Chronicle EditorEsinathy Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
THE West still has an imperialist hangover over Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole and will not tire in its destabilisation and regime change agenda, analysts have said.
They said the intrusion, manipulation and continuous interference in both political and economic developments in Zimbabwe and the country’s policies is self-evident.
In line with that, the British Government has since called for an expansion and extension of European Union (EU) sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The British have also said they will not back Government’s plan to return to the Commonwealth.
Britain’s Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin revealed this during a hearing by the Parliamentary Committee on International Development in London on Tuesday.
All the “evidence” presented during the hearing was to make sure London makes an appropriate decision on Zimbabwe after initially adopting a soft stance towards President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
Zimbabwe was on the agenda with priority being put on last month’s three-day stay-away which turned violent as protesters looted shops and blocked roads.
Prior to that, the country had made significant progress in its re-engagement policy, and was poised to re-join the Commonwealth.
Government, local leading business people as well as Sadc and the African Union have been calling for the removal of sanctions, arguing they inhibit economic development.
“The US sets the tone on how Britain and the West in general relate with Zimbabwe reminiscent of how they pioneered the imposition of sanctions in 2001 through Zidera. Clearly Britain has been coerced to make a U-turn on a prior position of accepting President Mnangagwa as having legitimately won a free and fair election,” said political analyst Mr Goodwine Mureriwa.
“Against the backdrop of Lord Adrian Palmer’s call for the re-colonisation of Zimbabwe, it is clear that they still have an imperialist hangover and want to manipulate demonstrations and strikes here to prop-up the MDC and pursue regime change.”
Mr Mureriwa said imperialist forces are joining forces to damage the country’s reputation on the international stage.
“The US and Britain feel threatened by Zimbabwe’s reinvigorated Look East policy and ED’s recent visit to Eastern Europe. In response Britain now wants to throw spanners onto Zimbabwe’s bid to re-join the Commonwealth,” he said.
“But our sovereignty is supreme, and the will of the majority as expressed in a democratic election will be upheld. Zimbabwe is open for business not intrusion and abuse.”
Another political analyst Mr Liberty Mukandawira said the West which perpetrates most of the atrocities around the world is trapped in a colonial mind-set.
He said it was now clawing deep into Zimbabwe’s domestic issues. “In Zimbabwe we have an elected government and its duty is to keep law and order, especially when Western sponsored puppets like the MDC Alliance send innocent children of Zimbabwe to their deaths for nothing other than the Western political ambitions over Zimbabwe and Africa at large,” Mr Mukandawira said.
“Having all those countries still ‘concerned and worried over the well-being of people in Zimbabwe’ is on its own a red flag that nothing good is wished of this country by them.”
The direct interference by the West is not unique in Africa. Neighbouring South Africa has had its own share of such unprecedented interferences in its domestic policies by the West.
Recently the UK, USA, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa warning him that failure to act against those implicated in corruption placed foreign investment at risk.
However, the ruling party ANC was quick to dismiss these countries seeking to push for regime change in the country and rejected their ill-conceived ideas. — @esinathy_essira.
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