adminIf these are not crocodile tears, then we do not know what would constitute that. The European Union and the Americans joined Zimbabwe’s dispute with the British over land and decided to impose economic sanctions that have hurt our industrial capacity through lack of offshore finance for local firms. This, in turn, has seen many workers losing their jobs as firms failed to capitalise their operations.
Meanwhile, the European Union wants Zimbabweans, and the people of Matabeleland in this instance, to be content with pockets of aid here and there to pacify the people so that they do not look at the bigger picture, which is the issue of sanctions that are wreaking havoc on our economy.
While it is good for local industry and politicians to meet representatives of the EU, it is equally crucial for such people to tell the EU the truth and demand the lifting of sanctions instead of moaning over domestic resource allocations and perceptions to these foreigners.
Mr Eddie Cross, the Member of the House of Assembly for Bulawayo South, identified pillars of economic activity in Matabeleland. While we agree that these could form the fulcrum of an economic revival for the region, we believe the MP should have gone further to explain why they could not play that role right now.
Sanctions are real and even Finance Minister Tendai Biti has since acknowledged that following the addition of our diamond mining companies to the list of firms on the sanctions list. He has since called for the removal of that embargo and we hope that all politicians will soon sing from the same hymnbook concerning that. If the EU imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe with the intention of facilitating regime change, how do we think they feel when we present the same people with a dossier of our troubles that are partly the result of their sanctions?
The National Railways of Zimbabwe cannot access spare parts for its equipment from the EU due to the sanctions, just like many Government-aligned or owned firms such as the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, that has interests in diamond mining in Marange.
The Cold Storage Company used to supply 9 100 tonnes of beef to the EU before the land reform programme and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country. We have not seen concerted efforts to assist the sector that supplies the CSC and ultimately the EU with beef. The EU knows of the CSC’s potential quite well and by ensuring that they deny it a market, that had trickle-down effects on our farmers, now largely black, and it would be expecting too much for us to present our turnaround proposals to the EU.
Also, there are also some naïve quarters within the business and political communities that believe that we need aid from the US, the British or the EU. We do not need aid at all in this country but access to capital to grow our enterprises.
The EU would want us to believe that we need humanitarian aid, that we are objects of pity and in need of their benevolence. We have not forgotten our colonial past and the principle of divide and rule that they used so effectively to keep us under the yoke of colonialism. We feel the same principle is being used again to play on the emotions of the people in the region who have been agitating for decentralisation. But can someone please enlighten us how the EU comes into the regional political dynamics in this country?
While we appreciate the EU’s assistance in certain programmes around the country, we believe we have the capacity to do even more if they remove their sanctions and let Zimbabweans exploit their resources without throwing spanners in the works at every turn such as at the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, among other international bodies whose decisions could favour our economy, if they did not interfere.
It is against this background that we find the EU visit to Zimbabwe, and Matabeleland in this case, to be an evaluation of the extent of the damage caused by their sanctions more than anything else. As a sovereign state, we need to be free to chart our own course without fear of being slapped with sanctions should our course be unfavourable to the interests of our erstwhile colonisers.
And may the EU please spare us the crocodile tears while we should also hasten to caution our own people to guard against being gullible and fall for machinations by the same people that handed us over to the monstrous adversity.
Online Reporter