Chronicle Editor
It is well-known that the West has, since the demise of colonialism and apartheid in southern Africa in 1994 or since it became clear that the two systems were collapsing in the early 1990s, been out to perpetuate their stranglehold on the region.
They have sought to do so by continuing that domination economically. Western multinationals and smaller companies headquartered in their capitals did not leave the region when colonialism and apartheid collapsed. Also, the way southern Africa’s economy, as well as Africa’s at large, is structured, meant that the newly-independent nations continued to produce commodities for value addition in Europe and America. Politically, the West has been sponsoring its puppets to govern so their remote authority persisted.
They targeted Zambia first. Founding President, Kenneth Kaunda’s United National Independence Party (UNIP) lost the 1991 election to Western-aligned, Frederick Chiluba, a former trade unionist who led the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD).
UNIP has basically died, with it, the liberation flame in that country, perhaps.
Zimbabwe was targeted in 1999 when curiously-named Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was formed by, curiously again, a trade unionist, Morgan Tsvangirai. Like Chiluba, Tsvangirai was a favourite of the West who was supposed to win elections or use street protests to replace Zanu-PF. The plots failed but the sponsors of the plot haven’t relented.
Frelimo of Mozambique is targeted, so is the South West Africa People’s Organisation of Namibia, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola and the African National Congress of South Africa. Fortunately, the region has seen through the Western machinations and is standing strong to thwart them.
An MMD official, Mr Nevers Mumba, in Zimbabwe as leader of the Sadc Election Observer Mission, was, analysts say, supposed to use the cover of the highly-regarded regional bloc to make yet another attempt on the liberation alliance in the region. He is close to the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), which traces its roots to the MDC. He, according to observers, was here to find a way to get CCC in and Zanu-PF out given his biased assessment of the August 23 elections which were resoundingly won by the ruling party.
The ANC, through its secretary-general Cde Fikile Mbalula said this week that the election was well-run and, through President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF’s victory, Zimbabwe checkmated the effort by the usual culprits to install their puppet.
Cde Ndali Che Kamati, whose country, Namibia, is headed for elections next year, also expressed a similar view.
“We are former liberation movements and some other countries in the West want to unseat liberation movements that is why you hear these pronouncements. There is an agenda and this is an agenda for all our countries so we keep on inviting them because we are not hiding anything, we are transparent, free and we want fair elections. But we do not appreciate such kind of pronouncements, it’s an attack on our liberation movements and our governments,” he said, referring to Mr Mumba’s remarks.
His observation is a call to liberation movements in the region, from Tanzania to South Africa, from Angola to Mozambique, to escalate their collaboration against Western machinations to install their puppets in the bloc. The liberators and their people must be vigilant against a lifelong enemy who is increasingly getting desperate and using conventional and unconventional tactics against them.
Online Reporter