President Mugabe is an African Political Hero

By Michael Baingana

It is clear that British, US and EU sanctions against Zimbabwe were designed to disrupt the Zimbabwe economy and render the country ungovernable in order to justify external intervention from the West to reverse the gains of the land reform programme. For so long as President Robert Mugabe did not try to take back the land stolen by the Whites, he was okay. But when he began to respond to his people’s land hunger, he became a pariah and came under sanctions and destabilisation from these White supremacist powers. The crisis in Zimbabwe is one of sovereignty not democracy.

The big question is: ‘Do we as Africans have the right to determine our own destiny without approval from the West? Does Zimbabwe has the right to reform land policy or doesn’t it? If they don’t then what is the value of African ‘independence’ and ‘democracy?’’ In my view absolutely nothing!

We Africans must be clear that our collective sovereignty is of far greater political value than democracy. Democracy is a universal value which all human being desire and deserve, but when national sovereignty is under threat, then democracy becomes a luxury we can do without. In any case without sovereignty, democracy is a misnomer, it is meaningless.

President Mugabe, for all the wrongs he may have committed, stands solidly in defense of African sovereignty - our right as Africans - to determine our own destiny independently of London, Washington, Paris, and Brussels. This is the essence of his political stance and also the source of his woes.

Historically, few African leaders have had the political courage to take such a position or even understand how critically important it is to be able to do that.

In that regard Mr Mugabe is an African political hero of the rank of Mr Nelson Mandela (former SouthAfrican President). Mr Mugabe is setting an important precedent for all Africans and rapidly redefining Western-African relations.

Let us not forget that although Mr Mandela is now idolised by the West, he was until as recently as Ms Margaret Thatcher - former British Prime Minister, and the former US President Ronald Reagan (RIP), vilified by them and called “the world’s greatest terrorist” – his crime being the audacity to stand up to White supremacism and racial arrogance.

Britain and the US stood unwaveringly by the apartheid regime in South Africa until the very day it collapsed! We too must learn to stand by our own in the face of racial attack.

African leaders must adopt a strategic perspective on Zimbabwe and recognise that unless we assert our independence from the West, we face potentially serious consequences, including the real possibility of being re-colonised.

The recent establishment of an African military command (Africom) by the US to handle African policy is a clear indicator of what is being planned by some people in this world against Africans. This world is not for the weak.

Thabo Mbeki, the South African President, got it right when he said, “The fight against Zimbabwe is a fight against us all. Today, it is Zimbabwe, tomorrow it will be South Africa, it will be Mozambique, it will be Angola, it will be any other African country.

Any government that is perceived to be strong, and to be resistant to imperialists, would be made a target and be undermined. So let us not allow any point of weakness in the solidarity of the Sadc because that weakness will also be transferred to the rest of Africa.”

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