I had lunch with the President three years ago and I believed him when he said to me, “Donette, I do not hate all white people, but I despise the British for what they have done to my country!”
As I was born in Rhodesia and lived through colonialism and UDI to Independence, I totally understood. The concept of separate development by the whites never did make any sense to some of us who were born in the country, and when the President ruled out white and black schools, we were all elated as we breathed a sigh of relief for our children. It was the beginning of a new world for us.
Many forget that Zimbabwe is only 35 years old and still evolving. Overseas there is a huge contingent of Born Again ‘Zimbos’ who arrived here after the Land” Reformation” and who, despite the pain and tears of being uprooted, are still proud to say, “I am a Zimbabwean!” This simple statement astounds many who say that they have never met a nation that is so passionate about the land they were born in despite what has happened there in the last 100 years.
The majority of adolescents who left the country had GCSEs with no degrees or skills, but after 15-20 years overseas they are now skilled and qualified in many fields.
Tragically, inspired by the macho war stories of Ian Smith’s foot soldiers, several hundred ended up as fodder in the West’s attempted Middle East regime change, which means that Zimbabwean blood was not only shed in Burma during WW2, but more recently in Arab lands, fighting for the same British who colonized Zambezia in the footsteps of Cecil John Rhodes.
This is why I found Musewe’s analysis positive and encouraging – especially for many when they get the courage to return after all the negative publicity nailed into place with even yet more “sanctions” imposed by western moguls. Yes, there will be challenges but I believe those who are intent on returning home will prove a greater asset to Zimbabwe, having had their wits honed to perfection while scattered out here in the diaspora.
We have all suffered. Parents split up and moved beyond our borders in order to pay for school fees back home. With no dads around to protect their children, teenage pregnancies are another heartbreaking symptom. Zimbabwe’s situation has not strictly been classified as a war zone because weapons used against the people are not weapons of war as such, but psychologically demoralizing, taking their toll. If anything, the tenacity embedded deep in Zimbabwe’s people, as deeply ingrained as the veins of gold in the soil, empowers every man, woman and child in the street who will still take on the challenges that beset this young nation, albeit innocently facing their tomorrows with Hope.
The words that Musewe wrote on fundamental moral regeneration in “Zimbabwe After Mugabe” should inspire and challenge one and all, including President Robert Mugabe and his wife, the First Lady, to reconsider their options and make Zimbabwe whole. Its children have suffered enough. – Donette Read Kruger, UK
Post published in: Letters to the Editor
“Donette, I do not hate all white people, but I despise the British for what they have done to my country!†Mugabe said.
You article has failed to distinguish what the British did before independence, which we all can relate to and for which the war was fought to end these injustices. The truth is most of the injustices have continued after 1980 and it was Mugabe and Zanu PF who have perpetrated them although the tyrant has never tired of blaming the British.
Zimbabweans are yet to have a free, fair and credible elections after 35 years of independence; the British have absolutely nothing to do with this!