The ManicaPost
Tafara Shumba Post Correspondent
WHILE growing up in the mountainous area of Manicaland, the Shona elders would school youngsters on social propriety.
That was great and products that came out of such schooling would be socially perfect. Gone are such days when youngsters would be told that no matter what, family issues are not exposed to the world. In Shona, they say haufukuri hapwa panevanhu.
In light of that, there are Zimbabweans domiciled in the USA, most of them enslaving themselves in menial jobs, who seem to have skipped such schooling. This unschooled gang is demonstrating against President Mugabe at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York. It has become apparent that the gang was hired to stage such futile demonstrations by forces which know that if President Mugabe opens his mouth, their evils will be exposed.
They know that President Mugabe, being a Pan-Africanist as he is, enjoys great veneration across Africa. They know that the African icon is the last man standing, who wants to see total independence of the continent that has been under colonial yoke for centuries.
President Mugabe is not lost to the fact that political independence per se is not enough. He brought political independence to Zimbabwe but went on to bring economic independence through such policies as the Land Reform Programme and a plethora of other economic policies.
His zeal for total black emancipation informs his recent statement where he criticised South Africa for allowing too much economic powers for whites. He is pained to see poor black South Africans citizens in such a richly resource-endowed country.
South Africa gained political independence over two decades ago but racial inequality remains a hot-button issue in South Africa.The West is afraid that the economic revolution that swept through Zimbabwe might cascade to other countries, thereby further threatening their interests.
To that end, the West wants President Mugabe to go as soon as possible. According to them, the earlier he goes, the safer are their hegemonic interests in the continent. However, President Mugabe, as he also always says, can only go when the people who gave him the mandate to lead them say so.
As it is now, Zimbabweans still want the man to continue providing them with his visionary leadership. The West cannot tell Zimbabweans to change their leadership for it is the sole responsibility of Zimbabweans to do so. It would be folly for a coach of a soccer team to heed advice from a rival coach to substitute his star striker.
President Mugabe is still a political star striker whose performance does not warrant any substitution. They want a weak substitute who can be walked over by their puppets. In Shona, they say, akanyangira yaona.
It should put clearly that the hoodlums demonstrating against President Mugabe in the USA do not represent the interests and voices of Zimbabweans, not at all. Theirs is a strange voice. They are not in sync with what is happening in the country for they have been in the Diaspora for a while.
Therefore, they cannot chart Zimbabwe’s destiny. They must leave that for Zimbabweans who will democratically do so next year through the ballot. Those raucous demonstrators are not doing any good to the nation, save to tarnish the good image of same as the first choice destination for investors and tourists.
One thing for sure is that, they have become a laughing stock of the world. Obviously citizens of other nations are wondering at the way these Zimbabweans are disparaging their own country.
There are Chinese, Nigerians, Americans and many other citizens in Zimbabwe, but not at one time are they seen attacking their governments. As Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, they are expected to be good ambassadors for the country. They must take a cue from young people such as Josey Mahachi, who brought the Nigerian billionaire, Aliko Dangote, to Zimbabwe for investment purposes.
A story is told of two people who decided to exchange their basketful of problems. A day after the exchange, they met halfway, each bringing back the other’s basket of problems. They were both in agreement that it was better to keep their own problems. If it was possible for Zimbabweans to exchange their leader with some of the current crop of leaders, some of whom are the West’s darlings, they will not last a month with them.
They will definitely say “give us back our Mugabe for he is much better”. Zimbabweans, especially the misfits demonstrating in New York, don’t know how privileged they are to have such a leader. They will realise that when the man is gone, like a child who realises how important his parent was when he is already dead.
There are people from other countries who have publicly expressed their adoration for President Mugabe. The Libyans were incited to kill their late leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011. Today, they are regretting ever killing him because they are no longer getting a share of that country’s wealth as they used to during the era of the later.
That country has never known peace since then and the West is taking advantage of the chaos to plunder resources from that country. The Diasporans must not create chaos for Zimbabweans for they know not any other home than Zimbabwe.
