ZIMBABWE’S resounding success in hosting the SADC 44th Summit recently is a heavy blow for regime change kingpins from the West and the empire of puppets they are trying to build, in their determination to portray Zimbabwe as a rogue State. For a start, the record turnout of Heads of State and Government was a ringing endorsement of Zimbabwe as host and chairman of the regional body. Out of the 16 SADC countries, 13 Heads of State and Government physically attended, with the other three represented by high-ranking officials.
This is a country the US and her Western allies want to see shunned for what its alleged ‘disregard for human rights’, whatever that means. If equitable distribution of land to people of all races is regarded as an abuse of human rights, so be it.
The rest of the world, like us, see the supply of lethal weapons to Israel to carry out a genocidal mission in Gaza as a blatant and sadistic erosion of human rights. The silence of the so-called human rights champions in this case is deafening — for the right to life supersedes any other right. Anyway, we will leave this ongoing Palestinian tragedy for another day. Back to the significance of the just-ended historic SADC indaba. The smooth handover of the Chairmanship to President Emmerson Mnangagwa was an overwhelming vote of confidence not only for the country but also for its visionary leader. This is a President the West hates with a passion because of his commitment to both political and economic sovereignty.
The economic and infrastructural development, using our own resources, being spearheaded by President Mnangagwa, must be giving sleepless nights to the West whose illegal sanctions are not achieving their intended results.
This is the leader, who, the American Observer Mission in last year’s general elections tried hard to discredit his Party, ZANU PF. Their desperation included coaching pliant observer missions to compile damning reports to discredit the outcome of the electoral process. They had hoped that the election results, which pollsters had predicted would give a landslide victory to ZANU PF, would be dismissed as fraudulent.
A gullible Zambian doctor, who was the leader of the SADC Observer Team, danced to the tune of regime change advocates. It must have been heartbreaking for the regime change kingpins and their puppets to hear Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, speaking as the outgoing Chair of the SADC Organ for Defence and Security, giving the thumbs-up to the region’s general election results, including Zimbabwe’s. This must have sounded the death knell for regime change directors and their local surrogates, Nelson Chamisa included.
As if to rub salt into the wound, the Summit, again unanimously demanded the lifting of the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed by the US and its European allies. This is the weapon the West had believed would make the Zimbabwean economy ‘scream’, thereby forcing its citzens to rebel against the ZANU PF Government. More than 20 years later, a regional body comprised of developing countries in the southern part of the African continent is still defying the might of Uncle Sam by dismissing efforts to see Zimbabwe and its leaders isolated. A common strategy employed by the West to sustain its regime change agenda is to use locals to fight for its cause. We recently witnessed this in Zimbabwe on the eve of the just-ended SADC Summit.
Some Zimbabweans were busy trying to organise innocent citizens to protest against the holding of the SADC Summit in their own country. Not only that, they also wanted to cause mayhem in front of the SADC leaders to portray an image that Zimbabweans were opposed to their own President assuming the SADC Chairmanship. Mind you, although these were Zimbabweans, they were doing it in the interests of foreign donors. To the utter dismay of the generous donors, the well-funded proposed protests were a monumental flop. In fact, the Summit turned out to be one of the most peaceful international events, this time held on Zimbabwean soil. This was yet another humiliation for the regime-change kingpins and their puppets.
The West does not like ZANU PF as a former liberation movement that defeated racist settlers backed by their white cousins on the battleground. Again the so-called human rights groups, both local and foreign, cried themselves hoarse accusing the Government of keeping quiet as law the enforcement agencies carried out their constitutional mandate.
A good number of those suspected to be plotting to cause mayhem were arrested. While visiting SADC delegates enjoyed the best of Zimbabwe’s hospitality, the regime change advocates and their disciples were left with egg on their faces.