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Robert Gabriel Mugabe is simply indefensible
Vincent Kiwanuka Kalimire, The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
January 17, 2008

http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/oped/oped200801176.php

I read the article, 'Blame UK for Zimbabwe crisis' by Benjamin Kiiza (January 10, 2008) with amusement. Kiiza undertakes the unenviable task of defending the indefensible: Gabriel Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe. In his view, the chaos in Zimbabwe is largely a result of UK's failure to honour its pledge of funding the land reforms. That Mugabe confiscated land and humiliated the white farmers only when money taps dried up.

I have been to Zimbabwe and witnessed the ugly realities faced by the African people in that country. There are practically no exaggerations of the images we see on our television sets, telecast by CNN, BBC and other media. This is the ugly reality to which a former freedom fighter has exposed his people.

I am not underrating Mugabe's contribution to the struggle for the "liberation" of the Zimbabwean people from foreign domination, neither am I trying to exonerate the former colonial masters from blame. I have seen the injustices committed by colonialists in countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

I have interfaced with the ordinary people and those who have been entrusted with powers to rectify the colonial mistakes. The level at which these colonialists parcelled out land to themselves and confined other Africans to unproductive areas is nothing but obscene.

Unfortunately, it is at the stage of rectifying the colonial mistakes that our African "liberators" have displayed their selfishness and sheer greed for power and in the process became worse than the people they replaced.

Instead of addressing the real problems faced by the people they purport to have liberated, the new liberators instead start outright campaigns for personal aggrandisement--accumulating wealth at all cost. We do not have to use Zimbabwe's experience to explain this reality. I believe Uganda provides a good case study of shrewd liberators with unexplained wealth.

Many years after many African countries gained independence from their colonial masters, self inflicted problems have persisted and it is high time that blame is shared proportionately. We cannot continue to blame the colonialists for torching our huts and instead of putting out the fire; are busy fanning it. The truth must be told; President Mugabe, instead of redistributing land to the people, opted to appease his generals and lieutenants with big chunks of land as ordinary people were driven to camps.

A visit to Chitungwiza, barely 30 miles from Harare, would shock even the Angels. It is here that some of the worst levels of deprivation manifest themselves alongside opulence. Where people sleep in makeshift shelters and have to cue for toilet facilities. These people were herded here by President Mugabe as they perpetually wait "for better housing facilities."

Mr. Kiiza; that Britain, the former colonial master, defaulted on its promise to provide money for the re-allocation programme was no excuse for grabbing farms owned by white farmers. It was possible to establish a harmonious co-existence without necessarily destabilising the economy. This is where Zimbabwe's problems become self-inflicted.

Zimbabweans fought for land among other rights and it is only fair that policies that seek to address this historical mistake address comprehensively the concerns of all the stakeholders - the Zimbabwean people irrespective of their colour.

Selective re-allocation of land to members of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the ruling political party, is therefore unacceptable. In that regard, it was no longer tenable for Britain to fund a project which actually was not addressing the historical mistakes, but was instead creating another time bomb--creating another "fifteen percent" who maintain presidents in power.

Kiiza wonders whether Mugabe has become a dictator today and not yesterday when his country hosted CHOGM. What is happening in Zimbabwe should send a clear message to other African leaders who have stayed beyond their "sale-by-date" that they are indispensable. As long as you stand in the strategic interests of the big powers, consider yourself an "off the shelf" product.

Yes, the sanctions have had an impact on the ordinary people and certainly facilitated Mugabe's propensity to retain power for fear of being tried for crimes against humanity. They have also helped to show the hypocrisy of the so-called development "partners--" Dining with dictators only when it best suits their interests.

The author is an MA student at the University of Westminster, London.

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