Chronicle EditorStephen Mpofu, Perspective
Countries in a geographical setup scratching each other’s backs both in good and bad times are wont to pass the litmus test of solidarity and survival.
To be sure, that situation immortalises the validity of the saying “united we stand, divided we fall” and must serve as a do or die lesson for regional organisations such as the Southern African Development Community, as well as for citizens of Sadc and of similar states that are also united by economic or other interests.
Yesterday the small mountainous kingdom of Lesotho was on fire as citizens across the political divide cast off their “loin skins” and went for each other’s liver, thereby exposing shameful nakedness in their unity.
Sadc as a collective body, with Zimbabwe also participating, rushed in its fire engines and water horses to Maseru to douse the fire before it grew into a conflagration that, God knows, might have consumed total national unity in its wake.
Also yesterday a forest of hands from this part of Africa as well as from up in the North were stretched out, clamouring for a reach at Zimbabwe as the bread basket of Southern Africa and which saw the survival of many hungry souls.
Today, however, with this country’s economy virtually decimated by illegal Western sanctions, all but South Africa remains as a hand stretched out to help Zimbabwe survive the onslaught of the illegal economic embargo as a bossom SADC friend in need and indeed.
That country has announced its willingness to help our country revive its battered economy because the leaders of that powerful regional economy believe strongly that, united, SADC will survive any unwarranted foreign interference in its affairs.
But where are the other 15 member states in this critical matter in point?
Or are they folding their arms with their lips sealed at the behest of the foreign enemy of this country who will also turn enemy of the same states if somehow they trample on the tender toes of imperialism?
But more shamefully, why do some Zimbabwean political and civic organisations and their followers allow themselves to be harnessed to the strings of Zimbabwe’s imperialist nations as puppets dancing to the tune of those outsiders who hate to see this country succeed economically and politically united for the benefit of all Zimbabweans?
Do those Zimbabweans who allow themselves to run with the hares while at the same time hunting with the hounds not realise that should the government in power fall at the onslaught of foreigners they and everyone else will also suffer the same fate?
But perhaps the core of the problem that allows the enemy to romp freely across the political divide causing mayhem is the dearth of knowledge among ordinary Zimbabweans especially in urban areas about where this country came from to be where and what it is today.
Knowledge of the history of liberation that saw gallant sons and daughters sacrificing their lives to secure the freedom of the all oppressed black people fertilises the growth of awareness of the machinations of the defeated enemy and its local stooges to try and try again to upset the apple cart and reverse the clock of freedom and self-determination.
For instance, the ruling party and its government are generally blamed by opposition political organisations and their affiliates for the sorry state of our economy, and gullible ignorant members of the public run with the cheap propaganda, deepening disunity among our people while most of our neighbours who are knowledgeable about sanctions as the cause of the economic ruin seal their lips and fold their arms, giving the enemy more room to manoeuvre in its regime change programme against the incumbent government as punishment for land reform in 2002 to benefit the black majority.
Do our members of parliament, for instance, spend more time in their constituencies, particularly in urban areas where the foreign propaganda is more rampant, explaining to their members the disastrous consequences of national disunity promoted by external enemies using their local quislings or through mass communication?
Or do both ruling and opposition MP’s and other political leaders concern themselves with warm handshakes, praises and gifts from their supporters at the expense of harnessing everyone in unity regardless of their political affiliation to rally together as guardians of our national sovereignty?
The strengths and weaknesses of ruling and opposition political parties should manifest themselves in policy formulations with those fairing better getting into power and enjoying longer terms as they steer their nation to greater heights of national development socially and economically.
No external enemy, however strong their desire for contemporary imperialism will waste time dabbling in the affairs of a foreign nation whose agenda is national solidarity, security and self-determination.
This is the lesson that Zimbabweans should learn and stop freelancing for external forces driven not by love but by economic enrichment at the expense of smaller nations on whose back they ride as if on a horse.
Here, therefore, is a lesson for people in former colonies including our own and it is that if they allow former colonial powers to romp freely in the affairs of the smaller nations, national and regional unity will recede like a mirage with economic and social development decidedly inverted as empty bellies stage noisy protests that author instability and even loss of lives in some cases.
In retrospect, therefore, dialogue across the political divide stands a chance of uniting our people and with that safeguarding our hard won independence and freedom and national sovereignty.
Online Reporter