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At the time of writing, His Excellency Robert Gabriel Mugabe is still the president of Zimbabwe. This is still the case four days after the military declared on national television that it had temporarily taken control of the country. (1) The headlines in European press, almost giddy with euphoria, infer that he has already left office, belied by the content of their own articles. (2)
Whatever developments take place, it must be acknowledged that the European Axis (UK, USA, EU, white Commonwealth) definitely has the proverbial dog in this fight. Be it from plotting to effect regime change through invasion, as the UK pressed neighbouring South Africa to help with (3) or through the USA’s Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) and the ”full package of economic sanctions” that are the real reasons for the economic strife that has befallen the country for so long. (4)
Many see President Mugabe’s recent sacking of then vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, as a pretext for setting up his wife Grace as his successor. (5) as the catalyst for the current situation. The sacking shocked many as Mnangagwa effectively seen as the president in waiting a trusted ally that had worked with Mugabe since 1963. (6) Yet “The Crocodile”, as the former vice-president is also known is also very closely allied with the war veterans, who apparently broke ranks with the ZANU-PF government a year ago and called for President Mugabe to resign, criticising his leadership and management of the economy. The government rejected the charges as ‘traitorous’. (7)
However, the intrigue deepened with reports that intelligence documents reviewed by the Reuters news agency this year indicated that Mnangagwa has been planning “to revitalise the economy by bringing back thousands of white farmers kicked off their land nearly two decades ago and patching up relations with the likes of the World Bank and IMF.” (8)
Whether events were a response to recent decisions or the result of lengthy planning, President Mugabe is now in the position of tendering his resignation or face impeachment proceedings. (9)
Many reports depict a Mugabe departure as reflecting the overwhelming will of the people. (10) However, a survey published in early May 2017 by Afrobarometer (the pan-African non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, and related issues in more than 35 African countries), showed that 64% of Zimbabwean adults still trust Mugabe ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’, while 36% distrust opposition parties. The survey showed that “there is more trust in the President in rural areas (69%) than urban centres (55%).” (11)
It should also be acknowledged that Zimbabwe hosts a plethora of NGOs who now:
“Constitute a destabilizing colony in Zimbabwe by their sheer staggering number now said to be over 3,000 and all of them founded and funded by UK, US, EU and white Commonwealth donors.” (12)
So it was not surprising that over 100 of these NGOs quickly issued a statement demanding President Mugabe’s registration. (13). A more curious statement was that drafted by one Julia Lynne Walker , Chairperson of the North American Branch of the little known, so-called Global Pan-African Movement which reads like it could have been drafted by Tony Blair circa 2005 chock-full of imperialist tropes including the now thoroughly debunked claim that “the generals and security officials were the principal beneficiaries” of the land reclamation Programme. (14)
The reality is very different. In one of the more nuanced responses to events in Zimbabwe, Ahjamu Umi, blogger and member of the Oregon chapter of the All African People’s Revolutionary Party, as well as suggesting that (in the manner of Kwame Ture) no analysis of our people can ever be complete without including our enemies in our assessment, he reminds us:
“There is ample evidence that the land reform program – by imperialism’s own acknowledgement the hallmark of Mugabe’s presidency – has started to show clear signs of progression. The Zimbabwe Land Reform Development Study, an independent study from a non-governmental research group, has been widely cited in its recognition of the land reform program’s implementation in the Masvingo Province where almost 30% of the country’s land reform policy has taken place. According to the study, contrary to what imperialism would have us believe, 75% of the redistributed land has gone to low income people and not relatives, friends, and other nepotism related transactions as have been claimed. Most of the remaining 25% has gone to public lands, like parks. This perspective is validated by the gradual, but consistent, rise in income among people in Masvingo which provides credibility to the claims ZANU-PF has always made about the program. The report goes further to chronicle the extent to which the farms owned by Africans are active and the degree to which farmers are participating in efforts to further develop and consolidate the growing production of the farms. “(15)
The work put in by the government not least the “Targeted Command Agriculture” programme said to be the brainchild of First Lady, Grace Mugabe was rewarded by a bumper harvest in the 2016-17 farming season. (16)
From what has been put out already, analyses of the Zimbabwe situation will generate considerably more heat than light. Indeed, the country has been a touchstone issue for several decades now that, having resisted a full blown regime change agenda from the European axis, remains an important case study. Historically, as evidenced by the examples Patrice Lumumba/Mobutu Sese Seko; Kwame Nkrumah/“ National Liberation Council”; Thomas Sankara/ Blaise Compaoré , European imperialism has little difficulty overthrowing “troublesome” leaders and installing its preferred option. (17)
It seems evident that the weight of propaganda or sometimes just personal feelings supplants the necessary critical analysis. As Obi Egbuna Jnr, US Correspondent to the Zimbabwe Herald explains:
“The best way to measure the weight of your enemies’ propaganda is to observe where and when it is regurgitated. When so-called African Americans, with the most elegant Dashikis and stunning dreadlocks view President Mugabe through the lens via courtesy of the US State Department memos and Voice of America broadcasts verbatim, we realise the work never stops” (17)
Now at the precipice of change, one can only wonder what kind toll Europe will extract for its cooperation, or if indeed it will, like Haiti, seek to punish the state for its steadfast resistance over several decades. (19)
(1) BBC (20/11/17) Zimbabwe’s Mugabe faces looming resignation deadline. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42048412
(2) BBC (18/11/17) Zimbabwe latest: Thousands celebrate end of Mugabe era. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42035981.
(3) David Blair (27/11/13) Tony Blair asked me to ‘help invade Zimbabwe’, says Thabo Mbeki. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/10477809/Tony-Blair-asked-me-to-help-invade-Zimbabwe-says-Thabo-Mbeki.html
(4) Reason Wafawarova (12/03/15) Politics of sanctions http://www.herald.co.zw/politics-of-sanctions/. http://o1jxt45m574sh20qfm5o2sry.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/FBSProspectusWeb.compressed.pdf
(5) The Zimbabwean (15/11/17) Zimbabwe Army Says It Is ‘Targeting Criminals’, Not Mugabe https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2017/11/zimbabwe-crisis-army-says-targeting-criminals-not-mugabe/
(6) Tom Collins.(16/11/17) Zimbabwe: What do we know about Mnangagwa?http://newafricanmagazine.com/zimbabwe-know-mnangagwa/
(7) Nqobile Bhebhe (25/07/16) Zimbabwe slams veterans as ‘traitorous’ rebels. http://www.theafricareport.com/Southern-Africa/zimbabwe-slams-veterans-as-traitorous-rebels.html
(8) MacDonald Dzirutwe (15/11/17) Zimbabwe military says seizes power to stop ‘criminals’, President Mugabe safe. https://af.reuters.com/article/africaTech/idAFKBN1DF0JD-OZATP.
(9) BBC (20/11/17) Zimbabwe crisis: Deadline passes for Mugabe to quit as party leader. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42048412
(10) David Pilling and Joseph Cotterill (18/11/17) Tens of thousands demand resignation of Mugabe. https://www.ft.com/content/b873dd42-cc53-11e7-9dbb-291a884dd8c6
(11) Baffour Ankomah (17/08/17) Cash crisis sours healthy harvest in Zimbabwe.http://newafricanmagazine.com/cash-crisis-sours-healthy-harvest-zimbabwe/
(12) Prof Jonathan Moyo, MP (03/07/11) MDC-T threat to Zimbabwe’s national security. http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-opinion-sc-columnist-byo-5245.html
(13) Zimbabwe CSOs (16/11/17) Zimbabwe CSOs. https://www.pambazuka.org/democracy-governance/civil-society-organizations-ask-mugabe-step-down
(14) Julia Lynne Walker (16/11/17) Military is complicit in Mugabe misrule Statement of the Global Pan African Movement on the intervention in Zimbabwe. https://www.pambazuka.org/democracy-governance/military-complicit-mugabe-misrule
(15) Ahjamu Umi (16/11/17) A Revolutionary Pan-African Perspective on Events in Zimbabwe. http://www.abetterworld.me/blog
(16) Ankomah. Op Cit.
(17) Dr Ademola Araoye (10/02/17) The Ghetto’s of PAN-Africanism: Is it all just an illusion?https://www.joburgpost.co.za/2017/02/10/the-ghettos-of-pan-africanism-is-it-all-just-an-illusion/
(18) Obi Egbuna Jnr (10/11/17) On the outside looking in. http://www.herald.co.zw/on-the-outside-looking-in/
(19) I A Center (14/01/10) Beyond the catastrophe: How imperialism undermined Haiti. http://iacenter.org/haiti/haiti_fist011410/
we ask the question:
Zimbabwe – Should President Mugabe resign?
1) Has this been an entirely internal process or has there external intrigue?
2) Is there really a plan to bring back white farmers?
3) In light of recent polls, are coverage of popular protests a true reflection?
4) Why is there such variance in Pan-Afrikan analysis of Zimbabwe?
5) What pressure will the west exert on a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, if an when it happens?
Our very special guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Guide To Excellence.
Obi Egbuna Jr: is the son of Obi Egbuna and is the first U.S. Correspondent to The Herald, Zimbabwe’s national newspaper, and the first US correspondent in the country’s 32 years as an independent nation. Egbuna Jr was born in London and raised in Washington, DC. He received a degree in Political Science from the University of the District of Columbia in 1992.
He has dedicated his life to organizing in communities throughout the world. He is a founding member of the Pan-African Liberation Organization (PALO) and technical advisor for the Pan-African Student Youth Movement (PASYM). In addition to organizing and speaking engagements, Egbuna has published articles in the Final Call, the Chicago Standard, Rastafarian Today, the Hilltop at Howard University and the Spectrum at Bowie State University.
Egbuna has taught African History at Roots PCS since 1990 and has also taught at Ujamaa Shule and Northwestern High School in Prince George’s County. He is the current African History teacher for the Sankofa Homeschool Collective. In addition, Egbuna holds a community African History Class in NW DC. Mr. Egbuna is a founding member of Mass Emphasis Children’s History and Theater Company (2012). He is the Executive Director of Mass Emphasis for which he has written a number of plays. Obi Jr is the organizer of the Global African Children’s Festival/Celebration, taking place on Saturday December 9, 2017, under the theme “Preparing African Children to Understand, Embrace and Continue Our Liberation Struggle.”