Tag: Zimbabwe leader

Zimbabwe to Return Seized Land to Foreigners

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments4 Comments
Flag of Zimbabwe
Flag of Zimbabwe

After the Zimbabwean government agreed to compensate the White farmers the hefty sum of $3.5 bn last month (Is Zimbabwe the New Haiti?) when they have no money in their coffers, it was only a short step to agreeing to return seized land to foreigners. Excerpts below are from an article on the BBC website. Again why are the people, who will be forced to pay for all this, not consulted?

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Zimbabwe has offered to return land to foreign nationals whose farms were seized under a controversial government programme two decades ago. Thousands of white farmers were forced from their land, often violently, between 2000 and 2001. The seizures were meant to redress colonial-era land grabs but contributed to the country’s economic decline and ruined relations with the West [caused by foreign economic sanctions and embargo]. A separate compensation scheme has been launched for local white farmers. They have not been offered land, but the government last month promised them $3.5bn (£2.6bn) for seized infrastructure[Is Zimbabwe the New Haiti?]. The US has said compensating farmers is one of the requirements for it to lift decades of economic sanctions.

Zimbabwe on Monday said foreign citizens who had their land seized could now apply to get it back. Hundreds of Europeans – mostly Dutch, British and German nationals – whose investments were protected under international agreements could benefit from the offer [if their investments were protected, why do they need compensation now?], reports the BBC’s Shingai Nyoka from the capital, Harare. …

In a joint statement on Monday, the ministers of finance and agriculture said some black farmers who received land under the programme would now be moved [to where?]. To allow the former owners “to regain possession” of their land, the government will revoke offers made to black farmers [will they also be compensated like the white farmers?] currently occupying the farms and “offer them alternative land elsewhere” [really? – I don’t trust this sneaky government- with the West they have binding agreements, but with the locals… nothing ], the statement said. …

Robert Mugabe and His Contribution to Africa

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Moments, Great People1 Comment

Robert Mugabe Ave in Namibia_3
Robert Mugabe Avenue, next to the Parliament, in Windhoek, Namibia

Namibia’s Founding President Sam Nujoma has described the late Zimbabwean President Robert Gabriel Mugabe as one of the continent’s most iconic leaders who fought for the liberation of his country and that of Africa at large. “He will be remembered as one who stood firm when others wavered. He was an iconic Pan-Africanist,” Nujoma said.

Robert Mugabe_7
Zimababwe’s President Robert Mugabe chants Zanu PF slogans with supporters gathered at the Harare International Conference Centre in Harare, Wednesday May 3, 2000. Mugabe launched the Zanu PF’s election manifesto which bears the slogan “Land is the Economy and the Economy is Land”. (AP Photo/Christine Nesbitt)

Robert Mugabe’s contribution to the freedom of Namibia, and all of Southern Africa and Central Africa is so immense that there are streets named after him throughout the region; for instance, an avenue bears his name in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. He worked tirelessly for the liberation of most of Southern Africa, including his very own country of Zimbabwe. Many countries such as Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (with the fall of the Apartheid regime), Angola, owe their freedom to his unwavering support. Even in the  Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRC), his support, sending troops there, helped avert total chaos. Joseph Kabila, former president of the DRC said, “We will forever remember the worthy son of Africa, who came to our rescue when our country was victim of a foreign aggressor. The continent has lost one of its pan-African leaders, a hero of independence.”

Don’t agree with everything you read online, in the Western newspapers. When an African leader stands for his people and is fighting for their freedom, the western press calls him a dictator, a heretic: Laurent Gbagbo, Muammar Kadhafi, Kwame Nkrumah at the end of his life, Sekou Touré, Patrice Lumumba, … When he serves western interests in pillaging his country, he is a democrat and a friend: Paul Biya, Omar Bongo, Alassane Ouattara,  Mobutu Sese Seko, and countless others. Pay attention and you will see… and since the media are controlled by the west, we get a different version, very far from reality.

Robert Mugabe - Fidel Castro in Namibia1
Map of Windhoek’s city center on the plate of the National Museum of Namibia, showing the Robert Mugabe Ave and the Fidel Castro St., as well as the Sam Nujoma Ave.

Everybody is stricken by some amnesia and forgets that the economic problems of Zimbabwe stemmed from economic sanctions imposed on them by Western powers such as the UK, US, and Europe. Before Mugabe fought for land restoration, he was knighted by the Queen of England, when he asked for the land of his forefathers to be returned to their rightful owners, he became a dictator. Go figure!

No wonder, Julius Malema of the EFF said “We must not allow our enemies to tell us how to remember [Robert Mugabe]; we know our heroes.”

 

Robert Mugabe in His Own Words

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great People1 Comment

Robert Mugabe_12
Robert Mugabe

“Africa must revert to what it was before the imperialists divided it. These are artificial divisions which we, in our pan-African concept, will seek to remove.” – Speech at Salisbury, 1962

“Was it not enough punishment and suffering in history that we were uprooted and made helpless slaves not only in new colonial outposts but also domestically.” 1960s

“We of Africa protest that, in this day and age, we should be treated as lesser human beings than other races.” 2003

Flag of Zimbabwe
Flag of Zimbabwe

“If the choice were made, one for us to lose our sovereignty and become a member of the Commonwealth or remain with our sovereignty and lose the membership of the Commonwealth, I would say let the Commonwealth go. What is it to us? Our people are overjoyed, the land is ours. We are now the rulers and owners of Zimbabwe.” – Speech at ZANU-PF Congress December 2003 . This is somewhat reminiscent of when Sekou Touré said ‘NO’ to France in 1958, “It is better to be poor and free, than to live in opulence and be a slave.”

Zimbabwe2
Map of Zimbabwe

“We have fought for our land, we have fought for our sovereignty, small as we are we have won our independence and we are prepared to shed our blood … So, Blair keep your England, and let me keep my Zimbabwe.” – Earth Summit, South Africa, 2002

“We don’t mind having sanctions banning us from Europe. We are not Europeans.” 2000s

“Our small and peaceful country is threatened daily by covetous and bigoted big powers whose hunger for domination and control of other nations and their resources knows no bounds.” 2000s – Isn’t this true for Africa as a whole today since the Berlin conference of 1884?

“The white man is not indigenous to Africa. Africa is for Africans. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans.” ZANU-PF Congress December 2000.

“The land is ours. It’s not European and we have taken it, we have given it to the rightful people … Those of white extraction who happen to be in the country and are farming are welcome to do so, but they must do so on the basis of equality.” 2000s

Robert Mugabe_ZANU PF
Robert Mugabe at a ZANU PF Congress (Source: Nehanda Radio)

“Mr Bush, Mr. Blair and now Mr Brown’s sense of human rights precludes our people’s right to their God-given resources, which in their view must be controlled by their kith and kin. I am termed dictator because I have rejected this supremacist view and frustrated the neo-colonialists.” UN General Assembly 2007.

“African resources belong to Africa. Others may come to assist as our friends and allies, but no longer as colonisers or oppressors, no longer as racists.” 2015

“We have said we will never collapse, never ever. We may have our droughts, our poverty, but as a people, we shall never collapse, never ever.” 

Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe, a Short Biography

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Moments, Great People, Uncategorized1 Comment

Flag of Zimbabwe
Flag of Zimbabwe

Here is a documentary about Robert Mugabe and his history, his life, and his leadership. This video talks about him, the fight for independence, the loss of his first son while imprisoned by the British in Rhodesia, and the renaming of the country from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, after the Great Zimbabwe  Empire. I only recently found out that Mugabe had been influenced by Kwame Nkrumah: African Visionary and Ghana’s First President. He had lived and trained at the Takoradi Teacher Training College in Ghana, where he met his first wife Sally Hayfron Mugabe. It is sort of a short biography.