Online Reporter
Isdore Guvamombe-Reflections
Back in my village, in the land of milk, honey and dust or Guruve, cotton tuft hair is a sign of wisdom, knowledge and experience. It is more than a sign of ageing. It is a sign of gained astuteness.
Naturally grey hair does not grow on stumps but on brainy human heads. Rarely, do we find a man with cotton tuft hair on the wrong side of things. But it happens.
And, and, and… when it happens, boy-oh-boy! such elders are relegated to some goat skinning, far from the council of elders.
AMBUSH ONE
Cry Zimbabwe’s impounded Fire Tenders
In March 2023 at the Malku Bay seaport of Klaipeda, Lithuania, 17 fire tenders which were being shipped from Belarus to Harare were impounded, on suspicion that they were manufactured by a company under EU sanctions — EU Council Regulation EC No 765/2006.
The seizure by the European country of the 17 fire tenders in transit from neighbouring Belarus, which is under European Union (EU) sanctions, to Zimbabwe is an extension of bad politics and big brother mentality.
Last month Lithuania auctioned the fire tenders despite court appeals. When then is justice, justice? There is no doubt that Lithuania’s actions were motivated by the EU’s sanctions against Belarus and Russia, which were imposed in response to the conflict in Ukraine special operation.
That is thuggery and political chicanery. In July 2024, Lithuania’s prosecutor-general ordered the forfeiture of the trucks for sale as part of a pre-trial investigation.
Zimbabwe’s subsequent appeal against this decision to the country’s chief prosecutor was dismissed in November 2024, with the ruling relayed to Zimbabwe on January 2, 2025. On April 2, the auction was executed despite our appeals. And they lecture to us about rule of law?
Zimbabwe’s is an innocent third party, the lawful purchase of the fire tenders from a non-sanctioned company and the unintended prejudice against Zimbabwe resulting from the EU embargo is bad politics.
We should continue fighting for our tenders. This is not right.
They have politicised everything.
AMBUSH TWO
As it happens now, that world politics is — at least of late— evolving around US President Donald Trump after his unprecedented second bite at the apex of mighty America.
Trump is an old-man with cotton tuft hair and has his own exceptional way of doing things. Elders in my village call his style Trumpmania.
South Africa is our good neighbour and we are just separated by that vein of water called the Limpopo. In the spirit of being unneighbourly, what is happening there could be the beginning of the road we travelled after our land reform.
Events at the recent meeting between President Ramaphosa of South Africa and Trump of America, more than exposed the US political chicanery (chikanari) as village elders put it.
Up to now, it is inconceivable to this villager, how Trump’s administration did not do due diligence to pin down President Ramaphosa. It can only be racial bigotry or white supremacist-phobia that clouded the Trump camp.
If anything, it is vicarious liability on Trump, for officers he deployed to failed seriously to prove genocide on Boers in South Africa. The employees, even forgot that there is a Government of National Unity (GNU) in South Africa, and that one of the governing parties represents Boer supremacy. The leader of that white supremacist party is also the Minister of Agriculture and denies, vehemently, the said genocide.
Here Trump failed dismally. He might have done a hirundine on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy but here, he failed and failed dismally on international TV.
America under any president, including the two Bushes: Bush the father and Bush the son: in fact, all of them, is the systematic abuse of power and cheap propaganda to justify a sanctions regime. Little Zimbabwe has walked that journey and it is a painful sojourn.
Zimbabwe and South Africa were born out of protracted liberation struggles that spilled blood, as minority white supremacists resisted black rule and sought to continue colonial rule that gave them express advantages over black people.
It was the fad of the songs that oiled the struggle, songs that pushed the grain of the struggle, songs that whipped emotions into line and indeed, songs encouraged the fighters.
At the centre of many songs was the Boer (bhunu) and without an iota of apology, the songs still resonate with the black population as they still continue to struggle to gain total liberation.
This villager, the son of a peasant, enjoyed much of the songs and even today enjoys the songs of the struggle. The South African songs, Kill the Boer and Umushini wami, have their Zimbabwean version of Shera maBooze Mana and Bhunu Raenda neBara Kumusana.
These songs are unavoidable and people still love them. Unbeknown to Trump, the song Kill the Boer is a popular revolutionary song that gives black South Africans their credence.
And Trump played a blinded eye to the Xenophobia that happened in SA because it was black against black. What racism? Are blacks not people?
What Trump did is pure goat skinning stuff not fit for the Oval Office.
And Russia
President Mnangagwa is one of several leaders to grace the Russia’s prestigious WW11 Victory days. It was a smooth sailing journey to Moscow from which he proceeded to Belarus. Both events were fruitful.
But there was some kybosh and goat skinning stuff from the Baltic states. Western Europe really hate President Putin and will do the bizarre and unthinkable to make him feel they are aerie.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was forced to take the long round route to Moscow to attend Russia’s Victory Parade on Red Square on May 9.
Fico’s plane took off in the afternoon of May 8 and flew over Turkey and Azerbaijan before entering the Russian Federation via the southern Republic of Dagestan, before flying north to Moscow where it arrived at 9:30pm local time.
His plans to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to attend the annual parade this year that commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII got the kybosh after Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland all closed their airspace to his official aircraft, ignoring an agreement that should have given him automatic permission to cross.
Flying over Ukraine, another shorter route, was also not possible as it closed its airspace since 2022 due to Russia’s Special Military Operation.
After the launch of Russia’s operation in Ukraine three years ago, the EU banned all EU members from attending any public events in Russia. Fico has chosen to ignore the boycott as Slovakia remains dependent on Russian gas and Fico is a vocal critic of Brussels’ support of Ukraine and its plans to allow it to join the EU.
A visibly furious Fico released a videoed public statement complaining the Baltics and Poland’s decision to cancel Slovakia’s overflight rights had screwed up his schedule and meant that he would not make it on time for a slew of official meetings that had been prearranged. “This is exceptionally complicating our schedule…,” he said. The decisions were a “strange demonstration of sovereignty,” he added.
Speaking to Slovak broadcaster RTVS, he said: “They closed the airspace above the Baltic countries and Poland for the governmental special plane. I take that as a strange demonstration of sovereignty, but if someone thinks they will deter me with such steps, they are very wrong.”
Fico is one of only two European leaders who attended the event. Serbian President Aleksander Vucic arrived in Moscow on May 6 and posted a video of himself on Red Square early in the morning of May 7. Serbia is not an EU member, but is a candidate state, but following Vucic’s decision to defy the EU boycott of Russian events the candidature is now in danger, say experts.
