasungirwa MDC vachipomherwa mhosva dzenema. Ndisevendzesei Baba pama basa enu. Ndirimuranda wenu Ishe. Handirambe kutumwa. Ishe ndinoda rugare muZimbabwe. Kana iyo Monday kuchaita appear Jestina Mukoko and the rest muma courts, I pray Oh! God that you take charge. Vange vakavigwa Baba kusina anoziva pavari, asi Ishe tachema kwamuri mukatinzva, tavaona Baba, tinotenda kuti muchavasanganisa nehama dzavo. I ask you Lord to cover them with the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ where the devil will not harm them. I declare in Jesus Name that every weapon formed against them will not prosper Baba. Handisi mutsvene pamberi penu asi ndinoshumira kuita mutsvene uyezve mundishandise Baba pabasa renu, mundivhenekere ndigone kupupura chokwadi. I speak life, good health and peace in Zimbabwe in Jesus Name. Tatenda Ishe. Baba Zita renu, Zita renu ngarikudzwe, ipo panyika, panyika neku denga, ngaribatwe neutsvene, ZITA RENU NGARIKUDZWE. Amen
THE ITEM DOES SERVE A REAL PURPOSE, Bush apologist.
Frazier is the spit of Condi neo-con bush tail: she has no business interefering in the internal affairs of a sovereign African state: Africa for the Africans, rhodie.
Has anyone lectured the US on the immense human suffering of millions times millions times millions of Americans dropped on them by the moribund administration that the intellectual dwarf Frazier re-presents?
Or, for that matter, the financial suffering that the US has unleashed on the world because of its irresponsibly sponsorship of a CASINO called "Wall Street."
By the way, the DOCTRINE OF SELF-DETERMINATION still rocks, MA FRAZIER.
CHEERS FROM THE CITY OF AFRICAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND AUTHENTIC SELF-ASSERTION OF AFRICAN DIGNITY, even in poverty induced by THE REACTION.
Nonsense!!! What 'African self determination'? Do people count differently in Africa? The few people who were allowed to vote in the last election voted against Mugabe. Had the diaspora been allowed to vote, the margin would have even been wider. Where in then is the 'Self determination' that you talk of when it comes to Zimbabwe? Does 'African self determination' mean authoritarianism? Real 'African self determination' has said Mugabe must go. Anything else that you have said is cheap propaganda by this regime which has raped our country and devastated our people...
Don't mix up things, Sir. Every people and country as a matter of fact needs self-determination. A democrat as you are you should know this better. I recommend you to read UN declarations and conventions on this. This is why America is about the American dream and values and they have gone to war about this - I refer you to their unjustified escapades in Iraqi and Afghanstan where they used this to rally public support and opinion.
When we analyse the Zimbabwe situation we need to become sober a bit. We lose the point in anger many times. Sorry, I have been interrupted will continue later.
Nonsense, retour: rhodie.
What self-determination did Ian offer REAL AFRICANS IN 'RHODESIA' before the guns of ZANU/PF brought him down and YES SEIZED THE LAND THAT CECIL RHODES AND IMPERIALIST BRITAIN STOLE.
NOW, HERE IS THE BOTTOM LINE, MR. NONSENSE: THE LAND WILL NEVER REVERT.
WE KNOW THE GAME, DUDE: ALL THIS TALK ABOUT DEMOCRACY, BLA, BLA, BLA IS COMPLETELY PRETEXTUAL: YOU WANT THE LAND,
OVER OUR DEAD BODIES, RACISTS!
CHEERS FROM THE CITY THAT IS READY TO NOOK IT OUT WITH ANY HUBRISTIC 'POWER', THE CITY OF LEGITIMATED FORTITUDE, AND THE CITY OF KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT, THE LAND ON WHICH HARARE SITS.
Here you go J-hollow:
J-hollow never actually gets around to disputing any actual FACTS when it comes to Zimbabwe, does he? He just goes on spouting his invective or hatred to any poster who accuses ZANU-PF/Mugabe of malfeasance..........
J-hollow - like the other defenders of the ZANU-PF/Mugabe regime cannot actually explain the factual shortcomings of the government of ZANU-PF/Mugabe! If anyone posts here suggesting a new era or "different path" in Zimbabwe (according to people like J-hollow), we must be "Rhoadies" or otherwise racist.........
Now once again J-hollow (for your posts are as empty as your intellect): Answer all of us how the "reign" of ZANU-PF/Mugabe has been good for Zimbabwe!
FACT: Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is lower now under the "stewardship" of ZANU-PF than it was under the racist regime of Ian Smith!
FACT: Schools are now closed, no children in ZImbabwe are being properly educated. Under the racist regime of Iam Smith, the schools remained open! Even Comrade Bob was able to continue his studies while in prison!
FACT: Zimbabwe is suffering from an epidemic of cholera, which is an easily treatable disease throughout the rest of the world - what is ZANU-PF/Mugabe's excuse? Didn't Comrade Bob say "We have arrested cholera in Zimbabwe"? If only ZANU-PF "arrested cholera as well as he "arrested" his political opponents......
FACT: Under the racist regime of Ian Smith, Hospitals were open and provided treatment to ALL Zimbabweans! FACT: Zimbabwe is suffering under unimagineable inflation! Inflation runs so rampant that bank's computers cannot keep up with it! Didn't "Comrade" Gono lop off 9 or 10 zeroes of the national currency only several months ago? So, logically, doesn't Zimbabwe's current currency represent "18" zeroes? Yet "Comrade" Gono continues to print money?
FACT: You have begun to characterize the actions of ZANU-PF/Mugabe on these boards as "WE" (just like TAK did). Once again, I thank you for "outing" yourself as a ZANU-PF troll on this board. I did not have to do it, you have done it yourself!
Again, I would ask the rest of us here that look forward to a future Zimbabwe without cretins like J-hollow to ignore posters like him - he is clearly a CIO or JOC troll on this board!
For the rest of us - I am not a supporter of either faction of MDC. I am not a Zimbabwean, and I have never been to Zimbabwe! I have no ancestors here in the U.S. who ever held or profited by slavery (my family came to the U.S. in the 1890's). I hold NO investments related to financial dealings in Zimbabwe and have instructed my broker to make sure my investments do not include a Zimbabwean-exposed company - as ALL of my family has instructed their brokers!
I have "no dog in this hunt" meaning I am simply an uninterested American who sees injustice for what it is! Don't even try the "Iraq" argument with me because I opposed the war to begin with AND there have been fewer deaths in Iraq under occupation then there were under Saddam Hussein's regime (see mass graves!)! Just like as was the case with the end of apartheid, concerned citizens the world over can (and should!) denounce injustice wherever it rears it's ugly head. Simply because we oppose the brutal regime of ZANU-PF/Mugabe does NOT make us racists, colonizers or "Rhoadies"!
ZANU-PF/Mugabe is an organzation (NOT a Government) that took it's mantle as a liberation party and turned it into a yoke for ALL Zimbabweans to labor under. The truth of the matter is in the FACTS J-hollow, not that you ever come close to using FACTS in your posts!
I argue that the future of Zimbabwe requires a government that actually improves the daily lives of ALL Zimbabweans - even those who have sworn allegience to and profited by the government of ZANU-PF/Mugabe! Unlike the daily yelps from the Herald about the "government doing this" and the "government doing that", what have they actually DONE to improve the lives of the people of Zimbabwe? Answer? NOTHING!
People like J-hollow fill their posts with invective and seek to denounce their opponents as "Rhoadies" and racists. I am neither, I will not allow these boards to be cluttered with hate and ignorance. When I post, I post FACTS!
J-hollow does neither of these things. He never posts about the "great" accomplishments of the "great fighter" (small G, small F) because ZANU-PF/Mugabe has actually accomplished nothing great. They did not "liberate" Zimbabwe - PF-ZAPU had something to do with that! Aside from that, they have presided over a decline in living standards, life expectancy, education and healthcare - what sort of bill of indictment do you need to reach people like J-hollow?
The FACTS are J-hollow: 85% Unemployment; 231 MILLION per cent inflation (unofficially it is "quadrillions"); 30% of the population has left the country; Schools are closed for lack of instructors AND lack of clean drinkng water; Hospitals are closed for lack of supplies & wages; the Police arrest people and then deny they have arrested them - then, when they are confronted with that lie, they then make up another.
J-hollow: You did not respond in your post to a single accusation I made in my post as an indictment of ZANU-PF/Mugabe's "stewardship" of Zimbabwe in the post-liberation era.
Your supposedly "superior intellect" is perhaps confused when confronted with FACTS? You make up words as if your English correspondence course required you to make up words for a vocabulary test! I don't need a spelling or grammar lessons from an imbicile like you!
I deal with FACTS! I have never seen one of your posts ever attempt to defend the actual FACTUAL record of ZANU-PF/Mugabe because you can't!
Let's hope, that when the final blow falls, you will either be out of the country (as I suspect you already are) or you will be shown true mercy, as befits Zimbabwe, by not putting your back against the wall with Comrade Bob himself!
In a battle of ideals, the FACTS always win out - despite the errors in spelling and grammar. The FACTS say that ZANU-PF/Mugabe has FAILED to provide the people of Zimbabwe with it's proper standard of living, Education, healthcare, clean water, rule of law, free press, free elections, etc.. Any aimless rhetorical flourishes you add to the conversation are a mere distraction from the FACT of what ZANU-PF/Mugabe has caused the current Zimbabwe to become!
I argue about FACTS! You just wallow in the mud and muck of name-calling like a pig in mud! In the end, the truth always prevails! Someone like J-hollow always ends up like a Goebbels, a Molotov or Beria, a "Chemical Ali" or "Bagdad Bob", an Erick Honnecker or Nicholas Ceaucesceu! I argue with the truth of facts! All you ever do is call people names! You must be one of those whose backs are truly "up against the wall"!
If you want to argue facts, then let's argue facts! If you want to hide behind fake obscure words accusing your opponents, then you have shown yourself to be the coward we all think you to be!
Salutorious greetings from the cholera-free, schools-are-open, hospitals-are-staffed, we-just-elected-a-black-man-president, currency-is-not-worthless, press-is-free-to-insult-the-Government, inflation-is-only-3-4%, 30% of-our-population-has-not-left-the-country, elections-are-free-and-fair, nation of the United States!
I defy any of you here on this board to post a single FACT upon which our friend J-hollow's stands! No one, not J-hollow, AK-47, Phiri, Kubatana has EVER produce a single actual FACT as it regards ZANU-PF/Mugabe's "stewardship" of Zimbabwe! Out of nothing comes nothing, J-hollow, AK-47 and his ilk have nothing to deliver Zimbabwe from it's current plight than empty slogans...............
Declare whose side you are are on now! I defy you to come back in 6 months!
"Total Empowerment!" - how free do you (Zimbabwe) really feel?
J-hollow: How empty do you feel? Answer me with FACTS, not abuse.................
Bush and his administration may have administered badly, and Gordon Brown and the Labor Party may loose the next election - fair and fine. But the key is that THEY WILL ACTUALLY LEAVE OFFICE WHEN THEY ARE VOTED OUT - that's by your own admission. And the elections were/will not be rigged. Furthermore no one was/will be beaten for their vote, and no one was/will be killed for exercising their right. And if in the next few weeks or days there is a disaster or an outbreak of a curable disease, the Bush and Brown administrations will set aside politics and deal with the situation at hand. They would not let anyone starve just to act tough and defiant for obscure political reasons and cheap points on the global arena (expensive for the majority of the people of Zimababwe). These are the cases that the Zimbabwe government - which you poorly try to defend - has to answer for.
See all comments (16).
This item doesn't serve any real purpose, other than as a distraction to the real problem of Zimbabwe's illegal ZANU/PF government.
Imperfect though the Bush regime may be, in my opinion, the administration's spokesperson is sadly, on this occasion, correct regarding the current approach to the situation in Zimbabwe i.e. that a government of "national unity" with ZANU /PF and MDC will never be workable and should be abandoned.
This has been amply demonstrated since the signing of the power sharing agreement in September by the regime's continuing human right abuse, failure to observe the rule of law, abduction and extended detention without access to a lawyer of members of the oppostion and civil right movements. It is simply not acting in good faith and never will.
The ANC and SADC, on the other hand, have criminally failed the people of Zimbabwe, in their attempts to prop up and perpetuate the evil that is ZANU/PF. Sadly, the ANC's approach to Mugabe make it universally clear that when it's politically expedient the ANC, will look the other way. Perhaps the unwritten liberation movement code of "comradeship" supercedes everything that the ANC originally stood for in the Freedom Charter and the South African Constitution.
The incorrect reference to "sanctions" aginst Zimbabwe are an irritation. There are no UNIVERSAL sanctions imposed on the state of Zimbabwe. There are, however, TARGETED embargoes imposed by the Western powers on the ZANU/PF innner circle of politburo members and selected civil servants.