Published: 05 July 2019

The recent launch of formal dialogue between Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) is an indication that President Mnangagwa's re-engagement endeavours, which seek to integrate the country back into the global community of nations, are now bearing fruit.

After decades of isolation, during which Zimbabwe was relegated to the level of a pariah state, the country is now, slowly but surely, creeping out of the cocoon and establishing a foothold on the world stage, thanks to the new political dispensation, which is working tirelessly to put the country back on a sound footing.

Readers may recall that Zimbabwe stirred a hornet's nest after it launched land reform in 2000.

The EU, Britain and other Western nations, whose kith and kin lost land during the agrarian reforms, hit back by imposing punitive economic sanctions on the country in a futile effort to compel the country to reverse the land reform programme.

The imposition of these ruinous sanctions is uncalled for because in embarking on the land reform exercise Zimbabweans reclaimed their own land, which was expropriated from their forebears by the white settlers in the 18th century.

These sanctions are not only illegal, but actually reveal the pathetic extent to which Western imperialists have become desperate to have a stake in the political affairs of this country.

It is this pen's sober sense that Western nations, which still pander to the archaic idea that Europe and the West have the right to ride roughshod over developing nations, are surely stuck in the sticky mud of cloud-cuckoo-land.

They need to awaken to the reality that the colonial era was relegated to the rubbish bin many years ago, never to rise again. Developing nations are now demanding fair play in trade, politics, business and all other areas of human endeavour.

They will not accept anything less. Indeed, it boggles the mind to note that the anti-Zimbabwe sanctions were imposed at the behest of some of our own people.

These include the late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and former Archbishop Pius Ncube who, on several occasions, travelled to South Africa, where they urged the Eskom to cut off power supplies to Zimbabwe in a futile bid to topple the government.

To rub salt to injury, two MDC Alliance principals, Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti, not so long ago, travelled to the US and requested that more sanctions be imposed on Zimbabwe. What a shocking state of affairs!

There can be no bigger evidence than this that Chamisa and his cronies in the MDC Alliance are not bothered about moving the country forward. In fact, they will not commit themselves to anything progressive because their politics is all about personal glory and self-aggrandisement.

Some people contend that the sanctions imposed on the country are only targeted against 141 individuals and entities and not the commonality of Zimbabwean people. This absurdity is worse than a cruel lie and cannot withstand critical analysis. Let us be clear here.

The brunt of the illegal sanctions is being faced by ordinary Zimbabweans, who now find themselves in a catch-22 situation due to the harsh macro-economic instability in the country, induced by the punitive economic sanctions.

Since the sanctions were imposed on the country, a myriad of companies have closed shop, hurling multitudes of once gainfully employed workers into the chilly dungeons of joblessness. Sad to say, this has seen hordes of Zimbabweans crossing illegally into neighbouring countries like South Africa and Botswana to seek employment. In these countries, they are enduring many hardships.

They are hated, given derogatory names and blamed for crimes they have not committed. As if this is not bad enough, these migrants often find themselves exposed to xenophobic attacks, especially in South Africa.

Surely, every Zimbabwean of average intelligence knows that Western leaders are using their puppets in the MDC Alliance as agents for illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.

Truth be told, Western governments are not concerned about the misery and suffering ordinary Zimbabweans are experiencing because of the sanctions. Let it be said quite frankly that Western leaders want Zimbabweans to suffer so that they revolt against the Government. How any sane person can revel in the suffering of innocent people is beyond my own comprehension. It seems clear, all things considered, that there exists an umbilical and organic relationship between the West and the MDC Alliance.

Only a dimwit can fail to see that Western imperialists are using the MDC Alliance to foment civil strife in the country in order to topple the Government and install a puppet regime led by their blue-eyed boy, Chamisa.

This, more than anything else, explains why the war-mongers in the MDC Alliance arrogantly claim to have the keys to Zimbabwe's development. They know very well that they have the full support and backing of Western imperialists in their bid to topple President Mnangagwa's democratically-elected government.

This is nothing short of shameful and disgraceful.

The bitter truth, which the clueless gangsters in the MDC Alliance must swallow hook, line and sinker, is that the only keys they have are those of Morgan Tsvangirai House, and not the country's future.
- Cuthbert Mavheko