… erect a statue to honour Robert Mugabe
I stumbled accross a very amusing entry on the BNW Magazine blog today - I really laughed.
The opening line caught my eye:
Hail to the Chief ! It is the moral obligation of every major city in sub-Saharan Africa to erect a statue to Robert Mugabe.
I get a little angry at things like economic sabotage (we’re predicted to hit 800% inflation very soon), food shortages (less than two weeks supply of wheat apparently), forced evictions and displaced populations (do a search for Operation Murambatsvina on this site or the main Sokwanele website), unaffordable education (do another search for that) as well as headline grabbing issues of lawlessness, electoral rigging etc etc etc. And its fair to say that all this means that Mugabe is not my hero! He is the man who is ultimately responsible for all this - it happened under his watch! - and for that he should go down in history as a terrible manager (at best) and a totally incompetent human rights violater at worst. Those of us struggling to make ends meet do not think that he deserves accolades or respect. He has failed, dismally, to ensure that the people of our country have the standard of life that others take for granted elsewhere.
… but lets get back to and what I found so funny! It was this:
But there is not a single accolade to a black African Patriot on the entire African continent !.
The author should come and visit our country.
Robert Mugabe doesn’t wait to be honoured for his ‘achievements’ ; he isn’t prepared to sit about and modestly hope that African nations will recognise him as a great man. He has pre-empted all that and has ensured that just about every single town in our country has a street named after him in it - usually the biggest and most central street in the town!
Nor can you walk into a single government office building anywhere without seeing his dusty portrait glooming down on you from a dizzy height. Incidentally, the portrait hasn’t been updated for decades so, as well as claiming a certain status for himself, he has also done his best to create the view that he is eternally young and ageless (or maybe he’s just really vain; or maybe there is no money to print more portraits because he mismanaged the economy and has nothing left…?).
The truth is you can get completely lost in Zimbabwe … erm, Robert Mugabe Street … which one, which town….?
So don’t worry about honouring him - Robert Mugabe has already done quite a lot to honour himself!
Such are his priorities!
March 7th, 2006 17:47
Heh…funny post (albeit sad).
Just wanted to comment that this is an excellent commentary on Zim. I’ve been subscribed for a while now. Keep up the good work on reporting views from the layman in Zim. Excellent stuff.
March 7th, 2006 17:48
PS. that was a comment on the entire site and not only this post.
March 7th, 2006 22:35
These articles really scare me. If we are trying to effect change without violence in our beautiful country, then we shouldn’t write like this. This article is embittered and angry. It is violent. And that makes me sad, as one who loves her land no matter what. In fact, as I am speaking, I am preparing to go home. You know what? Change can only come from positive thinking. We have to be positive all the time. We have to invent new things all the time so that the world doesn’t hold us at ransom. I am sorry to say, but I agree with everything Mugabe says. I know where he is coming from and as a black person I support and feel him. He has every right to be President. And seriously, there is no reason why we should follow western democracy. It may not work for us. Why should we care about it? Maybe our system of government is better. I think the problems with Zimbabwe are not with its leaders. They are with the people. We are refusing to change, to adapt and create, and live in the future, not the past. We are the ones at fault. We are weak.
March 7th, 2006 22:38
PS Murambatsvina is so boring to me. Those people were breaking the law. In any part of the world, the same thing would’ve happened to them. If you can’t afford to live in the city, don’t come and build an illegal shack!! Seriously, I think we should build a statue for Robert Mugabe. A leader like him comes once in a century.
March 22nd, 2006 19:39
Mugabe,Castro,Chavez,Lushenko,Milosevic,Saddam,Gaddaffi, what is common to these men?Thuggery, mass murder, genocide, gross human-rights violations and inhuman devilish tendencies. Yes I have read it all in the western press. AND I don’t believe it. These are just princilped revolutionaries who dared defy raw western capitalism that places profit aheard of the welfare of the poor peoples of the so-called third-world countries. History will look favourably on these men who are the remnants of the brave warriors of old. Look at their opposition. Do you seriously think pathetic western minions like tvsangirai can even be compared to RGM? we imbibe this western rhetoric about freedom and human rights at our peril.VUKANI mani bantu.
March 22nd, 2006 19:58
Zimbo: You sound like someone fat and well-fed by the zanu gravy train. Why else would you come up with this drivel? If you weren’t on the gravy train you’d be suffering like the rest of the country. Anyway, you’re probably right about one thing, tsvangirai could never be compared to RGM. And all I can say is thank heavens for that, we don’t need another despot.
…and Susan: thank the good Lord that a leader like mugabe only comes once in a century. I don’t think our country could cope with his mismanagement twice in a century.We’d all be dead for sure.
March 23rd, 2006 09:24
to also a zimbo,
the interesting thing is that the useless lot who called for sactions on zim are the ones who do the most moaning about the deterioration of the economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe. But what did you really expert?when you call for economic sanctions you must be prepared for the hardships to come.people die when there are sanctions. that is the fact of life. that is why you will never hear a british or american call for sanctions on their own country.only african idiots do that. and then they moan about underdevelopement, govt corruption e.t.c. the most corrupt zimbos are thus those who called for the west to destroy our country so they could get to state house. they are to be found in the notorios NGOs and the silly opposition.they have fattened themselves to obesity via blood money freely given to them by their western masters. they have no problem about standing be4 starving masses and calling upon them to help push mugabe out so they can continue with their devilish ways at state house in turn. look at how healthy and fat tvangirai is and contrast that with the appearance of my grandmother down there emaphaneni.ngumbhedo lowu. The opposition in most african countries is no better if not worse than the governing parties. from the mmd in the early 90’s to the rainbow coalition zambia and kenya have seen no better change except a few meaningless gains here and there that a western correspondent will overhype for obvious reasons.
March 23rd, 2006 14:47
Sanctions? That old excuse? I don’t know a single person who actually buys that as a reason… the only time I ever see it is when its written in our local newspapers and usually coming out of the mouth of a zanu politician. Everyone here knows that the sanctions are targeted against a handful of elite people (and we also know the targetted sanctions don’t work!). The problem with the sanctions excuse is that it assumes that everyone is very very stupid and doesn’t understand basic business.
If Zimbabwe’s economy is dying it is because clever, skilled, investors (local and foreign) will not risk their money in a country where property laws are not respected … where anti-western rhetoric is used all the time by the government … where the government trys to take over everything despite the fact it cannot manage (like the mines right now !!!!) … or where the government buys stuff and doesn’t ever pay its bills (fuel, power etc).
What kind of business person in their right mind would put their money in a country like that? In business, it’s not about politics, it’s about getting a return on your investment.
Zimbabweans also know very well that the world does try to help the poor suffering people. We see our government passing laws where they have control of everything (and we know what happens then - the goods get loaded on the black market gravy train)……….. or refuses to accept food because no one is starving (apparently)……….. or assistance with housing because we apparently don’t have a housing problem (so we live in shacks)………… or relief for victims of murambatsvina because apparently there are no victims …. or, whatever… whatever…whatever… whatever… their list of excuses is endless and really not even worth listening to anymore.
Basically, if the people are suffering the blame always comes back to the doorstep of the government…….normally because they’ve directly done something to create a situation, but also because they refuse to accept international help to relieve suffering. I would never call for or support sanctions that affected the ordinary person because I am an ordinary zimbabwean and I’ve suffered enough! I am telling you that there are no sanctions that affect me or anyone I know. That’s just a feeble effort at government propaganda to try and avoid accountability.
… and don’t assume that because I am capable of recognising that our government is corrupt and useless that that means I automatically support the opposition. That’s another zanu propaganda line you’ve swallowed: ‘you’re not on our side therefore you are the enemy of the people and trying to destroy our country…’. Rubbish. Some of us are capable of thinking for ourselves!
March 27th, 2006 15:52
It seems what you call thinking for yourself is parroting what you hear from CNN,Sky and the drivel you imbime from the Washington Post and The Daily Telegraph.Be4 your lot can dream of freeing ZIm from the clutches of Jongwe, (assuming you’re a ZIM native of course) you have to liberate yourself from the colonial mentality that that says the property rights of a few Rhodies or some corrupt Western investor are worth more than the lives of my sons and daughters. Not even a mad mugabe will touch the genuine investors who are in it not only for profits but for the good of their host population.Unfortunstely such investors are in short supply in Africa. what is plentful is are quisilings like you who will swallow anything and everything capitalist exploiters will prescribe. people look at your lot and decide deep down there in Gwamazhula that its better to appease Mugabe’s “madness” than go back to the bad old days of rhodesia. Who can blame them?At least he says no to capitalist evil!!!!!!!!!!
March 28th, 2006 13:48
what a adisappointment Cde moderator
March 28th, 2006 22:13
I’m from Russia, everything sounds so distant and familiar at the same time. But on the other hand, it’s your country, your traditions. Hope to pay a visit to your beautiful land.
April 2nd, 2006 18:32
It’s ironic that a country that suffered under such brutal racism for so many years is in turn largely destroying itself by adopting similar racist tactics.
It’s not a coincidence that Zambia is flourishing. Their currency is the strongest ever, they are exporting food after having known famine just a couple of years ago, and tourism is booming. Not only that, but the Zambian population is now learning to grow tobacco and other crops from the white farmers that Zim expelled. Education and self-responsibility is going to be crucial in turning around Zim, and part of that education is learning that when all rights are protected and held sacred, then those rights become much more secure. Until that time, you’ll be cursed with a government of situational ethics and inefficiency.
July 23rd, 2007 17:34
Build a statue to cde mr mug??? Why? you got nothing better to waste your money on. Can you eat a statue? Will a statue keep you dry when it rains? Will a statue fill yor day with happiness…No it will not, whoever thinks a statue is a priority needs to get electrotherapy and soon….