Mugabe, true son of Africa

ZAMBIA is privileged to host one of the greatest sons of the continent in President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the leader of our long-time friendly neighbour, Zimbabwe.

President Mugabe, who is in Zambia to open the Lusaka Agricultural and Commercial Show, is in fact not a stranger to our country, as he spent a good number of years during the liberation struggle for his dear country.

Under the solid determination of our first Republican President Kenneth Kaunda, we hosted many other Zimbabweans who worked tirelessly to free their country from the yoke of colonialism and we today stand proudly, residing in the fact that, despite the challenges we still face, we are a free people seeking to better our living conditions.

Some people have always referred to Zambia and Zimbabwe as two countries sharing one umbilical cord because of the many common social, political and cultural values between us.

It must be noted from the onset that some detractors, mostly from Western nations, have made poor attempts to demonise President Mugabe over his desire to ensure that land is equitably and fairly distributed.

It is a known fact that for a long time, land in Zimbabwe has been held by a few privileged people, mostly whites who have been the supreme masters over the indigenous people left to scrounge for what could pass for crumbs of bread.

Mr Mugabe's efforts to reverse the situation have been met with stern resistance from people with capitalist values whose only preoccupation is to amass wealth to the detriment of the majority poor Zimbabweans.

The uncalled-for economic sanctions on our good neighbours, part of the ploy to demonise and punish President Mugabe, have only succeeded in hurting innocent people and we share in demands to have them dropped.

Mr Mugabe's Government has demonstrated that it is able to take care of its own affairs because it stands on the side of its people.

We can cite the power-sharing deal with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as one classic example of how President Mugabe's Government is willing to embrace change that is in the best interest of the country.

As such, we see no reason why some foreign powers should continue with their agenda to set standards for Africa.

We are well aware of the frantic efforts by some doomsayers to decimate the good record of Mr Mugabe who has done a lot for our continent.

How could some people choose to have selective memory even when they know the many personal sacrifices Mr Mugabe made to liberate his country and went an extra mile to fight other evil forces such as the apartheid South African regime?

Zimbabwe, under President Mugabe, went on to become the beacon of the continent in many fields that include agriculture and education.

Available statistics show that by the year 2000, Zimbabwe had the highest literacy levels in Africa, standing at 85 per cent.

All this demonstrates that Mr Mugabe, the teacher that he is, is determined to see his people get educated.

Zimbabwe and Zambia enjoy strong trade relations. Zambia is Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the fourth largest in the Southern African Development Community.

We still believe that a lot more still needs to be done and we are encouraged by the steps our leader, Michael Sata is taking to enhance the relations between the two countries.

Only recently, when he was on a State visit to the neighbouring country, President Sata and President Mugabe witnessed the signing of some Memoranda of Understanding, one of which was on cooperation to jointly build a US$4 billion 1, 650 megawatt hydro-power station at the Batoka Gorge.

President Sata re-affirmed Zambia's commitment to strengthening bilateral relations through increased economic co-operation in various areas, as identified by the Joint Permanent Commission of Co-operation.

Mr Sata said since the two countries are landlocked, Zambia and Zimbabwe had made strides to make them land-linked through the Chirundu One-Stop-Border Post.

He said this had improved efforts towards trade facilitation particularly on the North-South Corridor and would help reduce costs on the route.

The two nations will next year co-host the United Nations World Tourism Organisation general assembly in Livingstone and Victoria Falls town.

We are confident that Zambia and Zimbabwe will continue pulling in the same direction in as far as efforts to improve living situations of all their citizens are concerned, and we excitedly extend our warm welcome to President Mugabe, a true son of Africa.