Back to Index

This article participates on the following special index pages:

Swords that never become ploughshares
Arkmore Kori
July 11, 2009

'If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today, you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you. It is not folly therefore that in these circumstances, anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past. If ever we look into the past, let us do so for the lessons that past has taught us namely that oppression and racism are inequities that must never again find scope in our political and social system'.

The above quote from President Mugabe's 1980 speech has been cited several times, but it is not uninteresting to repeat. Firstly, it is a well crafted masterpiece. It naturally forced many, including his former 'white' enemies (who have remained his enemies) to make positive, immature and erroneous conclusions on his character. Ray Welenksyp, the former Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, for example, told Time Magazine in November 1980: 'Mugabe is the ablest black African leader I have ever seen'.

Secondly, to the extent the speech is loaded with catchy, invigorating assurances, it gave then Prime Ministers qualities and attitudes he has never shown: forgiveness and reconciliation. In fact, it achieved an intentional or unintentional diplomatic sensation, resulting to a total 'ignorance' of Zimbabwean affairs. It is not surprising the slain of 20 000 people in Matebeleland's Gukurahundi, albeit started three years after this historic speech, received scant international attention.

Yet then Prime Minister remained a beam of African leadership and peacemaker. He was given a peace building mission in Mozambique, which he successfully accomplished. It is curious how he committed to creating peace in Mozambique when his Fifth Brigade was at the zenith of Matebeleland massacres, the genesis of beatings, torture, killings and harassment we are still experiencing today. The consequent 1987 Unity Accord echoed the 1980 reconciliation promises. But the re-emergence of ZAPU shows some of its fallacies.

Enter GNU! Most are optimistic about this initiative. It has potential for rebuilding the economy and above all, a foundation for peace and reconciliation. However, our President is adamant of turning swords into ploughshares. 'You wouldn't speak to an idiot of that nature', he says of Johnnie Carson, an American diplomat he recently met in Libya. Probably Carson failed to show him the 'Victorian' respect he covets, but describing him as 'idiot' is too much. It is offensive and an insult to Carson's acumen. This is not the first time he has lashed toxic messages for the West. Obscenities, including some for the opposition, have been part of Mugabe's Chimurenganization episode.

However, a lot of his supporters, including ZANU PF Women's League, love it. They ululate in praise of his venomous tongue. Some dance. And others have promised to strip for him! True: the effects of colonisation and neo-colonialism are partly responsible for our poverty, but rebuking 'whites', which Mugabe did since 2000, would not end our miseries. Just like ZANU PF in GNU, the West is a problem, but also part of the solution to our crises. It's painful the President knows turning swords into ploughshares is necessary and beneficial for the country. Yet he has deliberately sharpened and re-sharpened them to distort rebuilding processes.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP