By Bernard Bwoni
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| AU and SADC Chairman: President R G Mugabe |
The
incoming African Union Chairman, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is an
extraordinary socio-political and economic Engineer and just what the continent
needs and deserves right now. He has shouldered and continues to shoulder the
burden of the African case with unparalleled resolve to see the continent
achieve total economic emancipation and political independence. Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe has posed
a real and direct threat to an economic system which only functions smoothly
when resource-abundant African countries remain confined to the edges and the
lower ranks of any meaningful global economic activity. This is the same
economic system that flourished on the back of cheap slave labour and free
resources during slavery and colonialism respectively. Robert Mugabe represents
what can accurately be described as the last outpost and final frontier for
genuine African Renaissance. The childish excitement that gripped social media
about his trip on a poorly laid carpet and the associated media mass hysteria
is not an attack on Mugabe the man per se, but Mugabe the ideas which resonate
well in Africans continent-wide. President Mugabe assuming the AU Chairmanship
poses a present and direct threat to covert imperialism and the threat exist
not necessarily from Mugabe the man but the big ideas that he has instilled and
continue to sow in present and future African generations. The attacks on
Mugabe the man are a reaction to the AU Chairmanship because the principles he
stands for will now cascade signals continent wide that the historically biased
socio-economic structure can be challenged and dismantled by a united Africa.
He represents real hope for total economic independence that is meaningful for
present and future generations. It is important to emphasise the word
‘meaningful’ here and not the misleading narrative of political independence
that most if not all countries on the continent had to settle for whilst
neglecting real economic freedom. However no amount of tampering with media
headlines will change the fact that Robert Mugabe is a visionary. This legendary
son of Africa commands African respect from Cape to Cairo and the people of
Africa are well aware of who their real heroes are. The Mugabe vision is not
going to be derailed by a trip on a poorly laid carpet. Here is visionary who
is leading Africa out of the racist ICC kangaroo court and coming up with the
African engineered idea of an African court to deal with African affairs manned
by Africans themselves not some fresh-faced condescending newly qualified
lawyers who have never set foot on the continent!
The
assault on the Mugabe ideas is clandestine affair engineered miles away from
the continent with some misguided African elements and local cheerleaders doing
the footwork under the gullible banner of all the hollow high-sounding themes
of ‘human rights’, ‘legitimacy’ and ‘rule of law’. It is no longer just about
Mugabe the man, but the deeper meaning behind Robert Mugabe’s call to not just
settle for political independence but total economic emancipation. These are
the values and principles that resonate with indigenous population in Zimbabwe
and continent-wide. It is that belief and lifelong commitment to liberating the
black indigene and that resolve to place African resources back into the hands
of their rightful owners that invite the profound and unwarranted hatred from
the coalition of the erstwhile architects of the twin wrongs of slavery and
colonialism and their local lapdogs we have come to call the opposition.
President Mugabe has
remained guided by those principles that put Africa ahead of all else and the
frenzy that is sweeping across the African continent is a prelude to Africa’s
reorganisation and re-emergence as the force it definitely is and should have
been centuries ago had its development not been dislocated by the evils of
slavery, imperialism, colonialism, apartheid and neo-colonialism. The African
continent has to start serving divorce papers to the doomed marriage it
continues to endure unnecessarily with her erstwhile colonisers and their
allies. This marriage ended many years ago and in the case of Zimbabwe arms had
to be used to get rid of this unfair and unfaithful partner. There is no point
in sharing a bed with these strange bedfellows who you know for definite will
easily knife you in your sleep for self-preservation and self-benefit at some
point. This marriage is over and Africa is going to have to go it alone and
those who seek to aid and assist will have to do so not to just exploit the
continent’s abundant natural resources but to respect mutually beneficial
engagement.
Robert Mugabe represents
the unique brand of Pan-African cadres at the core of this conscious and
principled pursuit of the African regeneration and renaissance. The African
quest to seek divorce from the undignified one-sided and overly dependent union
must not be viewed as pursuing an isolationist course but a positive move
towards mutually favourable development partnerships. It would not be dishonest
to suggest that partnerships with the West have been exclusively disastrous,
their presence unfortunately has historically brought about conflict and chaos
to the inhabitants of the continent and that cannot be an accident but
carefully calculated to enable unrestrained exploitation of the continent’s
abundant natural resources. There is nothing called charity in this world and my
beautiful sister Dambisa Moyo put it aptly in her book ‘Dead Aid’.
The quest for genuine
economic freedom for the continent will remain ingrained in this generation and
many generations to come unless these historically and racially skewed
constructs which continue to relegate black Africans to the bottom of the
economic core are dismantled completely. The illusion that once people have
‘food on the table’ then the agitation will stop is just but what it is - an
illusion. The very reason why President Mugabe’s name is synonymous with the ‘international
media’ as the sole cause of Zimbabwe’s economic downturn is a direct assault
and attempt to extinguish the visionary flame he set in Zimbabwe and across the
continent. The people of Zimbabwe and Africa subscribe to this vision and what
they all see in the Mugabe vision is the very same thing those who went into
social media mass meltdown mode see as well. The difference is that those who
despise President Mugabe do so because his vision is running opposite to their
exploitation-packaged ideologies. It is interesting to note that
our beautiful neighbours to the south are mulling over the idea of a fast track
land reform. The Zimbabwe land reform programme is a beckon of hope for those
indigenous black Africans that history has forever forsaken to a lifestyle of
poverty inside a resource-abundant continent like Africa. South Africa will
have to go through the mire and mud Zimbabwe went through to wrestle her lands
from a system that only seek to preserve itself for the benefit a minority on
racial grounds. The fact of the matter is that there is no other route to land
reform in Africa except for the Zimbabwe Model. Anything else is child’s play!
The newly elected AU
Chairman is taking Africa on a journey, an African journey that is and a
journey that requires Africans and them alone to carry forward the vision. There
are plenty illusory promises from ‘Dead Aid’; but the hard truth is that Africa
is going to walk this path alone as there are no philanthropic champions out
who have no self-serving motives of their own.
The social media
regurgitation of the Mugabe trip is non-event and the clear message from the
African continent is that no amount media fabrication will smother this
unavoidable desire to uplift and upgrade the lives of the perennially
downtrodden people of this continent. The unrelenting and unethical
denigration of Mugabe the man is just a smokescreen to choke the Mugabe ideas of
total economic independence which are aimed at making the continent less
dependent on the West for her survival. The fact of the matter is that the
Mugabe ideas are here to stay. These are ideas that know no boundaries and they
will continue to arouse curiosity and interest in African minds, to challenge
and to provoke minds of the historically deprived indigene until lives have
been enhanced and upgraded. You can put as many trending fall pictures on
Twitter but you cannot shackle the seed that has been sown by these limitless
Mugabe ideas. These are ideas beyond any restraint; these are ideas that can
penetrate through any exploitation-packaged ideologies that are being
perilously dangled to Africa by the former colonisers as democracy promotion,
rule of law and rights and all those high-sounding nothings minus the grit and
hard realities on the African ground. The Mugabe ideas have found a permanent
home in African minds and now the execution begins. The new AU Chairman is
going to leave a permanent mark on the continent. You cannot put sanctions
on ideas because these are African ideas from the African continent, for the
African continent and the African off-springs.
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| Cde Bernard Bwoni: ZANU PF UK Vice Secretary General |
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