(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) Dubious friends eye Zim gems
Sunday, 07 April 2013 00:00
Kuda Bwititi
The British government invited Zimbabwe for talks aimed at normalising relations between the two countries largely because the former colonial power wants to benefit from the local economy following the discovery of diamonds in Marange, a Cabinet minister has said.
Speaking on Star FM radio programme The Hub last Thursday, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa said Britain and a group of Western countries that has christened itself
Friends of Zimbabwe (FoZ) do not seem sincere in their re-engagement efforts as
their major pre-occupation appears to be the rich resources in the Southern African state.
Cde Chinamasa, who represented Zanu-PF on the re-engagement committee that travelled to London for the talks last week, said British representatives at the meeting acknowledged that the dispute between Harare and London was bilateral and stemmed from differences over the land reform programme.
He added that the two countries pledged to hold another re-engagement interface in future. The dates for the proposed meetings are, however, yet to be set.
Other members of the Zimbabwe re-engagement committee are Mr Elton Mangoma (MDC-T) and Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
“The outcome of the meeting was basically a commitment by the British to agree that the quarrel between Zimbabwe and Britain is a bilateral quarrel and bilateral issue, something that we have been saying all along,” he said.
“They also advised us that they were intent on re-engaging us bilaterally and to put on the agenda all the issues that affect our relationship and these issues include the land question, which is a colonial question and a decolonisation question.
“To that extent, a first step was taken towards a future re-engagement and a future dialogue.”
Minister Chinamasa said Britain and FoZ felt excluded from the country’s economic activities and now hope to benefit from its rich resources following the discovery of diamonds in Marange.
“They also realise that their policy of isolating Zimbabwe and isolating President Mugabe is not sustainable. But also from a very self interest point of view, they want to come into our country because they think that we have excluded them in the economy.
“They want a bite into our industry, primarily into mining and especially diamonds.”
Cde Chinamasa said Western investment should be based on a win-win foundation since the West plundered Zimbabwe’s resources in the past.
“I also indicated that if they want any friendship it should be on the basis of sovereign equality. We do not want a relationship with them, which is exploitative especially as has happened in the past, where a relationship was exploitative in their favour.
“They were basically scooping out our minerals free. That relationship I told them is going to stop. We want to engage each other on the basis of equality; any economic relations should be on the basis of win-win.
“Therefore, there must be mutual advantage and mutual benefit to the investor who makes money and to ourselves. There must be benefits, clear benefits that accrue to the country in which they are investing.”
He said the ball was in the British government’s court to continue engagement.
“It was them who disengaged from our relations. If they decide to re-engage us, they know where to find us. We are ready because in the first place, we never disengaged; it was them who decided that they would sever relations with Zimbabwe.”
Cde Chinamasa revealed that there was, however, discord among the re-engagement team members who only agreed that sanctions against the country should be scrapped unconditionally.
“Unfortunately, Minister Mangoma who started the discussion and made the first presentation started washing the dirty linen in public.
“Clearly he was making an attack on Zanu-PF on all issues almost as if he was talking to a Zimbabwean audience. I was forced basically to put the Zanu PF position.”
Last month, Britain’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Commonwealth Affairs, Mr Mark Simmonds, invited the Zimbabwe Government for the talks, marking the first time the British have formally sought to resolve the impasse between the two countries spanning over a decade.
Harare and London fell out after the latter reneged on an obligation to finance the land reform programme. The British internationalised the dispute and eventually convinced its Western allies to impose sanctions.
Labels: FRIENDS OF ZIMBABWE, PATRICK CHINAMASA, SANCTIONS
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Mixed Reports from Zimbabwe
Propaganda, Lies and Deceit Surround the Situation in Zimbabwe
Share Article | Jul 9, 2008 Andrew Woolford
David Daniels of Friends of Zimbabwe returns to his hotel room after observing the 2005 General Elections in Zimbabwe, turns on the television and sees CNN reporting that Zimbabwe is in a terrible state and there is open violence in the streets, when Daniels saw this he said "Oh my God." According to Daniels what was reported then was totally distorted.
At a forum on July 3, 2008 held at the National Black Theater in Harlem, New York, observers of the June 27th Elections held in Zimbabwe said that what the public is hearing about Zimbabwe are not all true.
The panel for the forum consisted of Viola Plummer, Omowale Clay, Vernon Verdree and Robert Taylor. They spoke on Zimbabwe's national sovereignty, reclaimed land for indigenous Zimbabweans, and economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The observers, went to Zimbabwe on invitation from Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and are apart of the December 12th Movement, located at Sistas' Place in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This African-American organization has been following the issues across the continent of Africa since 1987 and has recently decided to tackle the issue of Zimbabwe and propaganda surrounding the nation.
Along with news out of Zimbabwe, the panel brought with them the official results of the run-off elections. The results stand at the ZANU-PF winning with 85.5% of the votes.
Vernon Verdree, the youth representative, said that the results of the election are because of Mugabe and ZANU-PF "going to work."
According to the statistics they provided, Mugabe and the ZANU-PF worked very hard in insuring that Zimbabwe stays in control of those who fought against colonial rule, not only did ZANU-PF win by 1,917,269 votes, but also they managed a 42% increase in votes.
The Guardian, a British newspaper released a report on July 5, 2008 that shows ZANU-PF "going to work" in a different way. The news organization reported that they have in their possession video of prison guards marking their ballots for President Mugabe, while civil war veterans (pro-government militia) watched over them.
According to the report the Guardian provided prison guard, Shepard Yuda with a camera, since the news organ was banned from the country.
The video posted on the Guardian website shows the prison guard voting for Muagbe in front of a man they called Shambira. According to the narration done on the video Shambira is an old war veteran who is feared among the prison guards.
Many parts of the video are blurred to protect those who Yuda encountered and some of the translations cover what these people are saying. Only what Yuda and Shambira say have subtitles. Yuda and his family has fled the country in fear of their lives.
The release of this video and images of a beaten white farm owner on CNN would fall under the "western media attack on Zimbabwe" that the December 12th Movement and the supporters of ZANU-PF are claiming the United States and the United Kingdom are using to gain control over Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean Ambassador to the United Nations Boniface Chidyausiku said that the United States and its allies were trying to coerce the Security Council of the United Nations to impose economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. These attempts he stated to the Zimbabwean Herald, are coming up futile.
Ambassador Chidyausiku said in the interview that Zimbabwe has a number of confirmed allies in the Security Council, including permanent members China and Russia. Both nations have veto power and according to Chidyausiku, are willing use it if the United States and United Kingdom try to impose an UN economic sanction.
On July 9, 2008 Prime Minister of Britain George Brown used shock tactics at the G8 Summit in Japan to encourage members of the G8 to impose their own economic sanction against Zimbabwe and Mugabe.
When the African Union met on July 1, 2008 in Cairo, Egypt to hold its annual summit, the body recognized Mugabe as President of Zimbabwe, but said that African Union Observers had concluded that the election process had fallen short of the organization's standards.
The United Nations has failed to comment on the election in Zimbabwe, but Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a press release stated, "Zimbabwe elections did not reflect the true and genuine will of Zimbabweans or produce [a] legitimate result".
In the era of tiny spy cameras, high quality recorders and advance editing equipment solidifying a reality in Zimbabwe is becoming complicated.
Read more at Suite101: Mixed Reports from Zimbabwe: Propaganda, Lies and Deceit Surround the Situation in Zimbabwe http://zimbabwe.suite101.com/article.cfm/mixed_reports_from_zimbabwe#ixzz0mFvrvqyt
Labels: CNN, DAVID DANIELS, FRIENDS OF ZIMBABWE, NEOCOLONIALISM, PROPAGANDA, VERNON VERDREE
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