Maravi

(HERALD) Shed the Anglo-American tag Morgan

Shed the Anglo-American tag Morgan

IS opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai justified to feel aggrieved by a letter written to him by Cde Thabo Mbeki over the disdain with which he has generally treated the Sadc region?

In all honesty, any right-thinking person would understand where Cde Mbeki is coming from and would tend to wonder what has taken the former South African President so long in expressing the widely accepted view that Tsvangirai takes everyone around him for granted.

In his letter to Tsvangirai, Cde Mbeki — among other things — accused Tsvangirai of failing to see the value of regional unity and for being irresponsible in the manner in which he has handled the opportunity presented to him through the September 15 agreement.

Tsvangirai has for long acted as if Europe is his real home and that his constituency lies in Western capitals.

At the same time, he treats Southern African leaders as if he is doing them a favour by merely talking to them.

That is why he arrogantly declared that he would not travel to Swaziland for a regional meeting on an emergency travel document, but will not hesitate to fly thousands of miles to Europe to hobnob with his backers there.

Cde Mbeki is simply telling Tsvangirai the truth when he says, "All of us find it strange and insulting that because we do not agree with you on a small matter you choose to describe us in a manner that is most offensive in African culture . . ."

Perhaps Tsvangirai has spent so much time in the West that he has forgotten that there are some general rules of decency that apply in our daily interactions and these are breached at the pain of severing relationships that take years to build.

Apart from the basic social laws that govern interaction at such high levels, it would be expected that Tsvangirai would also realise that he is sending out a very inappropriate message when he demonstrates that he would rather engage the West respectfully than to talk decently to his neighbours.

And what is especially surprising is that Tsvangirai runs to these European capitals where he is treated like a poor distant cousin while foregoing favours extended to him by Southern African leaders such as the use of King Mswati III’s private jet.

After all, when Tsvangirai last went to France, he was shoved off to deal with a mere official in that country’s Foreign Affairs department because everyone else was busy attending to more important matters such as the deepening economic crisis there.

It was long over due for someone of De Mabuchi’s stature to make it clear to Tsvangirai that they do not take kindly to the unacceptable treatment he gives them.

As Cde Mbeki said, it does not matter how powerful the countries backing Tsvangirai are; the fact is Zimbabwe is in Sadc and will never be in the EU, Nafta, Nato or any other Western economic, political or military bloc.

Consequently, the sooner he realises that his fate, just as the fate of every other denizen of this region, is inextricably linked to that of Sadc.

Tsvangirai should not expect that people from this region will take it lying down when he makes it clear to them he believes that they are not as clever or as brave as his war-mongering friends in Europe and America.

In a nutshell, Tsvangirai should somehow shed the Anglo-American tag that has weighed him down all these years if he ever habours any intention of being taken seriously within the region.

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NEOCOLONIALISM

posted by MrK @ 5:18 PM