Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) The West should listen to PM Tsvangirai

The West should listen to PM Tsvangirai
africauncensored.com
Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:40:00 +0000

P W BOTHA, a former president of apartheid South Africa, is quoted as having once said that black South Africans would not be given a right to vote because they were too 'unsophisticated' to understand the issues. Black South Africans could not even understand what was good or bad for themselves, he said.

As shocking as those views seem, such reasoning was not isolated. During colonialism of Africa the Europeans seemed to share those views. If France wanted to know something about an African country in the British colony they would go to London believing that the Europeans understood Africans more than Africans themselves.

In 2009, it would make all of us feel better to describe the philosophy behind those views as archaic. Unfortunately that is not the case. A simple investigation of the western press would show that in reporting on African issues most western journalists prefer a European perspective of Africa than the African perspective. Even when they go to Africa (usually South Africa) to file stories, they normally talk only to 'experts' in the minority white community in South Africa.

The reporting is so skewed towards the minority group that the western press have often mispredicted the outcome of South Africa's elections. The negative Africa portrayed in the western press mirrors the Africa constantly being talked about in the minority white community in South Africa. Just like the leader of apartheid, the western press must be thinking that Africans are not sophisticated enough to understand the issues affecting their own countries or continent.

Pieter Botha's views must be weighing heavily on Morgan Tsvangirai's mind as he travels from one western capital to another. Throughout his long and laborious fight for a democratic Zimbabwe, the west has consistently said that their actions on Zimbabwe are done only in support of the people of Zimbabwe and the MDC. The west has claimed that they would support whatever the people of Zimbabwe agree on.

After long negotiations mediated by former South African president Thabo Mbeki, the MDC and Zanu PF have entered into a coalition government which Mr. Tsvangirai clearly wants to work. He eloquently points out that everybody on the Zimbabwe street is in support of this coalition; that the coalition government has made progress, and that the whole international community should support it. He is the man on ground zero; he knows what he is talking about.

It must, therefore, be very frustrating to him to hear our western friends telling him that he is wrong; that the coalition government is going nowhere, and has thus far made no progress. In short these western friends are saying, "Mr. Tsvangirai you are a good guy, but we do not believe you understand the issues here". To most Africans, what a chilling reminder this is of a bygone era.

Mr. Tsvangirai's latest stop is Washington. He and Africa have a reason to be hopeful. The man in Washington is reasonable enough to listen to their case and do the right thing.
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This article was first published on africauncensored.com

Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NEOCOLONIALISM, RACISM

posted by MrK @ 5:59 PM