In the conclusion of this two-part analysis, he turns his attention to China and asks what they have to gain from agreeing to supply weapons.
There is crisis in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean crisis is not a natural phenomenon; it is actually a human-made one. The ruling party in Zimbabwe continued to hold onto election results almost a month after the elections. This abuse of power on its own is tantamount to provocation of violence in which the government of Zimbabwe makes every attempt to crush opposing voices by deploying police and army details in cities, farms and villages, in an effort to silence the masses.
It is actually oppression at its highest level. On the other hand, the recounting of votes was marred by corruption and violence. Some political leaders in Africa are unfortunately exacerbating violence in Zimbabwe. Their silence is as good as triggering it.
Some people could be identified with specific colours: green, yellow, black, or red. The colour of one’s sunglasses will influence how an object appears in the eyes of an individual. One will see green when one wears green lenses. The same is true of one who has been seeing red’ for the larger part of his or her life. Nothing short of blood will change his or her mind.
Mugabe seems to want to react in a bloody encounter at the slightest error of violence either on the part of the public or the opposition. Zimbabwean people’s patience has been stretched beyond the limit. For the Zimbabwean government, it is actually a deliberate attempt to provoke a violent reaction on the part of the public. Please, Zimbabweans, I urge you to hold on! Peace’ is your name, and let it remain like that. Let’s wait to shame the devil.
Weapons not food
President Mugabe arranges with China to supply ammunition instead of supplying food, which the people of Zimbabwe need at the moment. If truth be told, the total amount of those weapons including shipment in terms of monetary value, translated into foreign currency, could feed Zimbabwe’s starving people for some months.
When the government of South Africa ruled against the declaration of the shipment from China with all sorts of explosives destined for Zimbabwe, the power-hungry Zimbabwean regime diverted the cargo to an Angolan port. Whether it’s done by China on behalf of the Zimbabwean government, or by whoever, the fact that China and the Zimbabwean regime agree to procure and supply weapons of human destruction when a nation is starving, raises a question of conscience.
Zimbabweans have not embarked on war. The fact that the Zimbabwean government prepares in advance for an undeclared war on harmless and unarmed citizens indicates the Zanu (PF) regime’s commitment and desperation to coercively staying in power, whether people want it or not.
It is the power equation which has denied people justice. The question is: what purpose and whose interest will it serve?
Honestly speaking, China has no mercy for the people of Zimbabwe. The Chinese might have other motives outside the gesture of trying to assist Zimbabwe militarily. There was a time when China’s assistance was a welcome initiative, particularly during our struggle for liberation, or when there was real need for weapons. China is trying unnecessarily to ignite an atmosphere of war in Zimbabwe.
It might be a legitimate accusation that a superpower was always involved in the previous genocides that have devastated human lives in most African countries. do not know how the Zimbabwean situation can present itself differently so that African leaders will admit that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe. It may be only bloodbath that will reawaken them. The experiences of Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Uganda and Eritrea, and recently Kenya, have not agitated Africa to respond to civil unrests with urgency. The African Union (AU) has also become unusually silent over the Zimbabwean issue.
Starved of leaders
I still recall the role of the previous Organisation of African Unity (OAU), whose effort to emancipate Africans from colonial aggression was one of the Organisation’s remarkable endeavours. The present African Union seems to act on friendly basis: there is no commitment to liberate the oppressed from the regime governments in Africa.
Africa is starved of true leaders such as Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), and Nelson Mandela (South Africa), to name a few. Unfortunately, the duo, Mbeki and Mugabe have got common interests. We really lack think-tanks in Africa, who would bring salvation to Africa’s problems.
An educated society tries to avoid confrontation and violent acts; it prefers dialogue and democratic means to rise to the top. If that process is still denied, either by powers that be or by other circumstances, then we will have no choice but to leave that to God himself.
War and violence create a lot of suffering and trauma for innocent civilians. War destroys infrastructures that have been erected for our benefit. The rebuilding exercise of a destroyed city is very costly, forcing the country to re-channel resources into a reconstruction programme. Besides, past wars have shown that it is very expensive once a nation has embarked on war.
The intensity of suffering as a result of war, coupled with hunger, is a very serious experience, culminating in deaths. Zimbabweans should make every effort to avoid engaging in violence, but to continue enduring the suffering. It will surely come to an end soon.
An educated society tries to avoid violent acts; it prefers dialogue and democratic means. If that process is still denied, then we will have no choice but to leave that to God himself
Post published in: Opinions