Maravi

(BLACK BRITAIN) Zimbabwe land issue will not going away

AU SUMMIT REPORT: Pan-African coalition rallies support for Zimbabwe
Category: africa Dated: 04/07/2007

Pan-Afrikan United Front (PAUF), a coalition of Pan-African groups in Ghana, has convened a solidarity forum in Accra to voice their support for the land reform policy of the Zimbabwean government. Godwin Nnanna reporting from Accra.

Godwin Nnanna

Land issue will not going away

The question of land is fundamental for our struggle for sovereignty. The war of liberation was about land. Of what use is independence when you don’t have control of your land? Pan-Afrikan United Front (PAUF), a coalition of Pan-African groups in Ghana, has convened a solidarity forum in Accra to voice their support for the land reform policy of the Zimbabwean government.

“The fight for independence from colonialism was a fight for our land and its resources. It was a fight to reclaim African lands from the grip of invading forces. Africa cannot say it is liberated when its land and its resources are still in the control of these invading forces,” said Affiong L. Affiong, one of the leaders of the coalition as she addressed a vociferous audience in an Accra church hall on Monday.

The group which said its mission is primarily to mobilise forces against all forms of neo-colonialism in Africa, described the move by the President Robert Mugabe-led government to “return stolen lands to their original owners” as “one of the most courageous steps ever taken by an African leader.” Affiong who chided the western media for what she called its ‘vicious’ and ‘highly destructive propaganda’ on Zimbabwe, said the group decided to put the forum together “to let the world know what Africans feel about Zimbabwe.” She added:

“The question of land is fundamental for our struggle for sovereignty. The war of liberation was about land. Of what use is independence when you don’t have control of your land? So our meeting here today is not as much about as supporting Mugabe as it is about supporting the issue. That is the problem with the way the western media is projecting the issue. They are not addressing the question of land. All they are simply interested in is to demonize Mugabe,” Affiong said.

Reacting to the statement that ‘Zimbabwe is an embarrassment to Africa,’ as made by AU chairman President John Kufuor of Ghana during his visit to London, Affiong said “Kufuor was reading his masters’ script, not speaking the mind of Africans.” According to Affiong, “It is not all governments that are in power. In many countries in Africa, Africans are in government but foreigners are in power.”

Labels: PAUF, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 4:17 AM