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THE admission by British Prime
Minister Tony Blair to South Africa�s President Thabo Mbeki that the United
Kingdom�s foreign policy on Zimbabwe was wrong is not good enough considering
the devastating damage it has caused on the country�s economy and politics.
After all the anguish he has created among the people of Zimbabwe, it is not acceptable for Mr Blair to simply admit "privately" to the folly of his foreign policy. We deserve better than this. Before the advent of British hostilities against the ruling Zanu-PF Government towards the end of 1997, our international relations were fine and the major economic indicators were showing signs of good health. Inflation was running at a manageable 15 percent, the Zimbabwe dollar was trading at around $11,4 to the American greenback while unemployment was hovering around 30 percent. Enter the Tony Blair Labour government with its bullyboy tactics and new labour expansionist policies, all hell broke loose. The economy was ruthlessly shaken, the country�s politics thrown into turmoil and a new civic society created to cause mayhem, all in a bid to remove the Zanu-PF Government from power. Mr Blair cannot simply walk away from the mess he has created in Zimbabwe. While Zimbabweans continue to rebuild their economy and country, the British government should assume and acknowledge responsibility over its dastardly policy towards Zimbabwe. The political polarisation that has been created in Zimbabwe is directly or indirectly the result of the Labour government�s doing. A significant number of Zimba-bweans were made to lose confidence in their own country, which was being depicted by the international and local opposition media as an evil empire. We expect Mr Blair to follow-up on his "private" admission by undoing the sanctions his country has led to cripple the Zimbabwean economy. We expect Mr Blair to untangle the political web he has woven using the opposition MDC, civic organisations, desperate Zimbabweans seeking greener pastures in Britain, private media, among others. The "private" admission is only the first step, in our view, among a series of other steps that Britain has to take in healing the wounds created by its foreign policy and making amends for the damage it has caused. If not, history will judge Mr Blair as the British Prime Minister who single-handedly tried to destroy an entire country and its people by mobilising the powerful European Union, United States, white Commonwealth, among a plethora of multilateral institutions, against a little underdeveloped country called Zimbabwe. A lot of Zimbabweans at home and abroad are no longer certain about the future of their country because of the magnitude of the demonisation the country has had to endure. The British Prime Minister has the power to call off the sanctions against the country, which have resulted in the drying-up of foreign currency required for critical fuel imports, imported industrial inputs to keep the wheels of the economy turning, medicines, food and so on. He has to call off his political hounds that cast gloom and despondency over their country on a daily basis.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni Uganda is in Anarchy" Le groupe de transmission de Mulindwas " avec Yoweri Museveni, Ouganda est dans anarchy " |
