Let the imperialists choke with frustration

Let the imperialists choke with frustration
By Editor
Monday April 14, 2008 [04:00]

IT is very clear that the British, the Americans and their European friends, including their media, are not happy with the outcome of yesterday’s extraordinary summit of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in Lusaka. They must be choking with frustration that there was no harangue or denunciation of Robert Mugabe and the entire electoral process in that country. Prior to the Zimbabwean elections, they were insinuating all sorts of things, including accusing the Zimbabwean authorities of trying to rig elections.

And since March 29 they have been working to precipitate a crisis over the delayed results. They have actually been inciting Zimbabweans to rise against each other. What they wanted to see is violence or some other form of crisis in that country. This did not happen thanks to the maturity of the Zimbabwean people.

Many of them were disappointed when on Saturday South African President Thabo Mbeki said there was no crisis in Zimbabwe. They were equally disappointed when Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa said the summit was not about putting Robert Mugabe in the dock.

What they wanted was the SADC leaders to say there was a crisis in Zimbabwe and put Mugabe in the dock. The whole coverage of the Zimbabwean elections by the western media was one of inciting the Zimbabwean people to fight each other.

These are the methods of imperialism. And we hope Zimbabweans and Africa are learning valuable lessons from this. The role of the British and the Americans in dividing Zimbabweans can never be denied. There are so many Zimbabweans who knowingly or unknowingly, wittingly or unwittingly have hired themselves out to work for British and American interests in Zimbabwe.

If a tiny fraction of the interest the Americans and the British are showing in the affairs of Zimbabwe today were shown toward the liberation struggle from the white racist colonial minority regime, that war wouldn’t have been so costly and lasted that long.

These countries that showed no interest in the independence of that country, in the welfare of the Zimbabwean people and chose to side with a racist white minority are today masquerading as the champions of democracy, human rights and so on and so forth in Zimbabwe.

This is an insult, an affront to the intelligence of the Zimbabwean people and of all Africans. The truth is the differences and conflicts that the Zimbabwean people have among themselves could have been resolved in a less costly way if it wasn’t for imperialist interference in the political affairs of that country.

Imperialism has tried very hard to use South Africa and President Mbeki to promote and advance its interest in Zimbabwe but it has failed because that country and its political leadership are a product of the most advanced, the most just, the most humane and the most dignified political struggles.

There is no way President Mbeki or South Africa can offer themselves to be agents of imperialism in Zimbabwe or any part of Africa or the world. The western media has tried to insinuate that there is a difference in policy over Zimbabwe between President Mbeki and ANC president Jacob Zuma. This is an illusion. There will never be such a policy difference. And they will never succeed in dividing these two leaders in such a way.

Neither Mbeki nor Zuma will ever hire themselves out to imperialism or for such roles. Yes, there are some other African leaders that can be hired for such tasks but not these.

President Mbeki has performed his duty, his SADC duty on Zimbabwe with sufficient honour and integrity and has exhibited outstanding intelligence - intelligence which one cannot expect from Tony Blair, Gordon Brown or George Bush whose only weapons are arrogance and violence.

It is clear to us if the wisdom of our leaders - leaders of the Mbeki type - was allowed to prevail in the Commonwealth over the arrogance of the Blairs and the ilk, the situation in Zimbabwe today wouldn’t be what it is. And the Commonwealth would still be playing a positive and influential role in that country.

We saw the arrogance of Brown in Portugal where he refused to attend simply because Mugabe was attending. Brown is not interested in free and fair elections in Zimbabwe but only in the removal of Mugabe from power. That is his only discernable preoccupation where that country is concerned. And this is the man who some foolish Africans want to listen to on Zimbabwe!

What happened in Lusaka yesterday was a clear demonstration of the wisdom of our leaders in SADC. They worked the whole day and night, listened to everyone who had something to say on Zimbabwe, and emerged with a communiqué after 05:00 hours without any walkouts or threats of this and that.

This is something the Commonwealth of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has failed to do and may never be able to do.

At the end of the day all the parties in Zimbabwe, including Morgan Tsvangirai, agreed that the Zimbabwean elections were free and fair and also that there was no crisis in that country.

We therefore urge all Zimbabweans not to allow themselves to be agents of imperialism in their own country and to be used to divide and destroy their own country. We also urge our African leaders, especially our SADC leaders to remain vigilant and not to allow themselves to be manipulated by imperialism and its deep pockets.

What our SADC leaders demonstrated yesterday was that negotiated solutions can be found even to conflicts that have come to seem intractable and that such solutions emerge when those who have been divided reach out to find the common ground.

There will never be real democracy in our countries if we continue to subordinate ourselves to other countries, to the British, the Americans and their European friends. The subordination of one country to another must disappear before democracy can exist. How can a country that is dependent or controlled by another be democratic?

It can’t be democratic. In those conditions, there can’t be any kind of democracy. There can’t be democracy in a country divided into countless parts by imperialism. What such a country has, really, is a permanent civil war - a country divided into countless parts, so that it can’t tackle its basic problems, and the whole system becomes a tool of imperialism for maintaining its domination.

The form of political organisation should promote unity. We shouldn’t also forget that democracy although correctly defined by Lincoln as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, also implies the defence of all the rights of citizens, including the right to independence, freedom, national dignity and honour.

We shouldn’t forget the fact that Africa represents one of the most important, if not the most important, fields of battle against all the forms of exploitation existing in the world, against imperialism and neo-colonialism. There are big possibilities for success in Africa, but there are also many dangers.

What we consider to be the principal danger for Africa is the possibility of division among the African peoples which appears to be continually rising. On the one side there are the lackeys of imperialism, on the other peoples seeking to free and develop themselves along the roads suited to them. We have concrete reasons for fearing this danger.

Therefore, the unity of all our countries is absolutely necessary. The problems set forth here are common to us all, regardless of political concepts, systems of government and philosophical convictions. The approach to these vital questions affecting us and the solutions we seek can and should be shared.

We should also rise above the local controversies that sometimes turn us into enemies because of old disputes or intrigues, ambitions or the machinations of imperialism. We must not allow anybody or anything to divide us.

We must use political formulas and negotiations to solve those problems which make us occasionally oppose each other. Let us form an indestructible battle line of peoples to demand recognition of our noble aspirations, our legitimate interests and our inalienable rights to survive, both as Africans and as an inseparable part of mankind.

We have never been characterised by resigned submission or defeatism in the face of difficulties. This is well demonstrated by our liberation struggles. We have confronted complex, difficult situations with unity, firmness and determination.

Together, we have striven and struggled and together we have scored victories. In this same spirit and with this same determination, we must be ready to wage the most colossal, legitimate, worthy and necessary battle for our peoples’ lives and future.

As for our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters, let them end these elections - that have been accepted as free and fair by all those who took part in them and the SADC observers - in a decent and dignified manner.

If President Mugabe has lost, let him hand over power to Tsvangirai peacefully and graciously and either retire from politics or revert to a loyal opposition role. And let them have the recounts in the manner prescribed by law and as recognised by the SADC communiqué.

If Tsvangirai loses the elections, let him submit himself to the role of loyal opposition and continue to participate in the affairs of his country as such. Let them shame the imperialists who want to see that country ever divided and too weak to be able to tackle any of its problems.

Africa wants to see a free and united anti-imperialist Zimbabwe. And let the imperialists choke with frustration.