DEAR EDITOR β DESPITE all the broadcasts by the independent press and attempts to discredit the leadership of our country, we have remained resolute as a party and will easily gain victory tomorrow. We will be able to do this for a number of reasons. Please allow me space in your publication to express a few ideas.
As a party, Zanu was founded in August 1963 by Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere, Leopold Takawira and Robert Mugabe at former Defence minister Enos Nkala's house in Highfield. This party was not founded along tribal lines and we vowed to fight tribalism and concentrated on freeing our people from the shackles of colonialism, and get our land back.
In Africa, we fought one of the longest, protracted wars of liberation and freed our people. Many of those people who fought in that liberation struggle are still alive today. Many of those elements that we fought against are still very much alive and are in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) today.
We have seen many rebellions and defections in the party e.g. the Nhari Rebellion which more threatening that the current defections, among others. The history of Zanu is rddled with rebellion after rebellion, yet the party has survived all these years. The history of any other political party, for that matter, is riddled with rebellions and defections. Some parties have been paralysed by these rebellions for instance UNIP in Zambia and Chama Chama Pinduzi in Tanzania and others have remained strong e.g. the ANC in South Africa and Zanu PF in Zimbabwe. History of conflicts in politics, and party politics, is not new.
Kaunda's battles with Alice Lenshina in Chinsali, and with Zambia's ANC party paralysed the party. Chiluba's Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) won the elections in Zambia after the West had sponsored a puppet government and Zambia further deteriorated into chaos. In 1999 they declared stateless a veteran, who had fought for the country for decades. We remember the proclamations of the Ndola Court reducing former President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda to a non-entity, yet this man had dedicated his whole life to the country. Ironically on 19 October 2007 Kaunda was the recipient of the 2007 Ubuntu Award β because he exemplified a character of true humanity with a global impact. Former President Nelson Mandela was the first recipient of the award.
The greatest challenge for our Zimbabwean people is how best to embrace the leaders of the liberation struggle and make it practical for our young countries to carry on with the struggle to free our people. We have attained political independence and inherited systems that were archaic to our mode of living and organisation - systems that we were excluded from. We were likely to face problems, and indeed we did, yet that should not be a cause for denouncing the efforts made in the war.
When the white man came to Zimbabwe, we had farming systems, that they didn't understand. Our farms were taken by force and we were driven into poverty and lost everything that we had taken centuries to develop. Our economies were disrupted and the white man took decades to learn to farm, yet today we are told that we should learn to farm in six years.
Any change in social organisation will disrupt systems and drive people into problems before things start improving. That is the nature of any revolution. The colonists were lucky because they had the blessings of their imperial parents-and slave labour. We are unfortunate because we have the curse of the imperialsists and our own people do not see the wider picture. The white settlers saw the wider picture and enjoyed the fruits. Wars were fought and many people died. So indeed, we will face tough times ahead. Many of us will be sacrificed along the way. Any form of social and economic reorganisation has casualties, not a good thing, but that is the nature of struggles. Not everything is given on a silver platter. There are casualties in the ghettoes in America; there are black casualties in Britain today, yet we are quick to judge our own people and not face the struggles that we go thorugh daily as a people. We are quick to judge. If Simon Mann and his team can risk so much to destabilise our people, why should we stand aloof and wait for the worst to come. We should be on guard, to guard our sovereignty, and our wealth.
The MDC has failed to contextualise the wider Zimbabwean and African problem. As a party Zanu PF has made mistakes. No one is immune from mistakes, but we have been judged harshly by our own people and have had to fight a war at home, and abroad. The West has manipulated our people to think that we are the enemy. We have been paralysed, since 1998, economically by the West. Stop to think why we sank so low since 1998 and not before. President Mugabe educated a whole population in a short period of time and his commitment to developing the Zimbabwean has never been questionable, yet today he is labelled a dictator by murderers and thugs in the West. Ian Smith killed close to 100,000 Zimbabweans yet our own people today say a Smith regime was better that a Zanu PF government. Smith stripped the dignity of the black person and made us slaves in our own lands. Today, Smith's relatives in the West are doing the same because we have refused to have our economies dominated by these people. Because we have asked for them to pay for the disruptions they caused us. Who is the victim here, and who is the villain?
The West has dominated us for centuries and many, like Morgan, would like to see that continue-through the IMF, World Bank, IFC etc. Our people suffer in the West today and they suffer at home because of the activities of the West. They turn our people against their leadership and try and persuade them that everything Western is the best, yet they kill and maim in their own countries. Their social systems have decayed, their family systems have been paralysed by over-concentration on business and on money, by greed and selfishness. Their children become murderers; and they rape, kill and maim young children. Yet we are made to believe that their lives are superior.
They detain and torture and invade other people's countries and kill civilians, yet we receive, proudly, human rights awards from them.
Many of our people live with fear of deportation to their own country. They fear for their lives at home. They fear for their lives back in the West. The West has managed to manipulate our people by instilling fear at home, and abroad. Our people live in perpertual fear of the unknown and leaders like Brown play politics with people's feelings and use fear as a manipulation tool. Their immigration policies are meant to demoralise the immigrant. Their policies instill fear in our people, yet they enjoyed centuries of existence and plunder on the African continent and enslaved our own people. Yet we have been unable to realise that the West is the culprit and their desire to dominate the world has led us into troubles we face today.
Yet there are others like Stan Mukasa, who have been rewarded with Western crumbs, and have a twisted sense of self-importance, who sit at the computer daily and peddle falsehoods about their own country. They haven't stepped a foot in the country for many years, yet have become champions of Western-led propaganda against Zimbabwe. Radio stations sponsored by the West have been champions of scare-mongering and lying about the 'situation on the ground'. Overnight, these people have become champions of democracy in the comfort of their tiny Western rooms and forgotten the reasons why we went to war in the first place. They lie that they face risks in Zimbabwe, yet others remain and oppose the government in peace, in Zimbabwe. Many of these so-called asylum seekers in the West are individuals that even the ruling party has never heard of, and even people like Makosi lie that they face risks in Zimbabwe.
This is the mentality that will drive us deep into problems in the future. If the current crop of nationalist leaders disappears, this country will become a province of the UK or USA as other puppet governments in Africa have become. They have become fearful of everything African and embraced everything European or Western. This is what we were fighting against for close to four decades. We cannot go back to that scenario again. Our people should oppose their governments independent of Western influence. We should develop our own brand of political systems, that augurs well with our condition.
As we go to the elections, let us remember that those who work against their own governments like Chilubas and Tsvangirais will only take us back where we are coming from. Chiluba caused Zambia untold misery and the feeling today is that Kaunda was a better leader; yet Zambians failed to see the wider picture when they voted the MMD into power. Like Zimbabweans today, Zambians said they wanted change, any change. This is a very dangerous precedent and if Zambia is anything to go by, Zimbabweans should vote wisely. Morgan is another puppet, just like Chiluba. He is power hungry, dictatorial and a dangerous and confused individual. He might look like a saint today, but he is just a wolf in sheep's skin. He has promoted and encouraged violence in his pursuit of power. He has defied every MDC party protocol and gone to bed with any individual who will help him get to presidency, including those former Rhodesian slavemasters. He has called on the people of Zimbabwe to defy an election result and incited violence after failing to use logic and strategy to unseat President Mugabe.
Morgan is simply the greatest threat to peace we have in Zimbabwe today. He is the greatest threat to our sovereignty. He is the greatest threat to the Third Chimurenga which is almost over. The Third Chimurenga is about economically empowering our own people, making them owners of their means of production, owners of their land, and decision-makers in their own country-something the black man has never enjoyed. This process will take some time to materialise; but it will.
Zimbabwe is the test case for Africa's economic independence; just like Ghana was the test case for Africa's political independence. I hope President Mugabe will not be judged harshly, like they did with Nkrumah. Today Nkrumah is heralded the Father of African Liberation, yet he was villified and forced to flee from his own country and die a miserable man in exile. He is turning in his grave today.
We will not let Tsvangirai paralyse our development and hand back the country to Bennett, Coltart and their erstwhile Rhodesian Front thugs who made us suffer as domestic workers in their houses, houses we built for them; or workers in their fields, fields they stole from us; and stripped us of our dignity, by judging us by the colour of our skin. They talk about free and fair elections today, yet we taught them the principle of 'one man, one vote'. They have transmogrified themselves into election observers, yet they disenfranchised our people for a very long time. They should remain where they are today, in the background, and know what it means to be second-class citizens. The days of worshipping the Rhodesians are gone. The tables have turned indefinitely, and Zimbabwe will never be a colony again.
Those who are too young to remember, let me remind you: We had dogs biting us, we had imperialists killing us and jailing us indefinitely. We were murdered and tortured. Ian Smith brutalised our people in townships and never gave us education. Majoni aSmith brutalised us and imposed 6 oclock curfews. Smith never gave us decent jobs; we were menial workers because of our skin colour. He never allowed us space to speak; we were detained, tortured and imprisoned for speaking out. Our parties were banned and leaders jailed indefinitely. Others died of disease and malnutrition in prison. Our mothers worked as domestic servants on their own soil and were denied education. We were moved from our fertile soils and not allowed to till our own soils.
This is what we are fighting against today. We will not allow this situation to come back. Many of those RF members of the MDC today, know very well that ndivo vanga vari ana baas vedu. Nhasi zvaipa. They never spoke against Ian Smith or his brutality. Last year Smith died a proud man, without facing the ICC or any tribunal in the country. Yet he killed many more people in Zimbabwe than anyone could ever kill. Yet the champions of human rights kept quiet β the opposition MDC kept quiet on Smith, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights kept quiet, the International Bar Association kept quiet, the Law Society kept quiet, Britain kept quiet, USA kept quiet, Australia kept quiet, SW Radio kept quiet, all other groups kept quiet. Why? Because it was a white man who killed us?
As you vote tomorrow, vote for the future. Vote for our empowerment. In secret, vote Zanu PF.
Shingirai Hondo Zanu PF member
USEFUL ATTACHMENTS
READER OPINIONS
Takunda Mhofu β’ jay24gee@yahoo.co.uk Subject: The Struggle Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:39:15 β’ The struggle continues. We are struggling under one of our own, who has hi-jacked the cause you so amply defined. We know the history and need not to be reminded especially in ,moments like this when Mugabe with all those cridentials and heartless cronies have managed to enslave their own people. Where is the patriotism ennunciated during those years?
Nhamodzenyika β’ n/a Subject: n/a Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:27:36 β’ Wototsvaga kwokutiziraka OMugabe, that is if you haven't yet skipped the border. Change is unstoppable my man. Zanu PF is now the opposition, wake up and smell the coffee!
Omugabe β’ dziva@sanandresano.com Subject: Africa for Africans Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:57:43 β’ Long live Zim Patriots!
Long live Magnanimous Mugabe, the greatest African Hero since the Black Pharaohs of Egypt!
Because the racist enemies of Africans are powerful and relentless, Zim Patriots will continue to face obstacles from them.
These racist obstacles will tend to limit present expressions of African Self-determination, Self-development, Self-sufficiency and Self-reliance.
However, Africans MUST persevere; because FINAL VICTORY over their racist enemies of European stock is inevitable.
On the bright side, Africans are now FREE and are not dying on battle fields.
This is the moment for Zim Patriots to re-make their ancestral home in their Afro-centric image, and damn the invaders.
Upenyu β’ apostleu@yahoo.com Subject: The struggle Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:43:18 β’ Whatever the struggle was for Zanu PF is failing to lead the country. You cannot justify inflation of 150 000% what ever the cause is that what we expected your freinds to solve when thy told us about looking east inflation was below 100%. We looked east while you were grabing farms now inflation is six digit. Forget about the struggle of yesterday my brother and look at the future Mugabe has outlived his useful life span its time for new blood.
n/a β’ n/a Subject: n/a Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:40:58 β’ In Zimbabwe - if you have an opinion merely an opinion against the ruling party and what is actually happening on the ground then you are said to be ' a puppet of the west' what else can Bob Offer expect 'Zimbabwe will never be a colony again# can he offer food in the supermarkets no - on the farms NO - Bob Denied the Diaspora the right to vote - WHY - because he knows that vote ALONE would remove him. We all know where this elections is going. Ngonidzashe - you rightly said - what about the other liberators who are since deceased and those still with us. Do we disrepect thneir memory because ONE man has decided he OWNS ZiMBABWE. Mugabe is a disgrace to the likes of African leadership - the Mandela's WE WERE A DIFFERENT NATION - the best people - the most passive. Sadly he brought it all upon himself. The Ides of March.............
simba β’ n/a Subject: Why write here? Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:13:33 β’ Why have you decided to write here then and not the Herald???
May its because you know that the Herald is now a rubbish paper which noone takes seriously?
Maybe you know that it is only the private media which gives individuals of differing thoughts the platform to air their views; unlike your Heralds and ZTVs??
But with this publication increasingly taking a pro-Mugabe stance (seeing conspirators and racists behind every bush and around every corner) perhaps you are in good company!
Food for thought from some of once-loyal readers...
As for you Mr?Mrs Writer, i dont have time for your propaganda.
I'm sure even you yourself can see how our country is being held hostage by 1 MAN and his gang.
Think about it...
Ngonidzashe β’ n/a Subject: n/a Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:20:13 β’ Shingirai, you said very well our kith and kin died for our country. Did they die to make one man the king of our heritage while the rest of us are told to be patient because its a revolution? With how you guys and Mugabe are treating us, those heroes must be turning in their graves today. If you want to refer to history again, surely Mugabe (and even Zanu PF) is not the only one who fought against colonialism in Zimbabwe.
We say Mugabe has done his part, now we want another Zimbabwean (please we are not asking anyone who is not Zimbabwean) to lead us to another level of that same revolution. What we are against is the individualisation of our national heritage while blaming it on the West. If Bob cannot give us a decent life (and burial) he has failed in his duty as the president. Surely this is not quantum physics!
So as we go to vote tomorrow let us remember Mugabe is the obstacle that stands between us and our freedom, and as such should be uprooted. If Tsvangirai, Makoni or even Toungana wins, our lives will not be any worse than now. The only way is up. Noone monopolises the struggle for our freedom without getting his hands charred.
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