When 'THEY' tell us Africans are stupid, we cringe

When we are told by them that "Africans are as a matter of fact not only unintelligent but also very stupid," we become very annoyed and we shout on top of our voices; down with imperialist thinking that Africans are inferior. How do you justify the Chairmanship of a nonagenarian: 91 year old Robert Mugabe in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia? Robert Mugabe is chairing the AU meeting right now to the applause of fellow African Presidents. He must be wearing his diapers sitting at the AU chair addressing over 50 heads of States.  What precedence are we giving to our children, and children's children? Are we telling our children that a President can abuse power for over 35 years and still be revered in Africa as one of the "greatest Statesmen of our time? Are we telling our children and children's children that a President can rule for ever until he collapses from his office without formally passing on the baton to the younger capable ones?  Are we telling our children that elections can be rigged and it did not matter to Africa? Why are African Presidents doing this to us?  Are they aware of what Mugabe has destroyed Zimbabwe? Are they aware that as a matter of fact Mugabe was an architect of genocide between 1980 and 1987 that claimed 20,000 people in Mathebeleland and Midlands? The farm invasions of year 2000 that killed white farmers and thousands of farm workers and displacing over half a million people, Murambatsvina that left thousands of citizens dead and displacing three quarters of the population in the country, the 2008 general elections that claimed thousands of lives and displacing millions of citizens in the country. Here, he is at the highest centre of Africa's Headquarters almost worshipped by the Africa's cream: the Heads of States.  Why are their memories selective? This is a very bad example to the young people of Africa, should we wonder then when we Africans (still trying to cross the road) are still crawling while many other countries have exponentially developed leaving Africa and Africans basket cases of hunger, poverty and hotbed of diseases: HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Ibola, just name any disease it's found in Africa too. They whisper in their verandas to avoid insults that Africans are stupid!

In case they are not aware of how Mugabe destroyed Zimbabwe: let me recap what atrocities Mugabe and his henchmen did to Zimbabwe people and its economy and countries resources. Since 1980 Mugabe and Zanu had no clue whatsoever how to deal with the economy of the country. When Zanu under Mugabe took over the administration in Zimbabwe there was no "people friendly" ideology at place from the onset. Mugabe asked Britain to assume a two year role for the independent government because all the Zanu members lacked the experience in government. But Prime Minister Margret Thatcher turned this down. (See Socialist international)  Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe with an iron-fist from the onset, although the rhetoric during the liberation was that the new Zimbabwe policies would be socialist oriented. Everything about socialism and Vashandi/Izisebenzi stopped on the 18th April 1980. Mugabe and his henchmen co-opted the racist Smith regime economic policies in word and script. Mugabe's economic policies were disastrous since 1980. The land issue was not negotiated beyond the Lancaster agreement. It still meant that 70% of the land belongs to 4,500 white farmers.  

As it turned out, however, imperialism could not believe its luck. From the very beginning, Mugabe was a faithful worshipper of the market, and dedicated himself to the preservation of capitalism. Workers who went on strike and occupied factories believing that the 'people's government' would welcome this, found themselves staring into the barrels of the guns of liberation. While Mugabe was entertaining Anglo-American's Harry Oppenheimer in the capital, Harare, workers at the Anglo-American owned Wankie colliery were driven back to work at gunpoint. (From the socialist Today. Issue 47, 2000)

A quarter of Zimbabwe's economy was in the hands of foreign investors; Britain, South Africa and America were the business partners and stakeholders. The environment to pursue neo-liberal policies inherited from Smith regime was perfect. The beginning of the 1990s the government of Zanu was clueless as it largely depended on the economic prescriptions from the world fiscal lending bodies; World Bank and IMF. ESAP was introduced; an economic prescription that had dismally failed other countries in the Sub-Sahara; it was accepted as an economy recovery pill. The government was instructed to cut down on social spending; they did. They were told to deregulate their markets to attract investment in the already economic ailing Zimbabwe, they did. Notwithstanding the number of people who got retrenched when the big companies started to relocate to South Africa and other places, were the war veterans; disgruntled about the economic developments and demanded compensation for their contributions in the struggle for independence.

The Mugabe government's economic policies have been disastrous. Unemployment is at record levels, with less than 25% of the economically active population in a job. One-third of Zimbabweans are unable to afford a basic food basket, shelter, minimal clothing, education, health care and transport. The top 10% of Zimbabweans consume 34% of all goods and services while the bottom 10% consumes just 3%.This situation is a direct result of the implementation of the IMF's structural adjustment programme. Known in Zimbabwe by its acronym, ESAP (Economic Structural Adjustment Programme), it is said by workers to stand for 'Eternal Suffering for African People'. First imposed in 1990, it devastated the economy, leading to a 40% drop in the volume of manufacturing output between 1990 and 1995. Living standards plummeted, rolling back in four years the modest gains of the first ten years of independence. (Taken from socialist today; issue 47, 2000)

The government sank in to pay the war veterans from an unbudgeted treasury. The war in the Congo was footed by the same bankrupt treasury; (also unbudgeted.) This is what happens when a clueless government takes over the reins to administrate the lives of millions of people without any form of ideology at place but just to satisfy the ego of one person: Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

The number of women and girls in need of front line services is immense large, be it in cities and rural areas. Girls do not go to schools in most rural parts of the country, instead they are sent for early marriages to bring slender income as lobola/roora. If they did go to schools they will not attend schools if they are on monthly periods as there do not have simple sanitary pads! There is a lot of sexual abuse against women and children going on in most towns and cities. Young girls are still targeted by sick men to cure their AIDS virus on them. It is these sick men who are ignorant; they do not know that you cannot cure AIDS by sleeping with a v-rgin. It must be a stupid African who thinks he can have his HIV/AIDS cured by sleeping sex with young v-rgin girls, even as young as 4 years old. This Zanu government has reduced people of Zimbabwe to a level unprecedented in the history of the African people.

In light of all these economic blunders that Robert Mugabe has presided the past 35 years what are the African Heads of States applauding in him? What is it that makes him larger than life in the eyes of Africa's elite, Heads of States? If the President of Tanzania; Mwalimu Julius Nyerere was alive today he would disown him as his close friend at the onset and he was going to call for a boycott of the meeting in 'Addis Ababa chaired by a person wearing pampers. There is some pride in Nyerere that he maintained until he died. Nyerere warned Mugabe about mismanaging the pearl of Africa, the bread basket of Africa, the new Zimbabwe, now his warning fell on deaf ears: Nyerere did not know Mugabe well enough to trust him  as his close friend, he must be turning in his grave.

I would like to tell the people of Africa that three million citizens of Zimbabwe left the country when they discovered that there was nothing to hope for in the country of birth. The government is serving only those in the elite Zanu, and they do not care about the ordinary citizens. You need to know how the state-hospitals and -schools are like, all dilapidated. They are in a shameful state. Their children are sent overseas for education and "them" they go abroad for treatment, they can never be treated in Zimbabwe health centre's as they are deemed inferior. Our roads are shameful, sewage runs right in the dense populated townships of Mbare and Makhokhoba and all that is blamed on the Western countries. The most vulnerable citizens are displaced wily nilly in favor of wild animals by the First Lady of the Land.

 It is in this three million of citizens that left the country, where the intelligentsia is.  The sending country is brain drained and the receiving countries are happy about the much needed intellectual manpower, no investments' regarding their qualifications was done but are getting the best from the services they offer, some already developed countries, e.g. UK, USA, Canada, South Africa. How stupid can a Zanu government still be?

I suppose we are not stupid, the very Zimbabwe's intelligentsia are outside the corridors of power. Think about all our power houses in our land who really wanted to make change politically: Dr. Alex Magaisa, Professor Welshman Ncube, Professor Mutambara, Professor Rudo Gaidzanwa just to name a few, those are the young Turks who should be at the Addis Ababa conference presiding over the AU meeting and not the nonagenarian Robert Mugabe. They are sidelined systematically and institutionally never to be near the corridors of power. This, our children should know that despots impede development in Africa as a whole. I suppose we are stupid not to rise up and claim what belongs to us in this country Zimbabwe. Our resources are being plundered and our children will be left with the land without its resources. We fear the bullets that will be showered at us and many people will lose their lives if we went into the streets and rebelled against this repressive regime. But when enough is enough we shall indeed rather we face bullets than to continue to live in abject, abject poverty. We lose more by not rebelling against Zanu government. We can only win if we did.

The infighting that is taking place in the ruling party Zanu is telling us all about Zanu PF. -it is said Mugabe manipulated the liberation struggles and the leadership of Zanu to be where he is now. The whole truth will still come out how he managed to get the leadership of Zanu so as to make Zanu a tribal cliché that butchered thousands of citizens of Mathebeleland and Midlands before and after independence. Rugare Gumbo is telling us that VP Mnangagwa is a terrorist. We were also told that Joyce Mujuru never shot down the enemy plane she purported to have shot down. It was a way to boost her CV. We are also told that Mugabe and Tekere were escorted by the Rhodesian Special Branch on their crossing to Mozambique before independence. Didymus Mutasa was sent to England with the assistance of the Rhodesia Front! He was at the peripheries of the liberation struggle. We get all this unasked from the social media. In a short space of time we shall be in the knowing all that transpired in Mozambique in the liberation struggle of Zanu PF.  Who among the revolutionaries died of a true car accident and who was killed by the notorious CIOs? Was the fire that killed General Mujuru, a real candle in the wind, or a candle that just burnt out long before? Right now they are still butchering citizens of all tribes and races: even the people of Mashonaland are now their enemy from within because they dared to say we cannot continue to be ruled by a small self-serving elite of Zanu people who have caused serious mismanagement in the running of the country that was a jewel of Africa once upon a time.