Zimbabwe is not the same with Rhodesia

British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Catriona Laing has no agenda when she says Zimbabwe is not off the hook. She was saying the obvious thing as she repeated this at the SAPES meeting held recently.

Comparing Zimbabwe with Rhodesia is day dreaming and these people are living in the world of fantasy; the world of make belief. These people need to be reminded that this is a unique country founded on the principles of freedom and emancipation on the backdrop of a lethal liberation war against a system that deliberately and ruthlessly segregated and mutilated on racial grounds.

It is regrettable that many are now associating hard won freedom with the economic problems presently bedeviling the country. Now a lot of people including those born to a free Zimbabwe have started claiming that Rhodesia was actually better than modern day Zimbabwe. We should never let our current suffering dignify past repression because it is expedient.

In reality to say that Rhodesia was better is to insult the stateliness of our independence. We all know that in Rhodesia women were treated like minors who could not sign even employment forms; no maternity leave and they could not own property for their own. There are disparities but they should not make anyone yearn for bad Rhodesia.

We all know that independence means the removal of all injustices not the distorted nostalgic yearnings for yesteryear Rhodesia. All progressive minded and patriotic citizens should not emulate the Rhodesian way of live as it dehumanized the people.

It would be an oversimplification of a rather complex issue to say that Zimbabwe is a failed state. It would also be folly to say that the Zimbabwe government is making a mistake in implementing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations for reviving the economy as was allegedly the case with the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). There have, of late, being ludicrous deductions from the prophets of doom who are against the establishment.

 The learned former High Court judge, Justice Moses Chinhengo erred in comparing Zimbabwe to a failed state. He alleges that the purported absence of political will to enforce judicial rulings and the law in general is a threat to the rule of law in the country, which could lead to an unfortunate situation where the country operates under the rule of man as opposed to the rule of law. The learned judge seems to be a very creative person but comparing Zimbabwe to Somalia is stretching the ludicrous way beyond elasticity.

Chinhengo' claim that President Robert Mugabe has been a willing vassal of Smith's policies is not true. That is a misinterpretation of reality as the President was the opposite of what Smith represented. In fact Chinhengo and like minded people should shoulder the blame for inviting sanctions that have visited untold the suffering on many people in the country.

We should actually commend the Government's efforts at finding common ground with the IMF for the country is not an island, complete on its own. Neither is the Bretton Woods institution a be-and-end-it-all entity because such unbridled authority would corrupt in absolutely. There is a great possibility and chances that Zimbabwe would begin to receive balance of payment very soon. As progressive Zimbabweans we should be optimistic rather than being pessimistic. Chinhengo's statements should not be taken seriously because they are coming from a disgruntled wanna-be politician of dubious revolutionary credentials.

Ignorance is a choking albatross on the neck of the victims and Chinhengo and the like minded people deserve the sympathies of the enlightened, lest they be judged harshly. It is common knowledge that this is the same cabal that has been in the forefront of calls for regime change so we have to forgive them and not to take them seriously. The learned judge's arguments are, quite honestly, frivolous and vexatious. It is a development when supposedly learned people come on the podium with strange and perplexing arguments. We know that the man is in a desperate drive to raise his political profile, so he fools no one except his handlers in Whitehall.

At this moment in time, as progressive and patriotic Zimbabweans, we have to rally behind President Robert Mugabe and support his stance and progress made with the IMF. We need to engage all avenues and ideas that are at our disposal to improve our economy. Prophets of doom should be shamed and be advised accordingly that we need our freedom and sovereignty.

It is clear to all sensible people that Zimbabwe is not a failed state and the prophets of doom should go to hell. We cannot compare Zimbabwe with Rhodesia.