Opinion / Columnist
Savage Africans want colonialist Leander Johnson's demarcations revisited!
3 hrs ago | Views

They cannot peacefully coexist without Leander Johnson's demarcations between Ndebele and Shona nations! British colonialist Leander Johnson realized the animosities between Shona and Ndebele Kingdoms. He authorized Munyathi River as the physical dividing line to pacify savages, incapable of dialogue. The British cleared the conflict between two savage ethnic nations about two centuries ago by setting boundaries of Munyathi River and must remain permanent. Should there be any conflict in future, one party must go to London to clarify this border dispute once more. Savage Africans are incapable to solve it on their own without the Whiteman's intervention. Mqondisi Moyo is looking for funding to do exactly that, seeking King Charles's attention to resolve border disputes between Shona and Ndebele peoples, AGAIN.
Mqondisi Moyo argues that Leander Johnson's signature is still valid. His funding volume is a tall order: half a million US$s to go to Europe and USA to solidify the existence of colonial artifacts of the past centuries: coloniality deep seated in the psyche of Africans increasingly becoming suffocated by the presence of the othering, black in skin colour: the irony does not escape me at all. The boundaries that demarcate African states are colonial artifacts and artificial: the ultimate misconception of African colonialism. (an overly expensive holiday trip around the world)
To say this much to MRP means to me personally a death sentence. Does Mqondisi Moyo realize that he is talking a colonial language of Cecil John Rhodes and Leander Johnson and all of them who previously sat down and sliced Africa to pieces. Mqondisi is alluding to these demarcations that undermines the existence of African populations in the continent. He is outsourcing half a million US$s to use to redefine boundaries that were penciled with a ruler in German Berlin City in 1884 feeding a narrative that Ndebele nation is bigger than what it currently is. Colonialism was got rid of in territories only and never in the minds of Africans. They were freed of British occupation: What has remained intact in the minds of some Africans are deep seated glorification of vestiges of coloniality, because inherently colonial vestiges are standards of all civilizations in this region. Mqondisi thinks these standards must be strictly upheld and adhered to, to the letter.
What noise is Mqondisi Moyo peddling? He wants to engage the Diaspora to get funding to travel far and wide seeking to reconstitute boundary redressing in Zimbabwe. Does Mqondisi read daily geo-political transformations taking place globally? Who will care to listen to Moyo talking about a default southern African boundary on ethnic grounds that gave colonialists authority a century and half ago? Quote; "A defining moment in the history of European involvement in Africa, the Berlin Conference brought together representatives of fourteen nations to work out mutually acceptable procedures and protocols for dividing Africa among themselves—without the benefit of consulting the views of Africa's peoples on their own future" from thoughtco.com www.thoughtco.com/berlin-conference.
Moyo acknowledges borders surrounding Zimbabwe. This is where questions must start. Who gave Pieter Grobbler authority to sign a border treaty with King Lobengula? Limpopo River is a demarcation between Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa, now recognized by Mqondisi Moyo as legit demarcations. "Cognisant of the borders that separate ….! He speaks. Ramoquabone/plumtree signed in 1888; who signed it, at whose behest and whose authority? The border with Zambia – Livingstone / Victoria Falls signed in 1888! Here, I hasten to say that there was no Zambia to talk about in 1888. Zambia existed on October 24, 1964, independence day. It is fictitious to talk about Zambia as a nation that predates the turnover of 1900 Millennium, historically.
Mr. Mqondisi Moyo's bone of contention borders on the Munyathi River, supposed to be the physical demarcation between two antagonistic ethnic groups; Ndebele and Shona nations: signed between king Lobengula and Sir Leander Jameson. What is seriously disturbing is the absence of multiple of questions regarding the colonial authority about border disputes, they must be revisited and upheld in 2025 by educated men and women of Ndebele origin?
On one hand in West Africa Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali are removing borders because borders are artificial: on the other hand, in Zimbabwe, Mqondisi's MRP is redefining and fortifying Munyathi River demarcation line as physical separation from Mashonaland. The level of development and thinking processes of West Africans and that of Mqondisi's MRP are light years apart. The half a million US$ he is outsourcing must be used in relocating Mqondisi et al to Burkina Faso to learn basic things related to the shift in the mindset from believing in coloniality, to believing that a colonial mind can successfully be decolonized. Mqondisi will learn that improving the lives of citizens is to engage with the rural populations by assisting them in agricultural productions to remove hunger and poverty in their lives. Burkina Faso has become sovereign in food nationally. That is true activism!
Matabeleland region has serious food insecurities. Remove food insecurities and reset food sovereignties in the lives of Ndebele people first, dear Mqondisi: I still remember telling you this, 5 years ago. The abject poorest people in Zimbabwe are Ndebele's. Mqondisi Moyo, your activism is posh and expensive and out of the reach of ordinary Ndebele people. Going to international institutions fighting boundary tribal disputes does not make any sense, right, left, and center. However, it makes sense if you make thorough documentation regarding Gukurahundi atrocities and present the document at ICJ for review. You will be seeking true justice for the living and the dead victims of genocide. It will not cost you a half a million US$s to seek justice at ICJ level.
I wonder still if Mqondisi knows the challenges of peoples living in the Diaspora. Most of them live from hand to mouth. 90% of the people living in the Diaspora support families at home because the system of governance in Zimbabwe has collapsed. Now they are asked to contribute to a luxurious exercise that does not make sense. It is impossible to raise a half a million US$s so that Mqondisi et al allow themselves an expensive exercise, living large in London, Brussels, Berlin, and New York: they will be arguing that the cause is a noble one, therefore pertinent to allow themselves those luxuries in foreign cities: the bone of contention being border despites with Mashonaland! Which rich people in Bulawayo will he approach to fund boundary causes and effects with Mashonaland? Is it possible for Ndebele families in the Diaspora to part with hard-won pound-sterling to finance an ambitious journey to western cities for the purpose of giving awareness to global organizations about the plight of Ndebele people regarding border disputes.
Mqondisi Moyo must deconstruct his activism. For the love of everything that is holy, Moyo's article has aspects that are worth considering. If he removes the bone of contention about the Munyathi boundary from his article, some contents make sense, to put it delicately. The case regarding Matabeleland Gukurahundi atrocities is long overdue. I agree, resources are needed to redress genocide atrocities. To seek border disputes is veering out of issues about poverty and destitution and why the government is punishing the region in several aspect of their daily lives and livelihoods. Mthwakazi parties must target projects they can do effortless on the ground, assisting rural communities, becoming food sovereign and never about hand-to-mouth assistance from donor organizations. Assisting rural communities by setting up schools and clinics. The half a million US$s Mqondisi is outsourcing must go to rural communities to drive manageable however small projects such as these.
I realize how cursed my article will be in certain sections of the region. A death sentence is awaiting me when in Bulawayo, anyway. I will be caught, they will tie my hands and feet, pour Benzin on my body, light it and will burn and they will watch, - a Winnie Mandela style of eliminating traitors in their midst, they call it. I wonder still if there is a difference between Zanu PF and Mthwakazi when punishing opposition voices. With what civilized standards are they going to engage the international community if practices of dealing with dissenting voices are so medieval. Just saying!
Mqondisi Moyo argues that Leander Johnson's signature is still valid. His funding volume is a tall order: half a million US$s to go to Europe and USA to solidify the existence of colonial artifacts of the past centuries: coloniality deep seated in the psyche of Africans increasingly becoming suffocated by the presence of the othering, black in skin colour: the irony does not escape me at all. The boundaries that demarcate African states are colonial artifacts and artificial: the ultimate misconception of African colonialism. (an overly expensive holiday trip around the world)
To say this much to MRP means to me personally a death sentence. Does Mqondisi Moyo realize that he is talking a colonial language of Cecil John Rhodes and Leander Johnson and all of them who previously sat down and sliced Africa to pieces. Mqondisi is alluding to these demarcations that undermines the existence of African populations in the continent. He is outsourcing half a million US$s to use to redefine boundaries that were penciled with a ruler in German Berlin City in 1884 feeding a narrative that Ndebele nation is bigger than what it currently is. Colonialism was got rid of in territories only and never in the minds of Africans. They were freed of British occupation: What has remained intact in the minds of some Africans are deep seated glorification of vestiges of coloniality, because inherently colonial vestiges are standards of all civilizations in this region. Mqondisi thinks these standards must be strictly upheld and adhered to, to the letter.
What noise is Mqondisi Moyo peddling? He wants to engage the Diaspora to get funding to travel far and wide seeking to reconstitute boundary redressing in Zimbabwe. Does Mqondisi read daily geo-political transformations taking place globally? Who will care to listen to Moyo talking about a default southern African boundary on ethnic grounds that gave colonialists authority a century and half ago? Quote; "A defining moment in the history of European involvement in Africa, the Berlin Conference brought together representatives of fourteen nations to work out mutually acceptable procedures and protocols for dividing Africa among themselves—without the benefit of consulting the views of Africa's peoples on their own future" from thoughtco.com www.thoughtco.com/berlin-conference.
Moyo acknowledges borders surrounding Zimbabwe. This is where questions must start. Who gave Pieter Grobbler authority to sign a border treaty with King Lobengula? Limpopo River is a demarcation between Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa, now recognized by Mqondisi Moyo as legit demarcations. "Cognisant of the borders that separate ….! He speaks. Ramoquabone/plumtree signed in 1888; who signed it, at whose behest and whose authority? The border with Zambia – Livingstone / Victoria Falls signed in 1888! Here, I hasten to say that there was no Zambia to talk about in 1888. Zambia existed on October 24, 1964, independence day. It is fictitious to talk about Zambia as a nation that predates the turnover of 1900 Millennium, historically.
Mr. Mqondisi Moyo's bone of contention borders on the Munyathi River, supposed to be the physical demarcation between two antagonistic ethnic groups; Ndebele and Shona nations: signed between king Lobengula and Sir Leander Jameson. What is seriously disturbing is the absence of multiple of questions regarding the colonial authority about border disputes, they must be revisited and upheld in 2025 by educated men and women of Ndebele origin?
On one hand in West Africa Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali are removing borders because borders are artificial: on the other hand, in Zimbabwe, Mqondisi's MRP is redefining and fortifying Munyathi River demarcation line as physical separation from Mashonaland. The level of development and thinking processes of West Africans and that of Mqondisi's MRP are light years apart. The half a million US$ he is outsourcing must be used in relocating Mqondisi et al to Burkina Faso to learn basic things related to the shift in the mindset from believing in coloniality, to believing that a colonial mind can successfully be decolonized. Mqondisi will learn that improving the lives of citizens is to engage with the rural populations by assisting them in agricultural productions to remove hunger and poverty in their lives. Burkina Faso has become sovereign in food nationally. That is true activism!
Matabeleland region has serious food insecurities. Remove food insecurities and reset food sovereignties in the lives of Ndebele people first, dear Mqondisi: I still remember telling you this, 5 years ago. The abject poorest people in Zimbabwe are Ndebele's. Mqondisi Moyo, your activism is posh and expensive and out of the reach of ordinary Ndebele people. Going to international institutions fighting boundary tribal disputes does not make any sense, right, left, and center. However, it makes sense if you make thorough documentation regarding Gukurahundi atrocities and present the document at ICJ for review. You will be seeking true justice for the living and the dead victims of genocide. It will not cost you a half a million US$s to seek justice at ICJ level.
I wonder still if Mqondisi knows the challenges of peoples living in the Diaspora. Most of them live from hand to mouth. 90% of the people living in the Diaspora support families at home because the system of governance in Zimbabwe has collapsed. Now they are asked to contribute to a luxurious exercise that does not make sense. It is impossible to raise a half a million US$s so that Mqondisi et al allow themselves an expensive exercise, living large in London, Brussels, Berlin, and New York: they will be arguing that the cause is a noble one, therefore pertinent to allow themselves those luxuries in foreign cities: the bone of contention being border despites with Mashonaland! Which rich people in Bulawayo will he approach to fund boundary causes and effects with Mashonaland? Is it possible for Ndebele families in the Diaspora to part with hard-won pound-sterling to finance an ambitious journey to western cities for the purpose of giving awareness to global organizations about the plight of Ndebele people regarding border disputes.
Mqondisi Moyo must deconstruct his activism. For the love of everything that is holy, Moyo's article has aspects that are worth considering. If he removes the bone of contention about the Munyathi boundary from his article, some contents make sense, to put it delicately. The case regarding Matabeleland Gukurahundi atrocities is long overdue. I agree, resources are needed to redress genocide atrocities. To seek border disputes is veering out of issues about poverty and destitution and why the government is punishing the region in several aspect of their daily lives and livelihoods. Mthwakazi parties must target projects they can do effortless on the ground, assisting rural communities, becoming food sovereign and never about hand-to-mouth assistance from donor organizations. Assisting rural communities by setting up schools and clinics. The half a million US$s Mqondisi is outsourcing must go to rural communities to drive manageable however small projects such as these.
I realize how cursed my article will be in certain sections of the region. A death sentence is awaiting me when in Bulawayo, anyway. I will be caught, they will tie my hands and feet, pour Benzin on my body, light it and will burn and they will watch, - a Winnie Mandela style of eliminating traitors in their midst, they call it. I wonder still if there is a difference between Zanu PF and Mthwakazi when punishing opposition voices. With what civilized standards are they going to engage the international community if practices of dealing with dissenting voices are so medieval. Just saying!
Source - Nomazulu Thata
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