Harare — WE hail Sadc leaders for closing ranks with us in the fight against the ruinous economic sanctions that have bogged down our economy over the past 10 years.
As we reported in earlier issues, all 14 Sadc member states have pledged to help the Government raise the US$8,3 billion it needs to fund the Short-Term Economic Recovery Programme. A programme aimed at expeditiously undoing the damage wrought by the economic sanctions some Westerners imposed in opposition to the Government's decision to take the fight for total independence from the political to the economic domain.
Not only that, all member states pledged to use their embassies all over the world to campaign for the lifting of the sanctions.
What this means is that the fight against Western subterfuge is not ours alone, it is the region's fight. We should all harness and build on this goodwill as we approach the wider international community for development assistance.
With this bold stance, Sadc has rekindled the spirit of its predecessor - the Frontline States - that spearheaded not only our independence, but also the decolonisation of the entire region.
We are aware that the prevailing global economic crisis has not spared our neighbours either. The fact that they are willing to part with the little that they have to see us come out of the woods should inspire us all, in our various spheres of activity, to work for national development.
We are reminded here of the parable of the poor widow who in dropping two very small coins into the temple treasury, which is about all she had, outdid the wealthy who had given only a portion of what they had.
To this end, we challenge the Western world, some of who put us in this mess through economic warfare, to follow the lead taken by the poor widow, Sadc.
We should, however, never lose sight of the fact that each of the countries that pledged to come to our assistance have their own challenges, and that alone should tell us that the burden of economic turnaround rests on our shoulders.
We have the human and natural resources to ensure that this happens. We all have to harness them, whether we are in the private sector, Government, informal sector, the trade unions, we are duty-bound to well and truly serve our country.
It is also our hope that the Western nations currently gathered in London for the G-20 Summit will put their money where their mouths are by scrapping their ruinous sanctions, restoring our lines of credit and encouraging investment into our economy.
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I wish to directly challenge the editor of the Herald about whether he really believes the intelligent Zimbabwean readers are so gullible to accept this crap about "illegal" sanctions.Is it now history that the Hon President in 2000-2002 said "to hell with the IMF & World Bank" and declared "we are now looking to our friends in the East".Does it not follow that the sanctions are self inflicted as the regime continued to flout internationally agreed standards of governance to the extent of murdering it's own citizens?And when will Zanu(PF) admit to the people that their policies failed the whole nation?All this just because they realized that POWER was slowly slipping from their grip. Now how did the country benefit from the "look east policy" when we are begging SADC for financial assistance while our rich Chinese friends are actually pouring billions into the IMF coffers?
Be real Mr Editor.We will not forget what Zanu(PF) did to our beautiful country.I hope I get your very HONEST response.
The granite principle of the indivisibility of the GNU irrefragably refutes your analysis and argument.
Look, what President Mugabe said before the formation of the GNU may or may not be true, but is, strictly speaking, with the GREAT AND UNTOUCHABLE exception of the principle of land irreversibility, WHICH THE GNU EMBRACES, irrelevant.
Accordingly, there is no wind behind your analysis, since its ground, lies about the President, are simply untenable, given the new dispensation.
Frankly, whenever you demonize the President, you ipso facto demonize the GNU. Thus you wipe your face and cut your nose. Silly indeed.
That is an analytic proposition: the SON AND SUN OF AFRICA is inseparable from the GNU, and not even Descartes' "clear and distinct" ideas are half as perspicuous as this ROCKING EVIDENT TRUTH.
Pas pa Dig, why would you expect a honest response from the filthy bootlicking Herald? Zimbabwe would not have been a "failed" state had The Herald stuck to professional journalism. It is just worth less than the smooth toilet paper we use!!
So utterly predictable.
First of all try and explain away the fact that Bob's friends do not extend their friendship to putting their hands too deeply into their pockets - "We should, however, never lose sight of the fact that each of the countries that pledged to come to our assistance have their own challenges..".
Secondly, try and put the onus on the very people that Bob has been attacking for years - " It is also our hope that the Western nations currently gathered in London for the G-20 Summit will put their money where their mouths are by scrapping their ruinous sanctions, restoring our lines of credit and encouraging investment into our economy."
'Put their money where their mouths are.."?!! Since when did the West promise Mugabe free largesse to run rough shod over the people of Zimbabwe? No one in the West has promised Mugabe that he can stay in power, lock up his opponents(and magistrates), ignore election results, throw out the rule of law and get financial support to boot.
Surely, "we don't care about...."
We hit the brickheads with our rhetorical creativity: the next principle will rock their world.
Cut your losses now, and stop pushing the enveloppe, rhodie parrots, for our hermeneutical juices are "hot,hot,hot", to sample a Jamaican ballad.
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