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Don't hate Mugabe, hate the game

09 Feb 2015 at 14:05hrs | Views
The celebratory hubbub that followed the non-portentous stumbling of President Mugabe at the Harare International Airport easily highlighted the deep seated and caustic hatred the regime change network hold towards Zimbabwe's Head of State and Government.

What we witnessed from the social media and private media outlets was a gleeful, unrestrained and well-choreographed celebration of the President's minor stumble.

The local regime change juggernaut went into overdrive and got reverberations in other like-minded global media establishments such as the BBC that palpably could not hold its elation at the slight misfortune that befell President Mugabe.

Sadly, some of us, who have been brought up to have empathy towards anyone in misfortune, found the celebrations vexatious and out of order.

However, this misplaced glee is understandable on the grounds that it is coming from vindictive quarters that have been miffed by the elevation of President Mugabe to the apex of the African Union.

Remember this is the same cabal that had heavily lobbied against the election of President Mugabe to be the chairperson of the African Union.

They are a desperate lot that has been stung by Africa's decision to stand by its revolutionary icon.

These hate-filled quarters are not only displeased by the President's election but are disturbed by the seismic ideological ramifications that his tenure at the helm of the AU will bring.

For a hegemonic lot that has been used to plundering and bullying Africans for long, the entrance of the sovereignty-guided new AU Chairman is a harbinger of more sleepless nights to come.

This is a dawn of a new era, where Africa will seek to assert itself and reclaim its place in the community of nations.

Already the Europeans have been rattled out of their wits. How else can one explain the embarrassing diplomatic somersaults seen when the European Union (EU) within a space of few days dramatically withdrew sanctions on President Mugabe and later replaced them?

It is called panic. They know that President Mugabe is a relentless Pan Africanist who is going to keep them on their toes for the rest of his tenure as the AU chair.

All their efforts to degrade President Mugabe's tenure as ceremonial or symbolic have failed to gain traction and will remain wishful thinking.

In a typical case of hitting the ground running, President Mugabe demonstrated to them that there is nothing ceremonial about his position when he proposed that African countries should withdrew their membership from the International Criminal Court by June this year.

By pitching this game changing proposal against the disgraced ICC, President Mugabe was treading into new waters that would raffle the feathers of those who have been using the tribunal to undermine Africa's interests.

The fact that the proposal got immediate support from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other leaders present further highlighted Africa's determination to self-regulate.

Under the tutelage of President Mugabe, Africa is likely not to stop with the bid to withdraw from the ICC but would also push for the overhaul of the United Nations (UN), with a view to secure a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

Africa will demand a more democratic UN system opposed to the current framework where the destiny of the globe is entrusted in the hands of a few veto-wielding nations.

Indications are that President Mugabe will also push to have a significant portion of the AU's budget funded by member States as opposed to the current scenario where over 70 percent of its budget comes from foreign donors with vested interests.

This move would possibly cut the strings of those who have been seeking to promote their hegemonic interests using their financial clout at the AU.

In all fairness, there is nothing ceremonial about the new trajectory that the AU is taking under the guidance of President Mugabe.

Worse still, there is fear in the anti-Mugabe establishment that with President Mugabe at helm of the AU, his Pan African policies and ethos would rub off to other African nations and put Western capitalistic interests at risk.

More scaring to the imperialists is the news that South Africa is planning to fast track its land redistribution programme after the dismal failure of its willing-buyer-willing-seller model.

It is not only ominous but frightening to them that the South Africans are seemingly radicalising their land redistribution exercise soon after President Mugabe took over the reins of the AU.

Could South Africa be retracing the steps of the AU Chair on land reform?

President Mugabe also stands as a no nonsense leader who can stand up to the global bullies.

He has at many forums undressed them for their indiscriminate crimes against humanity in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other places in the world. President Mugabe is ready to pierce the bubble of those who regard themselves as the 'chosen ones' who claim the inalienable right to direct and shape world events.

Imperialists know that their time for unilateral military escapades into Africa will for the tenure of President Mugabe face a hiatus.

No more would the west decide what is best for Africa without Africa's input.

Mindful of the above submissions, it is easy to understand why the regime change quarters found delight in the unimportant tripping of President Mugabe.

They are a frantic cabal facing a fearless Pan African giant they have failed to depose for over a decade and are now clueless on how to further tackle him.

All these petty efforts to caricature his stumble at the airport are mere desperate attempts to cast aspersions at the African icon.

It is sheer desperation for the whole regime change juggernaut, with some of its members wielding nuclear power, to cling on to superstitious and silly beliefs that President Mugabe's stumble carried some real life connotations pointing to his departure from power.

We call upon these hate-filled quarters, who found substance in such make-believe voodoo thinking to come back to the empirical plane and engage the President at the ideological front.

We know that President Mugabe has out-shined, outmanoeuvred and outlived them but that is part of the game. They should not hate the player but hate the game.


Source - the herald
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