Obi
Egbuna wrote this widely circulated response to the Open Letter
to President Mugabe, on June 19, 2003. Egbuna is a member
of the Pan African Liberation Organization, based in Washington
DC.
The
African Communities in the United States and Europe have to
be ready to make the ultimate sacrifices in defending Zimbabwe
under the courageous leadership of Robert Mugabe. The issue
of standing with the government of ZANU/PF has implications
that go far beyond Zimbabwe, the region of Southern Africa
and our mother continent for that matter. The United States
Government under the Clinton Administration started to devise
a cunning strategy of waging both propaganda and military
campaigns against countries they oppose, who in their estimation
are riddled and plagued with enough contradictions to prevent
them from receiving worldwide support when the attacks begin.
In the late 1990's Milosevic in Yugoslavia was bombed for
70 days in a row, and even though there were protests all
over the world, many people while condemning the military
attacks still called for Milosevic to be tried at the United
Nations War Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity.
The
Military Repression and Violence against the people of Iraq
under the guise of removing Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party,
drew intense opposition all over the world. However, the activists
and organizations who coordinated demonstrations, rallies,
teach-ins, etc., repeatedly condemned Hussein as a tyrant
and dictator. The harsh reality was Saddam never regained
full trust from anti-imperialist forces after marching to
the drum of the Reagan administration fighting against the
people of Iran under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeni.
The Blair and Bush administrations are finding out that attempting
to vilify and eventually overthrow Zimbabwe President Mugabe
and ZANU/PF is no walk in the park. It was the revolutionary
leader Ahmed Seku Ture who said, when he presided of the ruling
Democratic Party of Guinee, "Imperialism will find its
grave in Africa."
We
can thank Blair and Bush for helping to dig the coffin. President
Mugabe poses the most serious threat to Imperialist forces
on the African Continent for several reasons: first, he has
established credentials as an architect in Zimbabwe's struggle
for independence; secondly, he is a philosophical product
of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah who was the most relentless African
head of state in the propaganda war against Imperialism; third,
he is on the verge of exposing flag independence for the sham
that it really is, and lastly because his uncompromising stand
to politically and economically control every inch of his
land of origin could be the blueprint for fighting against
Neo-Colonialism, Neo Liberalism and Globalization on the African
Continent in the 21st century.
Opposing forces to Zimbabwe's Government
The political opposition to Mugabe coming
from the African Communities in the U.S. and Europe is shallow
and predictable. These forces always seem to coincidentally
criticize governments in Africa the same time they are on
the radar screens of the Pentagon, CIA, White House and their
allies/stooges in this case Britain. They can't come out and
make the affirmative statement that they stand with MDC (Movement
for Democratic Change) because if MDC turns out to be a political
extension of UNITA in Angola or RENAMO in Mozambique, the
political embarrassment will be too much to shoulder. Even
some of the most antagonistic critics of Mugabe like CBC member
Donald Payne have said they support the Land Reclaimation
of ZANU/PF, even though the tone is too nationalist and revolutionary
for them to digest. The outright rejection of this program,
will make people in our communities 
wonder
if some of these forces truly understood what was at the heart
of the anti-apartheid struggle or better yet why declaring
unconditional support for our Palestinian Sisters and Brothers
appears to be a tall order for those who fear the Zionist
machine in Europe and the United States.
The anti-Mugabe forces in our communites
at home and abroad, can't continue to condemn the outcome
of last year's Presidential elections in Zimbabwe because
any collective group who claims to focus on political developments
in Africa knew that MDC would not emerge victorious in elections.
They were simply fighting for validation and support from
the Blair and Bush administrations who in turn were looking
for dependable lackeys on the ground whose every move they
would finance and support. We must never forget that the banner
of Multi-Party Democracy, fine-tuned by former US Presidents
Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, is the bread and butter for
Imperialism Worldwide.
During
the struggle for Independence in Zimbabwe a Patriotic Front
was formed between the Zimbabwe African National Union led
by Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African People's Union led by Joshua
Nkomo. This shows that President Mugabe is a reasonable and
flexible diplomat when developing policies or formulating
strategy in the best interest of Zimbabwe and Africa as a
whole. When this is properly understood the claims of anti-Mugabe/ZANU-PF
forces concerning lack of democratic input has no weight whatsoever.
Some forces say Mugabe/ZANU-PF should have started aggressive
land reclaimation immediately after independence; this makes
it appear as though the current efforts are not genuine. If
the land was seized right away, European and United States
media would have had a field day making comparisons of Mugabe
to Idi Amin in Uganda, which would have been chaotic and it
would have complicated things in Azania/South Africa and Namibia.
The negotiations at the Lancaster House with Carter and
Thatcher also show cooperative spirit from a political party
who is now being cast as dogmatic and intolerant by mainstream
media in Britain and United States, however it was the Reagan
administration who discontinued the talks.
The anti-Mugabe/ZANU-PF forces on the African
Continent lack political education. On the Pacifica Radio
show Democracy Now about a month and a half ago, a Nigerian
student leader while condemning elections in Nigeria, said
that Nigeria and Zimbabwe were illustrations of how far Africa
is away from true democracy. His purpose for the analogy was
to highlight politically motivated corruption in both scenarios.
The MDC won the mayoral seat in Zimbabwe, how could the opposition
achieve this victory under challenging circumstances? The
Namibian and South African people are benefiting from Zimbabwe's
stand, President Sam Nujoma of Namibia when sharing a platform
with President Mugabe and Tony Blair last year at the earth
summit in Johannesburg announced he was launching a land reclaimation
program similar to the one in Zimbabwe. Nujoma had the chance
to watch and see the response from citizens of countries throughout
Southern Africa before making this choice, even though he
wasn't the trailblazer, his courage and integrity deserve
praise.
Since
the African National Congress of South Africa presides over
the Union of African States, they must proceed with the
utmost caution. We must remember that ZANU-PF is more ideologically
compatible with the other two liberation movements in Azania/South
Africa PAC (Pan African Congress of Azania) and AZAPO (Azanian
Peoples Organization, formerly Black 
Consciousness
Movement of Azania) than with the African National Congress,
who after nine years in office still has to deal with the
fact that the white population still controls 83% of the land.
One of the first groups to come out in defense of Mugabe and
ZANU-PF was the youth league of the African National Congress,
this is extremely significant because it was the youth league
of ANC over 43 years ago that broke away and formed PAC because
they felt ANC did not address the question of land and they
immediately created the slogan IZWELETHU I AFRICA, which in
English means the land is ours.
The
opposing forces have also attempted to claim the drought in
Zimbabwe is because of the Land Reclaimation and not the problems
that have historically affected not only Zimbabwe but Lesotho,
Botswana, and Swaziland. This demonstrates the desperation
of MDC using an environmental problem as ammunition against
the government. The opposition at home and abroad also conveniently
forget to mention that Zimbabwe's health care and educational
systems rank amongst the best on the African Continent. Imagine
how those programs will continue to flourish since the most
resourceful land is back in the hands of the almighty people.
Mugabe's anti neo-colonialist stance
The forces external to the African Community
at home and abroad that by reputation, are progressive and
advocates of peace should be warned to think carefully before
addressing Zimbabwe. In other words any intense attacks or
criticism of Mugabe while Blair and Bush seek to orchestrate
his demise will put you on a collision course with the sons
and daughters of the African Soil all over the planet. This
is your chance to make up for the errors you made during the
military aggression that took place in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan
and Iraq, where your condemnation of Milosevic, bin Laden
and Hussein helped create the circumstances for many people
to die at the hands of Imperialism. President Mugabe/ZANU-PF
were a refreshing alternative to the Ugandan, Eritrean and
Ethiopian Governments who supported the War on Iraq. While
speaking at the Non-Aligned Movement gathering in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia earlier this year, Mugabe said "The United States
awakened to the implications of being the sole superpower,
joined by Britain as a born again colonialist, and other Western
countries have turned themselves into ferocious hunting bulldogs
raring to go as they sniff for more blood in this case third
world blood". Mugabe when discussing the United Nations
went on to say "We are their hunted game for slaughter.
The charter of the United Nations and its sacrosanct tenets
of international peace, the sovereignty of nations and non
interference in domestic affairs of states, are being desecrated
by the day." The Bush Administration boldly proclaims
you can either stand for terrorism or stand with them, like
Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah who was overthrown while in Hanoi attempting
to stop the Vietnam war, Mugabe is a target of the US and
Britain because of his support for Cuba and Palestine which
remain very sensitive issues for the United States and Britain
whether under Democratic or Republican administrations.
The motive of the opposition
In conclusion, the leader of the Movement
for Democratic Change Morgan Tsvangirai must realize, it is
not Mugabe/ZANU-PF's role in our Pan African struggle for
liberation and human dignity that is in question. The MDC
has the task of proving they are not the latest instrument
of Imperialism. The activity of MDC since its inception makes
this very easy to determine, these are the reasons we in PALO
feel MDC is an instrument of neo-colonialism
1. MDC has yet to speak against the sanctions
imposed by Bush and Blair.
2. MDC has no concrete program for Land
Reclaimation in Zimbabwe.
3. MDC has not addressed the charges that
they have been receiving money from Britain, Holland, United
States and Germany, which has been used to bribe young people
to strike against their government.
4. MDC promotes cultural division between
Shona and Dibeili, which is a trademark of neo-colonialist
forces who are on a quest for political power.
The African Community home and abroad must
question the political background of any African or non-African
calling for a regime change in Zimbabwe. It does not matter
if the voice comes from inside the country, only when their
affiliations are exposed so we truly know what their true
motives could be. We are going from military neo-colonialism
to civilian neo-colonialism, and it is not a trade off we
accept. In the 1990's our people overthrew Doe in Liberia,
Abacha and Bababangida in Nigeria, Mengisthu in Ethopia, Siad
Barre in Somali, Traoure in Mali, and of course Mobutu in
the Congo to name a few. Nkrumah taught us that "defending
librated zones is even more important than continuing to wage
resistance in contested zones." This is why we must unite
around Zimbabwe and say for every African Government that
was on a Revolutionary Path, that we allowed to be overthrown
because of our disorganization and lack of clarity, from Lumumba,
Nkrumah, Moumie, Keita, Cabral, Sankara, etc., let us join
hands in the 125 countries where we are scattered and suffering
and say to the world when it comes to Zimbabwe: Who else but
Mugabe?
One Unified African People
One Unified Socialist Africa
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