Zimbabwe: Mugabe's second war of liberation

When Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU, later ZANU-PF) rose up against white minority rule in the 1960s and 1970s, they carried the backing of the majority of Zimbabweans and the world community. ZANU-PF and its class of 2008 carry the endorsement of neither.

Where once they were the bearers of hope and aspirations founded in racial equality and a better life for all, now they promise only retribution and Armageddon to those who refuse to buy into their bancruptcy of ideas and distortion of the truth. Yet increasingly they are discovering that their promises and threats are no longer enough to sway the masses. because life under their rule has become simply unbearable.

So they make this promise: It’s us or it’s war.

A war against the people of Zimbabwe. A war to ensure that an elite be allowed to continue to feed off the bodies of their dead black brothers. A war that encompasses all that is evil about Africa, where black lives are considered forfeit to beat back non-existent demons: Imperialism, colonialism, racism and all the other “isms” that are wielded like a baseball bat to justify the continued regimes of despots.

Not to beat off Western imperialism, they are to put it mildly disinterested, not to prevent the MDC from following some non-existent conspiracy of restoring land to white farmers, not for the 50 white farmers left (if that), not for the tiny white minority who are marginal at best, not for any other reason but to protect their privilege at the cost of their fellow Zimbabwean’s lives. Lives which now enjoy the lowest life expectancy in the world — 37 years of age.

Moreover, as South Africans or Africans from this region we should be totally unmoved by those who point to Burma, Iraq, Gaza or anywhere else when it comes to dealing with the issue of Zimbabwe! What do those issues have to do with Zimbabwe, which is our priority. If the invasion of Iraq was not justified, then where does that take the argument? That it is now in order for Mugabe to butcher our neighbours? Spare me

Two days ago I asked you (my highly educated team of commentators — no sarcasm, your comments are top drawer) to swop Mugabe’s skin colour and leave the rest exactly the same. The reason is simple. Black despots scream racism whenever anyone wants to stop their murderous onslaught on black people. The world then cringes at the prospect of being tarnished as racist! For doing what? For stopping black elitists from murdering their black countrymen! If Mugabe was white, team, then the world would have put a stop to this long ago. They would have saved tens of thousands of black people. Because he is black they allow him and his cronies inside and outside Zimbabwe to carry on regardless. How can replacing Mugabe with the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai, be racist?

As if interfering would be considered patronising! Patronise us already!

If I was a black Zimbabwean dying of hunger, watching my children starve to death, many of my family having been wiped out through illness and neglect, watching Grace and Rob fly away from their palace to hobnob in Italy about a food crisis just after stopping aid agencies from feeding millions, and then read how people defend this thug because they hate Britain, America or whatever cause or ideology is in vogue this week, I’d be purple with rage.

On their behalf I am seething.

It’s no longer necessary to outline just how bad life is in Zimbabwe — Google Zimbabwe and gorge yourselves on blood. Nor do we have to repeat the brutal measures that are being taken against the people of Zimbabwe in order to ensure they vote for Mugabe. The Military junta ruling the country is a daily news feature.

What I would like to repeat is this: Between the SADC, the African Union and the United Nations, in an age of information, when this wart on the face of humanity is being played out before their very eyes, they have jointly and severally done sweet F-all. Yes, they’ve looked, been concerned, thought of doing something, might have, could have, should have, maybe wanted to do something but they just can’t seem to get going.

Just to remind everyone. Zimbabwe is having an election. The overwhelming majority want Zanu-PF and Mugabe out. So much so they are prepared to and are dying to make it happen. When this hurricane dies down and we count the bodies, do not insult our intelligence and tell us you never knew. While the dead may be mere footling, to you sooner or later they will come back to haunt us all.

You knew, and you did nothing!