Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Kimberley Process - the new colonial project

Kimberley Process - the new colonial project
By: By Tendai Midzi
Posted: Sunday, July 4, 2010 9:41 pm

THE debate over Zimbabwe diamonds has discredited civil society groups within the Kimberley Process and the media in Zimbabwe. The debates over what exactly transpired are becoming ridiculous by the day; but there is an underlying story behind the KP madness.

The likes of Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) and Global Witness, selected NGO members of the KP, are but a figment of the western governments they represent.

One finds it puzzling that 3 or 4 governments (and 2 or 3 so called civil society institutions) out of 75 members of the KP can hold the whole organisation at ransom.

What happened to democracy as the wish of the majority? Why is the minority holding that organisation at ransom? Is this still about Chiadzwa or there's something deeper? Ironically, these governments that are against Zimbabwe's certification happen to be former colonisers or linked to former colonisers. They also happen to have imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe as well.

One ridiculous debate emerged when Mines and Mining Development Minister, Obert Mpofu, sensationally revealed that the two civil society organisations had demanded 1% from the proceeds of Zimbabwe's diamond exports to be reserved for them.

The two discredited civil society organisations, in their defence, argued that no such bribe was made and they only asked for 1% to be directed to civil society in Zimbabwe. Who is civil society in Zimbabwe and who is represented by civil society? Are they not the same people that Chiadzwa diamond proceeds are meant to benefit?

And are these two NGOs now involved in setting policy (or influencing it) in Zimbabwe? Why are they extending the mandate they were given by the KP, if they have any, to include internal politics in Zimbabwe? Would 1% then get rid of the "human rights violations" they allege to be taking place in Chiadzwa?

Such ridiculousness often finds acres of reporting space in so-called independent media in Zimbabwe -- The Independent, The Standard and other western policy praise singing papers. Unsurprisingly, pirate radio stations who masquerade as mainstream news organisations, even though they have no national jurisdiction or national identity, for example SW Radio Africa, also give these ridiculous defences acres of space.

They are filled with half-baked analysts and people who claim to be journalists when they are mere mindless activists with no understanding of what is happening on the ground in Zimbabwe; or have the level of sophistication necessary to understand the underhand tactics of the western world.

One Lance Guma has become a clown in the defence of such claims and his pathetic form of reporting, if I may call it that, seems to be fed on our people daily. He drools when he interviews the likes of white farmers Deon Theron and Ben Freeth; calling black lands "their farms". One pathetic story told by SW Radio was about Freeth receiving an OBE from the Queen of England. Does SW Radio even know the significance of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award, when they call it a "prestigious award"?

Freeth was acknowledged by that country's Queen for his services to British or white farmers, not to the people of Zimbabwe. The British have shipped their own people, who were not farmers, from Zimbabwe to cushion them from the effects of their (western) sanctions. And who reports that story and not question the altruism of British policy on Zimbabwe? So-called Zimbabwean independent media. There's nothing independent or free about this media when it represents western policy and western propaganda. This is the madness that characterises our media and our so-called journalists.

The KP minimum conditions required to certify Marange diamonds were met by Zimbabwe. Mr Abbey Chikane's report is testament to that. He was a KP appointed monitor, so what more do they want? In any case, issues of human rights (violations or no violations) have nothing to do with diamond certification. If they did, De Beers would have closed shop a long time ago. KP "blood diamonds" definition does not mention issues of human rights. Even De Beers' Oppenheimer even admitted that KP was in a quandary over Zimbabwe as the country has a legitimate government and no rebel activity.

Why does Zimbabwe media not comment on human rights violations by DeBeers and all the antitrust lawsuits in the U.S. and the lack of social responsibility policies by that company in Namibia, Botswana, etc? Why are Zimbabwean, South African, Batswana and Namibian diamonds finding their way to countries like Britain and the U.S. that abuse rights of the people in the Middle East and other parts of the world? Is DeBeers not guilty of selling to abusers of human rights?

The biggest lie that we can ever tell ourselves is that those who enaslaved us will be responsible for our welfare. The absence of an African civil society institution in the KP smacks of an attempt by "those in high places" to thwartle development in Africa; and determine our destiny by remote control.

When we fuss and fight with foreigners over our own resources, we can rest assured that our minds have been enslaved; and enslaved they shall remain.

Zimbabwe, a tiny country, is on the world radar today and institutes and institutions that purport to fight for Africa's independence have published many stories and many news items calling Zimbabwe the worst country to live in, or the most dangerous place to live in, yet they fight for their kith and kin to retain farmlands in those countries. They fight to retain their businesses in that same country, and want to go white water rafting on the Zambezi, or go on a safari in that country. What they fear is what Zimbabwe is a champion of; i.e. a champion of black empowerment and an end to 21st Century enslavement.

Those who hail countries like South Africa as symbols of democracy in Africa should see the state of the African person in that country compared with the white person. They should tell us about the number of black people living below the poverty line in that country. They should also tell us why up a person dies from crime every five minutes in South Africa and why there are so many drug and white collar crime syndicates in that country and not in Zimbabwe. They should also tell us why apartheid, racism and neo-Nazi groups of the likes of murdered DWB leader Terre'Blanche still exist years after apartheid.

So, as we debate the KP process and its importance in African mining and Africa in general, we should ask ourselves whose interests the KP protects. It might look honourable in principle; but when that organisation sees a country's people dying from curable diseases and lack of basic sanitation and still wants that country to suffer and not benefit from its natural resources, we should question its altruism.

If the likes of De Beers and Rio Tinto were involved in Marange diamond fields, this anti-Zimbabwe stance would not have been commonplace. Marange diamonds would have been certified a long time ago; and cartels of these plunderers would have taken over Zimbabwe, and be benefiting from that plunder. Zimbabwe, however, will not brook such nonsense. The liberation war was fought for land (and minerals); and we will not reverse the gains of that struggle.

Those who enslaved us are saying, "How dare you want to maintain this multi-million resource and reduce our power over you?" This is Zimbabwe's crime.

This is the reason why the likes of President Robert Mugabe, Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, ANC Youth Leader Julius Malema are castigated by "those in high places". They dare liberate they own people and educate their minds. They are called all sorts: anti-white, racist, evil, dictator, Hitlerite, etc. because they are enlightened and therefore wish to enlighten and empower their own people. That is why someone like Minister Louis Farrakhan was denied an entry visa into Britain. He would have told the true story of the black person, not the likes of Dr John Sentamu or Bishop Desmond Tutu, who are quick to dismiss African leadership and appease the west. African leaders are not infallible and are not beyond reproach. They indeed can be criticised, but the bidding should not be done on behalf of the very fallible west -- the former enslaver and coloniser, but on behalf of the African people.

The castigation of our leadership in the media and the various labels imposed on them, are mere tactics meant to frighten any right thinking African who dares question why their own people are still poor on a rich continent. Many of our young people who graduate with law, accounts, medicine, engineering, media, etc degrees are quickly absorbed by the institutions run by these "people in high places" and never allowed to see, or tell, the true story. They are given so-called "human rights awards" and research fellowships to silence them. They are never given real careers, nor real power, but these token awards to silence them and rinse them.

The likes of Human Rights Watch, International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice, etc are full of African people who do the bidding for these "people in high places". By having black people do the bidding, the racist label is shrugged off the real culprits -- the western establishment. Then, only African countries will be subjected to the scrutiny of these organisations, never western ones.

Africans, unless they liberate themselves from this mental slavery, will continue to self-hate and think they should please the white person in order to advance in life. Those of us who live in Europe and other places know very well that the establishment will never advance us. It will appease us, but that's all. We will be given various titles (African Researcher, Senior Journalist, Chairman of ..., Convenor of Crisis in Africa Organisation, Leader of the National Constitutional Assembly,etc). These are all titles that blacks got after independence, not before. Before, you could only be A Filing Clerk, Cleaner, Janitor, Post Boy, etc.

In the meantime, all our resources will be plundered and we will be made to hate our own people; our own leadership. We will be told to tell the story, the lie, ourselves. See how many anti-Zimbabwe websites there are today. Most of them speak ill and evil of those heroes who died for them and are still fighting for them.

The likes of CNN, BBC, etc do their job of denigrating our leadership very well. They even use our own black commentators to tell their version of our, story. Their story is that we are corrupt and unable to rule ourselves.

This is the crux of the whole debate over Marange and all those journalists and black so-called "human rights defenders" are still suffering from slavery, and colonial, hangover. That hangover is so strong, it cannot break the shackles that are making our people believe that the Anglo-Saxon world can be both liberator and enslaver.

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*Tendai Midzi is a lecturer in economics at the London Metropolitan University. He can be reached via tendaimidzi1 **** yahoo.com

Labels: ABBEY CHIKANE, CIVIL SOCIETY, KIMBERLEY PROCESS, NEOCOLONIALISM, OBERT MPOFU

posted by MrK @ 12:26 AM