New Era’s Chief Political Reporter, Mathias Haufiku, recently spoke to a young ZANU-PF activist, Trust Mhaka, to discuss various issues that affect the lives of ordinary people on the African continent.
NE: Tell us more about Trust Mhaka?
TM: “Trust ‘Mao’ Mhaka is a Zimbabwean patriot, a Pan-Africanist revolutionary and an avowed communist and researcher based in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. I travelled on my own expense to visit the newly inaugurated Independence Memorial Museum here in Windhoek. This is part of my individual research of what really happened during the colonial repression, liberation war and the road to Namibian independence. Recently, I was assigned with the responsibility of chief election agent on behalf of the parent revolutionary party, ZANU-PF, in the just ended July 31, 2013 harmonized elections, where ZANU-PF emerged victorious.”
NE: The willing buyer-willing seller has not been working in most SADC countries as a method to reclaim land. What is your proposal?
TM: “SADC countries should be able to effect speedy land reform without retarding development through violence and mayhem. Up to now, land reform programmes have proceeded in accordance with their respective constitutions and laws, and both governments have stressed that they would not tolerate any lawlessness. Both the ruling ANC and SWAPO governments have described the Zimbabwean experience as a wake-up call for them to accelerate their own efforts at land reclamation in favour of their hungry and landless indigenous population. In Namibia the white minority still own 44 percent of all private land. In South Africa, the problem is even larger and more daunting. At the advent of majority rule (in SA) an elite white minority 20 years ago owned 87 percent of the most yielding agricultural land. The whites constitute less than 10 percent of the population. There has not yet been a black uprising as happened in Zimbabwe. However, their land reform programmes are their own responsibility.“
NE: You are an active ZANU-PF member. What is your take on President Robert Mugabe’s extended hold on power?
TM:“ZANU-PF does not operate from a vacuum. We are not being led by ignorance, we have a constitution in place and for easy interpretation and application, and we have party structures and organs that adopted resolutions on a leadership succession policy. There is a leadership hierarchy, which consists of the Presidency and the Presidium. In the meantime, the 2009 National People’s Elective Congress resolved and endorsed as follows: President and First Secretary, Cde Robert Mugabe, First Vice-President and Second Secretary, Cde Joyce Mujuru, Second Vice-President and Second Secretary, Cde John Nkomo shall constitute the party Presidency. While the National Chairman, Ambassador Cde S.K. Moyo shall form part of the Presidium. There will be no sunrise before the sunset. Robert Mugabe is our own Fidel Castro. The two outstanding revolutionary icons have survived the Western declared economic warfare for more than six decades between Harare and Havana. Fidel Castro was at the helm until the time he was incapacitated, and he finally handed over the baton to the then Vice-President, Raul Castro, who happened to be the natural successor to the throne. Meanwhile, Cde Joyce Mujuru is the natural successor to President Mugabe, according to the leadership succession policy, and in terms of the newly adopted constitution of the Republic. The first vice-president shall take over office until the expiry of the incumbent’s term of office in the event that he dies, resigns or is incapacitated to hold office.”
NE: The Zimbabwe-Britain relationship continues to be rather fragile in economic and political terms. Will such a situation in any way hamper Zimbabwe’s development agenda?
TM: “Zimbabwe is one of the most important countries among English-speaking countries. If Zimbabwe cannot do without Britain, likewise, Britain cannot do without Zimbabwe both in economic and political terms. The UK also remains one of the largest contributors to the development budget in Zimbabwe. And about 400 British companies are registered in Zimbabwe. In 2003 the British Commonwealth Club suspended Harare’s membership alleging human rights and electoral fraud. In response Harare withdrew its membership in protest, citing racism from the white membership (specifically Britain, Australia, New Zeeland, the Netherlands and Canada). In 2007, President Mugabe appointed the former president of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa, to help build the bridge between Harare and London, mainly over the accelerated land reform programme undertaken by the ZANU-PF government in 2002. Tony Blair’s Labour government had refused to talk and he acted arrogantly and President Mugabe was left with no choice but to cancel the proposed diplomatic Zimbabwe, UK talks in February 2007. This bilateral dispute is not sustainable for the economic development agenda.”
NE: NGOs in Zimbabwe have been accused of being more involved in politics than focusing on humanitarian activities. What transpired for this to surface and was President Mugabe right to castigate NGOs as sellouts?
TM: “Yes, President Mugabe was right in castigating them for being sellouts. We had a scenario where some of these NGOs were deviating from their core business of providing humanitarian assistance to the people, instead they were organizing the people without any hindrances, mobilizing support for the opposition and acted as think tanks for opposition politics. In 2000, we had about 400 NGOs operating in Zimbabwe and this number short up to close to 3 500, both local and international organizations. The traditional funders being the UK, EU and US who had imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. We had the USAid, AKAid, AUSAID, which are hostile to the government. These NGOs were clandestinely working in cahoots with the puppetry opposition party, the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai – the big sellout – in their efforts to effect an illegal regime change agenda. This prompted the ZANU-PF government to revoke and withdrew their licences in response, because in some cases food was being used as a political tool against the ZANU-PF government.”
NE: Several African governments have in recent years opted to turn to eastern countries such as Russia and China to boost their development agenda. Is this a good move?
TM: “President Mugabe is the pioneer of the famous Look East Policy. China is the world’s fastest growing economy and is reportedly posed to overtake the US as the world’s No 1 economy this year. China and Russia have proven to be the biggest traditional investors in black Africa and their huge investments always come without any strings or conditions attached. African governments must draw lessons from Libya’s former president, the late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi when he had displayed double standards by going on a honeymoon with the enemy in their backyards. President Mugabe had once warned his big brother “only a dead imperialist is a good friend.” It came as no surprise when the former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy joined hands with NATO allies to overthrow and eliminate Colonel Gaddafi to gain access to Libya’s oil, which is now being used to sustain the Western starving industries. ”
NE: Hundreds of young Africans continue to lose their lives at sea attempting to cross into Europe in pursuit of a better life. Are we safe to say that the African development agenda is not youth inclusive?
TM: “The prevailing high level of unemployment amongst the African youth is a sure sign that African governments have failed to address the challenges of rampant unemployment. The youth population is growing at an alarming rate, but our economies are too weak to cater for employment and empowerment opportunities for the African youth. We have a situation where Africa’s abundant natural resources are being extracted in their raw form and exported to Europe for secondary production or manufacturing, thereby, starving our own industries of potential growth. So, at the end of the day we witness the exodus of the African youth to the more industrialized Western countries in search of the so-called greener pastures. African governments are encouraged to manufacture their own goods and export the finished product to Europe for a profit and sustainable development.”
NE: Unemployment continues to be a nightmare to the Zimbabwean government. Yet you have heads of parastatals and some in the public sector earning mega salaries. Is unemployment really prevalent as a result of limited resources needed to create jobs or is it an issue of mismanagement of resources?
TM: “Admittedly, the recently exposed Salary-gate scandal is a man-made crisis originally caused by our own mismanagement of the state’s affairs and this, apart from the western imposed illegal sanctions, also fuels the rampant unemployment rate currently around 85 percent. In the wake of the inclusive government between February 2009 and June 2013, both parties must shoulder the blame for failing to root out corruption in both the private and public sectors. The well-connected political elites and some government bureaucrats – the rich minority – benefit from state resources and are amassing wealth on a silver platter at an alarming rate and in the process, in most cases use corrupt methods to do so, while the poor majority of the population struggle and suffer with the Western imposed illegal sanctions, rampant unemployment, a cash- strapped and impoverished economy, deadly HIV/AIDS, a high cost of living and increasing poverty.“
NE: Corruption continues to stifle development in most African countries. What is the panacea for this social evil?
TM: “Corruption is deadly because it kills and murders ordinary Africans everyday, so we need to treat it as murder and treason. Can you imagine a situation where just a mere CEO of a state-linked institution was earning a mega salary of nearly US$600 000 per month compared to President Mugabe who happens to be the CEO and Head of State and Government who is reportedly earning a monthly pay salary of US$4 000.”
NE: African elections are always plagued by heavy criticism and denouncement by the losing political parties. What in your view fuels such as situation?
TM: “Western interference in African elections are the major challenge to our internal affairs as sovereign states. This is further fueled by distortions and propaganda in the private print media and over private radios funded by United States and Britain. As an example, last year Britain and the United States urged and threatened Kenya’s voters to choose Raila Odinga over Uhuru Kenyatta and the people chose Kenyatta. In Zimbabwe, the two superpowers plumbed for Tsvangirai and the voters turned to Mugabe. The lesson to be learned is self-evident. The days of western interference in African elections are numbered. In African elections, the initial response to the announcement of the elections result has become the familiar knee-jerk African tendency to reject any unfavourable poll result. The analysis should not be taken to mean that the African disease afflicts all losing African politicians.”