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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