The ManicaPost
John Sigauke Post Correspondent—
The Shona elders in their wisdom will never come short of counselling adages for any particular situation.
For Kate Hoey, the British Member of Parliament for Vauxhall, the elders would say, inyasha dzei tsvimborume kubvisa mwana wemvana madzihwa (literally meaning that there is a hidden agenda behind a bachelor’s compassionate action of wiping mucus from a single mother’s baby).
Hoey, a self-appointed avid Zimbabwe watcher and Chairperson of the All-Party Group on Zimbabwe in parliament, seem to be living in the pre-1980 regime when Britain was the self-styled master of Zimbabwe. It was then that when Britain coughed, Zimbabwe and other British colonies would catch the flu.
But as President Mugabe always says, Zimbabwe will never be a colony again. Ms Hoey must wake up to this reality for she speciously thinks her sole business in parliament is to talk about Zimbabwe. The people that she represents must demand accountability, for talking about Zimbabwe will never bring development in Vauxhall, neither will it bring food on their tables.
Incessant talk about a tiny country in Southern Africa, is not within the interests or aligned in any way with the aspirations of the people he stands for in parliament, many of whom misconstrue that sovereign country for a province in South Africa.
This week, Hoey, as usual asked Britain’s under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Tobias Ellwood a strange and unintelligible question that the later even tried to evade. She wanted to know the role that the British government was going to play over the next six months or so in Zimbabwe to help the people of Zimbabwe.
“The Foreign Secretary and Ministers will be aware of the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, economically and politically. What role can the British Government play over the next six months or so, which will be crucial to the people of Zimbabwe?” asked Hoey. Ellwood would have done well if she had completely avoided responding to such an empty question for he also exposed himself in the process of responding. He responded that Whitehall was working with Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries to provide the necessary support for its people. What an allegation!
“She speaks about six months, and who knows what will happen in those six months, but we are working closely with the neighbouring countries to provide the necessary support for the people who are suffering more than ever under the current president’s regime,” said Ellwood. No Mr Ellwood, Zimbabweans are suffering more than before under the heinous sanctions your country imposed on Zimbabwe.
The British and their allies must now realise that these sanctions have failed to achieve their evil objectives, neither have they achieved anything save to punish the defenceless citizens of Zimbabwe. It is mere duplicity for Ellwood to claim that they want to provide support to the people of Zimbabwe when they maintain the sanctions which are the sole key cause of the suffering. Their sincerity on the provision of support to Zimbabweans will only be shown through total removal of the sanctions.
Ellwood gives an impression that Britain is working with all Zimbabwe’s neighbours to effect regime change. Botswana is not the only neighbour of Zimbabwe. It is the only Southern African country if not in the whole continent, that has availed itself to the West as a willing agent for regime change in Zimbabwe. The rest of Zimbabwe’s neighbours have high regard for President Mugabe. They look upon President Mugabe for political guidance and leadership tutelage. This explains why Harare is always the first port of call for new leader who is installed in these neighbouring countries.
Forewarned is forearmed, Ellwood has revealed Britain’s agenda in cahoots with the so called neighbouring countries. Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries are known. They have been soiled by Ellwood. It is, therefore, their responsibilities to clean themselves. Zimbabwe awaits their position regarding the plot against Zimbabwe that Ellwood alleged he is working with them. “She speaks of six weeks, and who knows what will happen in those six months…,” he assured Hoey in a reckless statement that betrays the time-frame of the plot against Zimbabwe.
Hoey would do well if she stops being obsessed with Zimbabwe. After all, Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth more than a decade ago. There is no point in referring Zimbabwean issues to the secretary for Commonwealth affairs. The lady must just leave Zimbabwe and its people alone. They never asked for any assistance from her or her country. The only assistance they might ask from her country is the removal of the sanctions.
Hoey claims that she has been in Zimbabwe undercover three times, manufacturing lies that helped to shape her government’s attitude towards Zimbabwe. Her lies partly formed the basis for the decision to impose sanctions on an innocent country. She is the same lady who attacked Mr Peter Mandelson, the Chairman of Lazard International Bank for jetting into the country to hold a meeting with Zimbabwe’s minister of Finance and Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa last year.
She even slated Catriona Laing, the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe for facilitating the meeting. That meeting was part of a re-engagement efforts that would help the people of Zimbabwe that she purports to fight for. Mandelson’s spokesperson had to defend his boss, saying he had just gone to Zimbabwe to engage the representatives of the business community and civil society and encourage them to continue the process of reform. He had to lie to survive Hoey’s volley of attacks.
