In the recent past, there has been a flurry of activities from organisations totally opposed to Zimbabwe selling its diamonds freely and without conditions imposed unnecessarily and driven by elements whose agenda is political. There is no secret that all the noise that we hear and continued efforts to demonise our country have one clear objective: that is to immobilise Zimbabwe’s capacity to meet its own needs from its own resources.
Most importantly, there is a clear commitment to reduce any chance of a government led by His Excellency, Cde R. G. Mugabe to steer this economy back to the road of success. It is no longer a secret that the demonisation of our diamonds, particularly diamonds from Chiadzwa in Manicaland is not innocent propaganda but a carefully managed programme to influence the outcome of any future general election in favor of groups that are friendly to western nations. In simple terms, this is an illegal programme of regime change.
What is frightening is the scale of the anti-Zimbabwe diamonds movement and the pace and speed at which they are moving on their mission to continue spreading lies against Zimbabwe. Although it is true that Zimbabweans know that there is no war, no killings and victimisation going on in the country, the danger is that lies, if told repeatedly, tend to become true by default. We should not lose any opportunity to defend our position ruthlessly and with vigor and the need plus time to do so is now and very urgent. The greatest temptation is to believe in our own rightness and invincibility and hope that the truth will set us free. This however is not the best strategy in the current circumstances. We know that we are right and as a country we have done all that is required of us, but at the end of the day, we need people throughout all stake holders particularly in Africa, to believe in our position and story.
Everyone associated with the Marange diamond fields knows very well that these are not killing fields, that there is complete absence of disorder. On the contrary, something great and huge is emerging out in the bushes of Marange. We need to use every weapon at our disposal to fight fire with fire because if we don’t, all the good work going on at Marange will be buried under a pile of lies and a deliberate manipulation of truth by the enemies of Zimbabwe who have invested a lot in the strategy of regime change.
Our enemies never lose any opportunity to have a go at us, and the sooner there is realisation that we should fight them at every fora and corner, the better for Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe needs to tell their friends about all the good work that is going on at Marange and companies mining at Marange should have open days carefully managed to expose kids in secondary schools and universities and communities to the reality on the ground to avoid losing the battle of controlling the minds to the propaganda peddled by the international media. We should minimise the reliance on information coming from agencies of imperialism represented by NGOs that are doing the dirty work for their masters. These organisations champion themselves as human rights protectors, create an impression that Zimbabwe is about to crush under the weight of mis-governance and its saviors are supposed to be these unelected and undemocratic institutions masquerading as philanthropic organisations.
They have set up shop in each country in Sub Saharan Africa, found their way into Africa’s regional political and trade organisations and indeed into the African Union. They have patronised Africans and have tried to give us lectures on how we should run our organisations and even how to decide on our development strategy. It is time that we in Zimbabwe and Sub Saharan Africa realise that any relationship with these organisations often results in Africa being poorer and subservient. The fight for our right to sell our diamonds should never be separated from our fight for national survival and integrity and of course sovereign purity. Those who believe that this fight is about preserving the rule of one party are not only victims of political delusion, but are also people perennially condemned to dealing with an adult and complex situation with a childish approach. We need and deserve our right as a sovereign nation to trade freely with all peace loving nations of the world. So far we have been punished for a sin we have not committed and no hard evidence has been presented to support the accusations against Zimbabwe. In fact, no evidence is required because the stories on Zimbabwe have always been manufactured to produce the desired outcome.
No sensible Zimbabwean will support activities that dehumanise our people, degrade our environment and perpetuate undemocratic practices. Zimbabweans are not at war, are not destroying their infrastructure and are not burning their towns. On the contrary and despite efforts by hostile foreign nations to divide us, we have remained committed to different political visions without eating each other. We have seen violence on a large scale everywhere including in the UK today. Is it not amazing that the UK behaved like all other countries we have seen in the world? So when are the rest of European countries going to ban British products because of the ruthless nature in which they responded to recent disturbances in their Kingdom? Where is the warrant of arrest for David Cameron for treating his people badly? Where are the NGOs of Zimbabwe that are quick to re act to violent scenes that remain only imagined in their own minds? Why won’t they ask questions about the exclusion that minorities feel and suffer in the UK?
When police move to deal with socio-political disorder in the UK or any European country, they are protecting property and enforcing the rule of law, but when something similar happens in Zimbabwe and indeed any other African country, it is viewed as barbaric political behavior attracting sanctions and condemnation by the UN Security Council. This world belongs to all of us but there must be acceptance that we are all different in our own ways and to try and force everyone to live like Europeans and Americans is never going to work. We accept that Americans have their own country called America, there is a lot that they do that we do not believe in, but we let them live the American way. Why should we be expected to adopt their values? We do not tell them how to run their own affairs. What right do they have to tell us how to run our own affairs? Frankly speaking, Zimbabweans have no serious differences at all, the ones that we have clearly confirm the interference by western nations in our internal affairs. If you take away foreign interest in our national life, Zimbabweans can and are able to resolve the minor differences that exist if at all.
We therefore refuse to accept a world order that has discriminating rules and principles that govern differently depending on the color of one’s skin and geographical position in the world. THERE ARE NO BLOOD DIAMONDS IN ZIMBABWE AND ALL THE COMPASNIES ARE COMPLIANT AND THOSE THAT NEED TO, ARE INVESTING IN THE APPRORIATE SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO COMPLY. WHY ARE WE STILL REQUIRED TO COMPLY WHEN WE HAVE MET ALL STANDARDS BEYOND EXPECTATIONS?
Zimbabweans need to wake up to the fact that there is no heaven in hell. The façade presented by so-called developed nations hides a lot of social and economic in equalities resulting in some of the world’s most heinous crimes being committed in these countries. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country whose progress is being slowed down by non Zimbabweans and small sections of our community who cannot think beyond selfish interests. We need to unite for the good of our nation and the success of our economy. We want our resources to work for us first and everyone else second.
Once upon a time, we were poisoned to think that land reform was bad, should have never been done in a way that left the white farmers stranded. However, no one is prepared to accept that all indigenous people were ruthlessly dispossessed of their land without any form of compensation. Why is bad European behavior tolerated? Europeans will never accept that Africans have a right to govern themselves, cannot and will not accept that we can run our economies and certainly they appear not to accept that we are equal to them in every respect. This European condition must simply dissipate very quickly because the African of today is far more sophisticated and will not accept to be treated as inferior to other races as if destined by God to be so.
Any co-operation with European organisations that reduces our chance to realise our own dreams and seeks to control our resources and to dictate to us how we govern ourselves must be thrown away into a political dustbin. Control of our resources and ownership of our political ideas and systems is the only way that guarantees us a secure and prosperous Zimbabwe.
Disclaimer:
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Dr Davison Todson Gomo is Chief Executive Officer Of The Affirmative Action Group but all views expressed here are personal and do not reflect the position of AAG.
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