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Never Matata
Correspondent
I had not been to Zimbabwe for two decades. In fact, I had not been to Zimbabwe since the Constitutional Referendum of 1999.
Recently I went into Zimbabwe and found out that it is business as usual.
The country is developing at a much faster pace than social media warlords want us to believe.
Every road leading out of Harare has some big structure being built, big retail shops are opening new branches every month and so are wholesalers, it is some kind of a rush, there are more roads under construction at the same time in Zimbabwe than at any stage of the country and yet the social media concentrates on the negative.
Let me say, Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and the last time I was there its black majority were very hungry for land, that land was still held by a small white minority and I felt that land tenure did not justify why the country went to war.
I was later to find out through various media that the land had eventually been taken and to me that was good enough. It justified the protracted liberation struggle.
After the land reform there was a twisted narrative about human rights abuses, lack of democracy, election fraud and many other unorthodox things and I wondered what had gone wrong in that country.
Two weeks before the 2021 Christmas Holiday I visited an old friend in Zimbabwe and this has given me a new and refreshing dimension.
I found out personally, through observation and interactions that the current Government of President Mnangagwa is doing pretty too well to fix the country, despite the sanctions that have made it impossible for it to get funding from multilateral international financiers.
Most of the Governments we praise in Africa would have collapsed if they were in Zimbabwe’s situation. It takes real men to run a country under sanctions.
The sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe are not about democracy, good governance or accountability, as the United States wants the gullible in the world to believe.
They are not about free, fair and credible elections. NO! They are about US’ brazen lust for Zimbabwe’s natural resources. They are part of the US bully tactics to cow the Zanu PF Government and enable it to lay its hands on Zimbabwe’s natural resources.
The sanctions are indeed about the US’ proclivity for regime change in order to achieve its goal to change the power matrix in Zimbabwe from Zanu PF to the opposition MDC Alliance that will be subservient to it and give US access to our natural resources.
MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and his deputy Tendai Biti must be ashamed to be still standing on Zimbabwean soil, when they support sanctions.
Zanu PF is a great Afro-centric revolutionary party that has made it impossible for the US to plunder Zimbabwe’s natural resources at the expense of locals. For that reason the US has tried everything in its power to get rid of the Zanu-PF Government.
It is common knowledge that even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has continuously been throttled by US influence in its structures when it comes to real financial assistance to Zimbabwe and yet Zimbabwe has done all it can to remain in good books with the IMF.
It is common cause that Zanu PF, whose policies are premised on empowering the black majority, has been a thorn in the flesh of US foreign policy that seeks to advance US hegemony on other countries’ natural resources at the expense of everyone else.
Zanu PF has remained resolute and unapologetic on its position that Zimbabweans have a right to determine who exploits their resources and not be subservient to other countries.
The sanctions that were illegally imposed by the US in 2001 and have been periodically renewed, have taught Zimbabwe that there are other options.
Zimbabwe must turn to the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries more consistently because there, Zimbabwe will get better and more meaningful deals that the US, Britain and European Union who engage in bad faith.
They don’t preach what they teach. All they are trying to do is trick the Zanu PF government into collapse, by making nice promises during the day and evil actions during the night.
The Brics countries have no colonial hangover with Zimbabwe and will deal with it as fair players.
I was particularly impressed that the BRICS summit a few years ago in South Africa and it showed me that it is another viable option outside the restrictive and bully tactics of the US and its allies.
BRICS can offer different and viable options. Zimbabwe can surely use the BRICs Development Bank to seek financial assistance for its projects and forget about the IMF. Zimbabwe can capitalise on BRICS.
As it stands, it is a waste of time for Zimbabwe to think that US and the Bretton Woods institutions will soon mutate to become useful friends. NO. They will prolong the processes hoping for the demise of Zanu PF.
BRICS countries are not as manipulative as the US and its allies. That the BRICS invited President Mnangagwa to its summit speaks a lot of goodwill on its part.
It therefore means that Zimbabwe should come up with comprehensive proposals and present them to BRICS, leveraging on its good relations. Certainly BRICS is the best alternative at the moment.
After doing his best to thaw relations with the West, President Mnangagwa was not treated fairly by the same countries that see themselves as the gods of the world.
The US did not have even the courtesy to wait for Zimbabwe’s election results. It just renewed the sanctions on the eve of results announcement. That is very contemptuous. It speaks a lot about the US attitude.
BRICS therefore provides itself as the best alternative under these circumstances while the US continues playing Big Brother.
Zimbabwe urgently needs to fix its economy and needs countries that understand its plight and history.
It needs old and new partners who are flexible and sensitive to its urgent needs and not the ultra-arrogance displayed by the US.
The BRICS offer a vast and wide variety of areas of co-operation such as mining, farming, manufacturing, technology, ICT, health services and capacity building, among others.
BRICS also has a history of dealing with emerging markets and Zimbabwe can leverage on the BRICS experience.
This is the reason why Zimbabwe must turn to the BRICS. The US and its allies are merely grandstanding when talking to Zimbabwe. They are not genuine.
Never Matata is a Kenyan political scientist. He writes in his personal capacity.
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