Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe's travels inspire Africa
20 Jan 2017 at 05:31hrs | Views
Addressing how a sovereign nation should conduct its external and internal affairs, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah explained: "The best way of learning to be an independent sovereign state is to be an independent sovereign state". What African people have learned from the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the Independence of South Africa in 1994, is having the full approval of our former colonisers and enslavers, not only wreaks of weakness and capitulation but in the final analysis will never be an attainable goal.
Those African leaders who have earned the right to be celebrated as trailblazers in our struggle for total liberation unity and human dignity, not only accept the responsibility of being held to a higher standard, but understood the immeasurable value of maintaining a strong presence on the world stage.
What opposition leaders who range from opportunists, who were created by the West almost identical to the manner local Zimbabwean sculptors create their art on a daily basis, or those who decided political expediency through betrayal was a viable option to patience and vigilance, fear more than anything else is President Mugabe and zanu-pf's ability to travel to summits, forums and conferences and reaffirm that the Zimbabwe question can only be answered explained and defended by those who have proven their loyalty to their country, people and revolution.
This approach can help shed light on what should be most glaringly obvious about arguably the most strategic aspect of US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe, which is to prevent President Mugabe from coming to their backyard and putting all rumours and innuendo, propagated by US-EU diplomats, journalists and intelligence agents who relish the opportunity to drag Zimbabwe through the mud.
Every year the US-EU Imperialist propaganda apparatus has a different area of concentration when it comes to President Mugabe in particular and Zimbabwe in general, the recent trending topic has been President Mugabe's health, it appears as though these spineless individuals are waging bets on the actual day and time.
As yet another US President exits the White House the only thing Mother Africa's most faithful children can say to them is don't get your hopes up.
One of the main propagators of President Mugabe's travel is none other than the former Minister of Finance and MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti who has is on record calling travel the President's favourite hobby, which suggests President Mugabe is enjoying an opulent lifestyle and is not the least bit concerned about the suffering of Zimbabweans.
If Mr Biti truly believes that Zimbabwe's present leadership and those who aspire to be their replacements should stay put in a time of crisis, than perhaps he will explain why he accepted a visiting fellowship from the Centre for Global Development a US based think tank in Washington DC, which was founded in 2001 the same numerical year the Bush administration introduced the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.
While working at CGD Mr Biti penned a regime change manifesto entitled "Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Lessons From A Coalition Government", Mr Biti should also reveal how many trips abroad he took while he was a member of the GPA between 2009-2013 and how much money he spent on each trip abroad, Mr Biti can then enlighten us why MDC-T decided that former Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai should come to the US and attempt to upstage and embarrass the Zimbabwean delegation while they were attending the UN General Assembly.
Because President Mugabe and zanu-pf are embroiled in a bitter propaganda war with US-EU Imperialism, which was initiated by the West, we are forced to adapt consistently this ensures all their baseless arguments are addressed with reason and logic as opposed to anger rooted in emotionalism.
We remember former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly stating if President Mugabe attended the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon,Portugal back in 2007, only to be told by Southern African leadership collectively if President Mugabe did not attend, all of SADC would stay put which have diminished the value of the summit if Africa's most politically stable region was not in attendance.
The question can be raised what was more entertaining former British Prime Minister Tony Blair behaving like a spoilt child in 2005, when he was seated next to President Mugabe at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, this diva like behaviour was duplicated by President Obama's security detail at the UN General Assembly two years ago when he and President Mugabe had suites on the same floor at the Palace Hotel, President Mugabe decided to be the mature head of state and relocated to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel now owned by the Chinese, making it more befitting for China's strongest ally in Africa to patronise. We thank President Mugabe for giving a new dimension to Zimbabwe's Look East Policy.
President Mugabe's visits to hostile locations also lay to rest the wishful thinking of his detractors who enjoy exaggerating about the influence of pro regime change opposition; thanks to Pastor Evan Mawarire's claim that 5 000 Zimbabweans were coming to protest President Mugabe's annual visit to the UN General Assembly, the entire world got to witness half a dozen Zimbabweans who stood in front of Zimbabwe's mission to the UN for nearly one week.
Since Mr Biti wants to pose as an accountant providing inventory of President Mugabe's travels can he share how much money the West spent on bringing Pastor Mawarire and his wife and children to the US? The next request on the list is the salaries of the Zimbabweans residing in Washington and Britain who are devoid of scrutiny by US/British Immigration other Africans are automatically subjected to, because they are regime change agents for the West.
If President Mugabe took Mr Biti's advise and stayed put in Zimbabwe the African world would have been deprived of some of the most epic moments of the 21st century. We would have not gotten to see President Mugabe tell the cheap imitation of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair "keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe". This occurred one numerical year after the US-EU alliance tried to regulate the dialogue at the UN Conference on Racism Xenophobia and other related intolerances by stating Slavery Reparations and Palestine should not be agenda and discussion items.
As the world mourned the passing of African people's favourite American President Commandante Fidel Castro it was an honour to watch President Mugabe land in Cuba and pay tribute to his fallen Brother and Comrade. What is more impactful and historically significant is that President Mugabe, a recipient of Cuba's highest honour, the Jose Marti Award go and salute Cuba for training Zimbabwean teachers from 1986-1996, resulting in Zimbabwe having Africa's highest literacy rate or watching President Obama and former US President Jimmy Carter take high profile field trips to Cuba, when we all know neither gentleman was fully committed to lifting the US blockade on Cuba.
To see President Mugabe in Venezuela in 2003 receiving the Simon Bolivar Award from Commandante Hugo Chavez, who let it be known that in his humble opinion he felt President Mugabe and Bolivar are cut from the same revolutionary cloth, is humbling.
The residual effect of President Mugabe's travel is undeniable as we watched Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Comrade Walter Mzembi go from being barred from entering the White House when the GPA visited Washington to re-engage the West, to picking up an endorsement from the Corporate Council on Africa the vehicle for Fortune 500 companies to do business on the ground in Africa, in his quest to become the 1st UNTWO Secretary General of African ancestry.
President Mugabe's eloquent articulation of Zimbabwe's plight has made both African and Foreign Heads of State realise they must come home and see things for themselves. A pictorial history of the Second and Third Chimurenga will show everyone from Commandante Fidel Castro,Thomas Sankara, Yasser Arafat, Madiba Nelson Mandela, Mahmoud Ahmedinijad, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Ambassador Andrew Young, all happy and humbled to be on Zimbabwean soil. The reason is a humble Zimbabwean and African servant 92-years-young and wise made them all feel welcome.
Obi Egbuna Jnr is the US Correspondent to The Herald and the external Relations Officer of The Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association. His email is obiegbuna15@gmail.com.
Those African leaders who have earned the right to be celebrated as trailblazers in our struggle for total liberation unity and human dignity, not only accept the responsibility of being held to a higher standard, but understood the immeasurable value of maintaining a strong presence on the world stage.
What opposition leaders who range from opportunists, who were created by the West almost identical to the manner local Zimbabwean sculptors create their art on a daily basis, or those who decided political expediency through betrayal was a viable option to patience and vigilance, fear more than anything else is President Mugabe and zanu-pf's ability to travel to summits, forums and conferences and reaffirm that the Zimbabwe question can only be answered explained and defended by those who have proven their loyalty to their country, people and revolution.
This approach can help shed light on what should be most glaringly obvious about arguably the most strategic aspect of US-EU sanctions on Zimbabwe, which is to prevent President Mugabe from coming to their backyard and putting all rumours and innuendo, propagated by US-EU diplomats, journalists and intelligence agents who relish the opportunity to drag Zimbabwe through the mud.
Every year the US-EU Imperialist propaganda apparatus has a different area of concentration when it comes to President Mugabe in particular and Zimbabwe in general, the recent trending topic has been President Mugabe's health, it appears as though these spineless individuals are waging bets on the actual day and time.
As yet another US President exits the White House the only thing Mother Africa's most faithful children can say to them is don't get your hopes up.
One of the main propagators of President Mugabe's travel is none other than the former Minister of Finance and MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti who has is on record calling travel the President's favourite hobby, which suggests President Mugabe is enjoying an opulent lifestyle and is not the least bit concerned about the suffering of Zimbabweans.
If Mr Biti truly believes that Zimbabwe's present leadership and those who aspire to be their replacements should stay put in a time of crisis, than perhaps he will explain why he accepted a visiting fellowship from the Centre for Global Development a US based think tank in Washington DC, which was founded in 2001 the same numerical year the Bush administration introduced the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.
While working at CGD Mr Biti penned a regime change manifesto entitled "Rebuilding Zimbabwe: Lessons From A Coalition Government", Mr Biti should also reveal how many trips abroad he took while he was a member of the GPA between 2009-2013 and how much money he spent on each trip abroad, Mr Biti can then enlighten us why MDC-T decided that former Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai should come to the US and attempt to upstage and embarrass the Zimbabwean delegation while they were attending the UN General Assembly.
Because President Mugabe and zanu-pf are embroiled in a bitter propaganda war with US-EU Imperialism, which was initiated by the West, we are forced to adapt consistently this ensures all their baseless arguments are addressed with reason and logic as opposed to anger rooted in emotionalism.
We remember former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly stating if President Mugabe attended the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon,Portugal back in 2007, only to be told by Southern African leadership collectively if President Mugabe did not attend, all of SADC would stay put which have diminished the value of the summit if Africa's most politically stable region was not in attendance.
The question can be raised what was more entertaining former British Prime Minister Tony Blair behaving like a spoilt child in 2005, when he was seated next to President Mugabe at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, this diva like behaviour was duplicated by President Obama's security detail at the UN General Assembly two years ago when he and President Mugabe had suites on the same floor at the Palace Hotel, President Mugabe decided to be the mature head of state and relocated to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel now owned by the Chinese, making it more befitting for China's strongest ally in Africa to patronise. We thank President Mugabe for giving a new dimension to Zimbabwe's Look East Policy.
President Mugabe's visits to hostile locations also lay to rest the wishful thinking of his detractors who enjoy exaggerating about the influence of pro regime change opposition; thanks to Pastor Evan Mawarire's claim that 5 000 Zimbabweans were coming to protest President Mugabe's annual visit to the UN General Assembly, the entire world got to witness half a dozen Zimbabweans who stood in front of Zimbabwe's mission to the UN for nearly one week.
Since Mr Biti wants to pose as an accountant providing inventory of President Mugabe's travels can he share how much money the West spent on bringing Pastor Mawarire and his wife and children to the US? The next request on the list is the salaries of the Zimbabweans residing in Washington and Britain who are devoid of scrutiny by US/British Immigration other Africans are automatically subjected to, because they are regime change agents for the West.
If President Mugabe took Mr Biti's advise and stayed put in Zimbabwe the African world would have been deprived of some of the most epic moments of the 21st century. We would have not gotten to see President Mugabe tell the cheap imitation of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair "keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe". This occurred one numerical year after the US-EU alliance tried to regulate the dialogue at the UN Conference on Racism Xenophobia and other related intolerances by stating Slavery Reparations and Palestine should not be agenda and discussion items.
As the world mourned the passing of African people's favourite American President Commandante Fidel Castro it was an honour to watch President Mugabe land in Cuba and pay tribute to his fallen Brother and Comrade. What is more impactful and historically significant is that President Mugabe, a recipient of Cuba's highest honour, the Jose Marti Award go and salute Cuba for training Zimbabwean teachers from 1986-1996, resulting in Zimbabwe having Africa's highest literacy rate or watching President Obama and former US President Jimmy Carter take high profile field trips to Cuba, when we all know neither gentleman was fully committed to lifting the US blockade on Cuba.
To see President Mugabe in Venezuela in 2003 receiving the Simon Bolivar Award from Commandante Hugo Chavez, who let it be known that in his humble opinion he felt President Mugabe and Bolivar are cut from the same revolutionary cloth, is humbling.
The residual effect of President Mugabe's travel is undeniable as we watched Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Comrade Walter Mzembi go from being barred from entering the White House when the GPA visited Washington to re-engage the West, to picking up an endorsement from the Corporate Council on Africa the vehicle for Fortune 500 companies to do business on the ground in Africa, in his quest to become the 1st UNTWO Secretary General of African ancestry.
President Mugabe's eloquent articulation of Zimbabwe's plight has made both African and Foreign Heads of State realise they must come home and see things for themselves. A pictorial history of the Second and Third Chimurenga will show everyone from Commandante Fidel Castro,Thomas Sankara, Yasser Arafat, Madiba Nelson Mandela, Mahmoud Ahmedinijad, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Ambassador Andrew Young, all happy and humbled to be on Zimbabwean soil. The reason is a humble Zimbabwean and African servant 92-years-young and wise made them all feel welcome.
Obi Egbuna Jnr is the US Correspondent to The Herald and the external Relations Officer of The Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association. His email is obiegbuna15@gmail.com.
Source - the herald
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