As we await the final outcome of the elections in Zimbabwe, and indeed the subsequent violence that will no doubt follow, the Government here in Britain seem quite unconcerned about the whole matter. The trappings of post-colonial guilt and the incapacity of a Labour government to criticise post-apartheid South Africa has meant that President Mugabe and his merry band of thugs are free to run riot in what was once British Southern Rhodesia without any serious opposition from Britain. Thabo Mbeki the president of neighbouring South Africa, and a well known Mugabe sympathiser, said only days ago that the situation in Zimbabwe was 'manageable'. Words which must send dread through the few remaining white farmers left alive in Zimbabwe.
In recent days armed militias in support of Mugabe's ZANU PF have been reported to have been attacking and intimidating voters in what has been described as 'huge violence', a move which opposition groups claim is part of a wider Government strategy to gain votes through force. And just yesterday neighbouring Zambia has called for an emergency meeting of the Southern African Development Community, due to the delayed election results. A foreign reaction which is itself way overdue.
When last I visited Africa, I was not prepared for what I saw, and some of the things there truly shocked me. Poverty, death, and crime all of which I experienced and witnessed first hand, all of which are everyday realities for most people. I learned quickly the truth, the mentality of the region which views life as cheap, and changing that mind-set would be like changing the French to view snails much like the rest of the world does. It is an eclectic and complex mix of religious duty and desired well being for ones fellow neighbour, and yet also a survival society, where to rob or murder to feed your family is acceptable. The people of African nations seem individually to incorporate both the centuries old tribal values of long-gone eras with the more recent colonial imports of Europe. The latter primarily being: Religion, Government Structure and Social Formality.
The democratic evolution of a country is extremely important in the grand scheme of things. To have a government which rigs elections and polls can only ensure the people under its rule will value the importance of real democracy and appreciate free democratic rule later in their national lives. The evolution of a country like that of Zimbabwe in our eyes could be seen similar to that of an adolescent child who is making all the mistakes we did as children. And as a more developed adult nation, we try to prevent them from making the same mistakes we did, yet knowing full well in our subconscious that they have to learn their own lessons.
We must however remember that it is not the people of Zimbabwe whom are playing around with democracy, but Mugabe. The ability to 'see how democracy fits' is, as we see it, a right which every citizen of the world should be allowed to have. To have a voice, and an opportunity to make decisions on who governs us is one of the core foundations of democracy. The people of Zimbabwe have been denied this basic and fundamental right for over 20 years, because Robert Mugabe has decided otherwise. A man, who seems to have a problem with democracy.
Apart from the incredibly high inflation, the plummeting life expectancy figures, the internal displacement of millions, the human-rights abuses of Zimbabwe, and the fact that Mugabe fits the role of a Dictator to a tee, there is another reason why our Government should be playing a more prominent role in encouraging the removal of Mugabe. Over the past 10 or 11 years, the number of applicants for asylum in Britain has risen dramatically, with more asylum seekers being granted acceptance into Britain than ever before. This along with the influx of economic migrants and others, has meant that overall immigration figures are up. And apart from the strain on services, education and housing which go along with the wider issue of Immigration, other subsequent problems have seen the radicalisation of the white working classes, which I have covered in previous posts.
The inability to understand the difference between an Asylum Seeker and an Economic Migrant has meant that all immigrants have been tarred with the same brush, when it comes to influx figures, by those people. To them, figures are figures, and the numbers are acting as a recruiting agent for the extreme-right. To limit the number of asylum seekers allowed into Britain just for the sake of lowering overall figures might be considered to be insensitive and wrong. But to lower the number via the removal of the threats posed to those asylum seekers in their own country's, would be a triumph not just for British infrastructure, but a triumph for good. The Conservative Party have put forward ideas to 'cap' the number of immigrants coming to Britain in their manifesto, asylum seeker or not. But wouldn't it be far greater if we could eliminate foreign threats to those asylum seekers so that they would not need to seek asylum in Britain in the first place.
Having once known a Zimbabwean, church-going, asylum seeker here in Britain for many years, I understand the horror of what life is like for the poor Zimbabwean. Constance, as was her name, was an opposition activist in Zimbabwe and had suffered horrendous treatment at the hands of state police which she claimed had been ordered by senior government officials. Two of her daughters had been kidnapped, her husband was murdered and her son went into hiding as she fled to Britain to try and get asylum. From the conversations we used to have with Constance, it became apparent that she did not want to live in Britain, but Zimbabwe with her son, the only thing that prevented her from doing this was not famine or drought, but the ZANU PF.
I do not know the outcome of Constance's story but the last I heard she wanted to get her son to Britain also, but was denied this request by our Labour Government. Her plight has very much been on my mind in recent months for obvious reasons, and I hope for her sake that Mugabe is removed soon. Saddam Hussain, the late and former president of Iraq was similar in his ruling of Iraq as Mugabe is of Zimbabwe, but many people have commented that they don't want Zimbabwe to become the new Iraq. It wouldn't, and I'll tell you why. The situation in Iraq meant that when Saddam's Ba'ath Party was forced out of office by the invasion in 2003, there was a political void, a vacuum where nobody was experienced enough to know how to run the country. In Zimbabwe however, the opposition MDC party have enough support, knowledge and resources to take over after Mugabe.
If Mugabe does make a deal with someone to leave his role in return for an international pardon, making him exempt from prosecution, then I trust that someone will face just as much criticism for it. The ideal situation for Zimbabwe would be the removal of Mugabe from office, his prosecution at the Hague for Crimes Against Humanity and the Breaking of International Law, and the dismantling of the ZANU PF.
As far as i'm concerned Gordon Brown and his Labour Government can make a start by at least pretending to support the idea of a Zimbabwe without Mugabe, instead of chumming-up with South Africa's incompetent Mbeki. A move clearly related to the, currently irrelevant, support for a post-apartheid South African government...
(Picture 1: The defiant menace, Robert Mugabe.)
(Picture 2: Mugabe meets President Ahmadinejad of Iran.)
(Picture 3: A victim of Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina or 'Clear the Filth'.)
2 comments:
How long can the world community sit on their hands? What will it take them to act?
Truth be told even if the spineless government wanted to actually do anything about the situation in Zimbabwe they are not able to as they are militarily stretched to breaking point.
Mugabe must be profoundly glad he has no oil.
Another factor though is, though it is heartrending to see, we are not the world’s policeman any more and our specific responsibilities to Zimbabwe are attenuated to the point of non existence by the many years since UDI and the huge efforts the UK made to hand the African majority a functioning prosperous country with the government and infrastructure to keep it that way and become more successful over the years. All that’s left is simple fellow human feeling.
It is the people of Zimbabwe who supported Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe and still do who are responsible for throwing all this away in the name of their insane racist policies.
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