Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe's poison
25 May 2015 at 10:24hrs | Views
President Mugabe has called on South Africans to direct their xenophobia at whites instead of blacks. 'I give poison not for you to swallow but to give to someone else' he told the applauding staff at SADC Headquarters in Botswana.
Speaking as Chair of the African Union as well as of SADC, Mugabe said South Africa needed a second liberation which would transfer wealth to blacks marginalised because whites owned most of the land and got most of the employment opportunities. 'People are unemployed . . . the wrath of South Africans needs to be more directed towards the whites than the blacks', he said. 'You can't live in palaces while others are living in shanties'.
Mugabe called on Africa to stop courting the West for financial support: 'they say here is money but you do that', arguing that even with the end of colonialism the oppressors were back in Africa in the form of NGOs: 'They tell us we should have good corporate governance, human rights . . . human rights? Rule of law? When they sent us to prison . . . '
The Vigil is grateful to the loyal Herald for details of Mugabe's ravings in Botswana (see: SA needs another liberation: President).
We know Mugabe has complained that the African Union is largely financed by the West - not to mention SADC itself. We note that Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete is beginning to get the idea, saying that Western donors are setting 'degrading' conditions for aid. Tanzania is one of Africa's biggest aid recipients per head but has had some payments delayed because of concerns about corruption and poor governance.
'It is unacceptable for our development partners to use their aid stick to pressure us to do certain things or else they will cut aid,' Kikwete said in a statement issued by the presidency. 'We will reach a point where we will say this is too degrading . . . keep your aid.' (See: Tanzanian leader says aid conditions degrading).
The Vigil believes the West is beginning to see the light and we are confident they will do the decent thing and stop forcing financial help on Africa. The European Union certainly shows signs of losing patience over Mugabe's failure to respond positively to its conciliatory approaches. The organisation's parliament on Thursday passed a resolution strongly condemning the forced disappearance of Itai Dzamara. The resolution expressed concern at reports by human rights organisations of increasing political violence and other human rights abuses and called for concerted action by the international community (see: Human rights: Zimbabwe; Thailand; Swaziland).
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Zimvigil Co-ordinator <co-ordinator@zimvigil.co.uk
Speaking as Chair of the African Union as well as of SADC, Mugabe said South Africa needed a second liberation which would transfer wealth to blacks marginalised because whites owned most of the land and got most of the employment opportunities. 'People are unemployed . . . the wrath of South Africans needs to be more directed towards the whites than the blacks', he said. 'You can't live in palaces while others are living in shanties'.
Mugabe called on Africa to stop courting the West for financial support: 'they say here is money but you do that', arguing that even with the end of colonialism the oppressors were back in Africa in the form of NGOs: 'They tell us we should have good corporate governance, human rights . . . human rights? Rule of law? When they sent us to prison . . . '
The Vigil is grateful to the loyal Herald for details of Mugabe's ravings in Botswana (see: SA needs another liberation: President).
We know Mugabe has complained that the African Union is largely financed by the West - not to mention SADC itself. We note that Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete is beginning to get the idea, saying that Western donors are setting 'degrading' conditions for aid. Tanzania is one of Africa's biggest aid recipients per head but has had some payments delayed because of concerns about corruption and poor governance.
'It is unacceptable for our development partners to use their aid stick to pressure us to do certain things or else they will cut aid,' Kikwete said in a statement issued by the presidency. 'We will reach a point where we will say this is too degrading . . . keep your aid.' (See: Tanzanian leader says aid conditions degrading).
The Vigil believes the West is beginning to see the light and we are confident they will do the decent thing and stop forcing financial help on Africa. The European Union certainly shows signs of losing patience over Mugabe's failure to respond positively to its conciliatory approaches. The organisation's parliament on Thursday passed a resolution strongly condemning the forced disappearance of Itai Dzamara. The resolution expressed concern at reports by human rights organisations of increasing political violence and other human rights abuses and called for concerted action by the international community (see: Human rights: Zimbabwe; Thailand; Swaziland).
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Zimvigil Co-ordinator <co-ordinator@zimvigil.co.uk
Source - Zimvigil Co-ordinator
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