Maravi

Scott should be seen as one of us - Mugabe

Scott should be seen as one of us - Mugabe
By Eddie Mwanaleza in Lilongwe and Chibaula Silwamba in Lusaka
Tue 18 Oct. 2011, 15:20 CAT

ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe says it is not strange that a white man, Guy Scott, is a Vice-President of Zambia and described him as "one of us and my brother". And Vice-President Scott said President Mugabe is not anti-white person.

During his address to the just-ended Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) heads of state summit in Malawi's capital Lilongwe over the weekend, 87-year-old Mugabe, who has been vilified by Britain and other western powers of being anti-British, showered praises on Vice-President Scott, a Zambian of British-Scottish heritage.

"To my brother Dr Scott who is sitting next to me, yes, good, good old days Marundera in Zimbabwe where you went to school. National Democratic Party formed in 1960, had two years of life was banned by Ian Smith at the end of 1961. By then he had crossed over he Dr Scott was in Zambia already."

President Mugabe recollected meeting Vice-President Scott in the 1990s when the latter served in the late Frederick Chiluba's Cabinet.

"We met when he was minister of agriculture, earlier on. We want to congratulate him for being, I think, the first white Vice-President in Africa," President Mugabe said.

"When we started our own independence in Zimbabwe, we had five whites; from Ian Smith's party there were four and one was an independent man, who was minister of agriculture Denis Norman, you know him."

President Mugabe said Norman was non-political but those from Smith's party were political.

Norman, fondly known as ‘Nothing Wrong Norman' due to his calm attitude when dealing with problems, was an English-born Zimbabwean who spent 12 years in President Mugabe's Cabinet as minister of agriculture from 1980 to 1985 before being named minister of transport and of power between 1990 and 1997.

President Mugabe said he kept Norman and Smith's people in the Cabinet for a start.

"So it shouldn't surprise us at all. You are not an odd person amongst us, having lived with us, having been born perhaps here in Africa. You certainly should be seen as one of us," said President Mugabe. "But, of course, the Ian Smith and others, Ian Smith is now late, I hope God has rested him in heaven."

President Mugabe also congratulated Zambians for holding peaceful elections and urged other African countries to do the same.

"We have had a good, good demonstration of peaceful elections. The most recent one being that of Zambia and we say congratulations to the people of Zambia. That is the way we should all follow," said President Mugabe.

And, in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Vice-President Scott said he and President Mugabe had known each other for a long time.

"We used to be together in the Federation - the Zambians, Zimbabweans and Malawians. We know each other from a long way back. So, it wasn't a surprise that he was pleased to see me and I was pleased to see him at the Comesa summit," said the Livingstone-born Scott.

"Some people were surprised because they thought he is anti-white but he is not. It was very generous of him to congratulate me and say good things about me."

National Democratic Party was a liberation movement in Zimbabwe that was banned by Smith.

Labels: GUY SCOTT, PF, ROBERT MUGABE, ZANU-PF

posted by MrK @ 2:41 PM