Mugabe's Speech to the UN General Assembly

Mr. Mugabe is not the most popular man in the world at present. I have previously written on his land reforms and was as a result erroneously considered to be his supporter. In so far as Mr. Mugabe's actions mirror those of other African leaders in terms of his attitude to real democracy, I do not agree with him.

But his vilification, though couched in terms calculated to appeal to all lovers of freedom and democracy (or those who imagine themselves to be so), was and is based on the fact that he took land from white people and gave it to black people. The redistribution may have its problems, but it had to happen. For that alone, I consider him a hero. Shortcomings similar to those he is projected as suffering from are evinced by many other leaders, and yet they are not the victims of the degree of opprobrium that has been visited upon him.

Mr. Mugabe knows how to fight back, and so he has at the UN. The BBC websites reports it, but I would have thought that the story would be given more coverage instead of the cleverly selected quotations the write-up contains. But inscrutable are the ways of large media corporations in countries which are, at least in part, responsible for Zimbabwe's current situation.

The full text of Mr. Mugabe's speech follows.

Your Excellency, President of the 62ndSession of the United Nations General
Assembly,
Mr. Srgjan Kerim,*

*Your Majesties,*

*Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,*

*Your Excellency the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban
Ki-Moon,*

*Distinguished Delegates,*

*Ladies and Gentlemen.** *

Mr. President,

Allow me to congratulate you on your election to preside over this august
assembly. We are confident that through your stewardship, issues on this
62nd Session agenda be dealt with in a balanced manner and to the
satisfaction of all.

Let me also pay tribute to your predecessor, Madame Sheikha Haya Rashed Al
Khalifa, who steered the work of the 61st Session in a very competent and
impartial manner.

Her ability to identify the crucial issues facing the world today will be
remembered as the hallmark of her presidency.

Mr. President,

We extend our hearty welcome to the new Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon,
who has taken up this challenging job requiting dynamism in confronting the
global challenges of the 21st Century. Balancing global interests and
steering the United Nations in a direction that gives hope to the multitudes
of the poor, the sick, the hungry and the marginalized, is indeed a mammoth
task. We would like to assure him that Zimbabwe will continue to support an
open, transparent and all-inclusive multilateral approach in dealing with
these global challenges.

Mr. President,

Climate change is one of the most pressing global issues of our time. Its
negative impact is greatest in developing countries, particularly those on
the African continent. We believe that if the international community is
going to seriously address the challenges of climate change, then we need to
get our priorities right. In Zimbabwe, the effects of climate change have
become more evident in the past decade as we have witnessed increased and
recurrent droughts as well as occasional floods, leading to enormous
humanitarian challenges.

Mr. President,

We are for a United Nations that recognises the equality of sovereign
nations and peoples whether big or small. We are averse to a body in which
the economically and militarily powerful behave like bullies, trampling on
the rights of weak and smaller states as sadly happened in Iraq. In the
light of these inauspicious developments, this Organisation must surely
examine the essence of its authority and the extent of its power when
challenged in this manner.

Such challenges to the authority of the UN and its Charter underpin our
repeated call for the revitalisation of the United Nations General Assembly,
itself the most representative organ of the UN. The General Assembly should
be more active in all areas including those of peace and security. The
encroachment of some U.N. organs upon the work of the General Assembly is of
great concern to us. Thus any process of revitalizing or strengthening of
the General Assembly should necessarily avoid eroding the principle of the
accountability of all principal and subsidiary organs to the General
Assembly.

Mr. President,

Once again we reiterate our position that the Security Council as presently
constituted is not democratic. In its present configuration, the Council has
shown that it is not in a position to protect the weaker states who find
themselves at loggerheads with a marauding super-power. Most importantly,
justice demands that any Security Council reform redresses the fact that
Africa is the only continent without a permanent seat and veto power in the
Security Council. Africa's demands are known and enunciated in the Ezulwini
consensus.

Mr. President,

We further call for the U.N. system to refrain from interfering in matters
that are clearly the domain of member states and are not a threat to
international peace and security. Development at country level should
continue to be country-led, and not subject to the whims of powerful donor
states.

Mr President,

Zimbabwe won its independence on 18th April, 1980, after a protracted war
against British colonial imperialism which denied us human rights and
democracy. That colonial system which suppressed and oppressed us enjoyed
the support of many countries of the West who were signatories to the UN
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Even after 1945, it would appear that the Berlin Conference of 1884, through
which Africa was parcelled to colonial European powers, remained stronger
than the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is therefore clear that
for the West, vested economic interests, racial and ethnocentric
considerations proved stronger than their adherence to principles of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The West still negates our sovereignties by way of control of our resources,
in the process making us mere chattels in out own lands, mere minders of its
trans-national interests. In my own country and other sister states in
Southern Africa, the most visible form of this control has been over land
despoiled from us at the onset of British colonialism.

That control largely persists, although it stands firmly challenged in
Zimbabwe, thereby triggering the current stand-off between us and Britain,
supported by her cousin states, most notably the United States and
Australia. Mr Bush, Mr. Blair and now Mr Brown's sense of human rights
precludes our people's right to their God-given resources, which in their
view must be controlled by their kith and kin. I am termed dictator because
I have rejected this supremacist view and frustrated the neo-colonialists.

Mr President,

Clearly the history of the struggle for out own national and people's rights
is unknown to the president of the United States of America. He thinks the
Declaration of Human Rights starts with his last term in office! He thinks
she can introduce to us, who bore the brunt of fighting for the freedoms of
our peoples, the virtues of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What
rank hypocrisy!

Mr President,

I lost eleven precious years of my life in the jail of a white man whose
freedom and well- being I have assured from the first day of Zimbabwe's
Independence. I lost a further fifteen years fighting white injustice in my
country.

Ian Smith is responsible for the death of well over 50 000 of my people. I
bear scars of his tyranny which Britain and America condoned. I meet his
victims everyday. Yet he walks free. He farms free. He talks freely,
associates freely under a black Government. We taught him democracy. We gave
him back his humanity.

He would have faced a different fate here and in Europe if the 50 000 he
killed were Europeans. Africa has not called for a Nuremberg trial against
the white world which committed heinous crimes against its own humanity. It
has not hunted perpetrators of this genocide, many of whom live to this day,
nor has it got reparations from those who offended against it. Instead it is
Africa which is in the dock, facing trial from the same world that
persecuted it for centuries.

Let Mr. Bush read history correctly. Let him realise that both personally
and in his representative capacity as the current President of the United
States, he stands for this "civilisation" which occupied, which colonised,
which incarcerated, which killed. He has much to atone for and very little
to lecture us on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His hands drip
with innocent blood of many nationalities.

He still kills.

He kills in Iraq. He kills in Afghanistan. And this is supposed to be out
master on human rights?

He imprisons.

He imprisons and tortures at Guantanamo. He imprisoned and tortured at Abu
Ghraib. He has secret torture chambers in Europe. Yes, he imprisons even
here in the United States, with his jails carrying more blacks than his
universities can ever enroll. He even suspends the provisions of the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Take Guantanamo for example; at that
concentration camp international law does not apply. The national laws of
the people there do not apply. Laws of the United States of America do not
apply. Only Bush's law applies. Can the international community accept being
lectured by this man on the provisions of the universal declaration of human
rights? Definitely not!

Mr President, We are alarmed that under his leadership, basic rights of his
own people and those of the rest of the world have summarily been rolled
back. America is primarily responsible for rewriting core tenets of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We seem all guilty for 9/11. Mr. Bush
thinks he stands above all structures of governance, whether national or
international.

At home, he apparently does not need the Congress. Abroad, he does not need
the UN, international law and opinion. This forum did not sanction Blair and
Bush's misadventures in Iraq. The two rode roughshod over the UN and
international opinion. Almighty Bush is now corning back to the UN for a
rescue package because his nose is bloodied! Yet he dares lecture us on
tyranny. Indeed, he wants us to pray him! We say No to him and encourage him
to get out of Iraq. Indeed he should mend his ways before he clambers up the
pulpit to deliver pieties of democracy.

Mr President,

The British and the Americans have gone on a relentless campaign of
destabilising and vilifying my country. They have sponsored surrogate forces
to challenge lawful authority in my country. They seek regime change,
placing themselves in the role of the Zimbabwean people in whose collective
will democracy places the right to define and change regimes.

Let these sinister governments be told here and now that Zimbabwe will not
allow a regime change authored by outsiders. We do not interfere with their
own systems in America and Britain. Mr Bush and Mr Brown have no role to
play in our national affairs. They are outsiders and mischievous outsiders
and should therefore keep out! The colonial sun set a long time ago; in
1980in the case of Zimbabwe, and hence Zimbabwe will never be a colony
again. Never!

We do not deserve sanctions. We are Zimbabweans and we know how to deal with
our problems. We have done so in the past, well before Bush and Brown were
known politically. We have our own regional and continental organizations
and communities.

In that vein, I wish to express my country's gratitude to President Thabo
Mbeki of South Africa who, on behalf of SADC, successfully facilitated the
dialogue between the Ruling Party and the Opposition Parties, which yielded
the agreement that has now resulted in the constitutional provisions being
finally adopted. Consequently, we will be holding multiple democratic
elections in March 2008. Indeed we have always had timeous general and
presidential elections since our independence.

Mr. President,

In conclusion, let me stress once more that the strength of the United
Nations lies in its universality and impartiality as it implements its
mandate to promote peace and security, economic and social development,
human rights and international law as outlined in the Charter. Zimbabwe
stands ready to play its part in all efforts and programmes aimed at
achieving these noble goals.

Comments

[gray]

this is the true voice of freedom. our time has come for us to be free. history will prove that he was right. our minds r still colonised as africans beliving that without outside help we wont survive. its time to find our own ways as africans that these people will come to us for advise. why they oppress us? they know we can develop to become their masters so they keeps down. mugabe is a hero

[Thabo]

We all know that, as Bantu Steve Biko said, "the greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor, is the minds of the oppressed".
So, Africans, listen to Bob Marley when he sang: "emancipate yourself from mental slavery".
Nethertheless, I have to agree that Mugabe is right and he stands on the better road.

[Themba]

You can listen to one voice, if you like. But politicians are all the same!
I choose to listen to the (groan of) thousands - after all that's what democracy is all about, right?

Franklin Adams, an American columnist and wit, puts the Zimbabwe 'thing' in perspective:
"The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time".

[Jonas]

South African veteran African National Congress (ANC) MP Kader Asmal became the most senior ANC politician yet to break ranks on government’s quiet diplomacy policy towards Zimbabwe when he made a speech that harshly criticized President Robert Mugabe’s regime.
Speaking at the launch in Cape Town yesterday of the book Through the Darkness — A Life in Zimbabwe, by Judith Todd, Asmal said he was speaking out now because some of Mugabe’s actions had become like those of Cambodia’s Pol Pot.
Todd is the daughter of former Southern Rhodesia prime minister Garfield Todd, an opponent of white minority rule under Ian Smith.
While Asmal said SA should hope that the mediation efforts of President Thabo Mbeki would bear fruit, he took the unusual position of saying if mediation failed then the United Nations should become involved.
He said the refrain that only Zimbabweans could decide their future was hollow in the face of an uneven political playing field and a lack of normality.
He described the recent depredations of Mugabe’s security forces in Operation Murambatsvina (Operation Cleanup) as reminiscent of Cambodia’s killing fields.
“Why do I speak now? I should have done so in the 1980s when thousands of people were murdered by the Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland. I did not do so. Neither did I do so during Operation Murambatsvina, when those who want to retain power refer to their fellow citizens as ‘s**ts who have to be removed’.

“We are constantly reminded by our betters that only Zimbabweans can decide their future. But you can only be conscious actors for change if there is a level political field, not only for the holding of elections, but also in the run-up.
“Instead we have the destruction of the rule of law, the judiciary, the press and the economy, and the brutalisation of the population, with a quarter of the country’s population now living in the diaspora and with the army and the civil service instruments and controllers of the ruling party.
“If freedom of association and the culture of debate are effectively criminalised, how can all Zimbabweans decide their future with a semblance of equality with the Mugabe regime?”

[Jemba]

True words, but is it true that Mr Mugabe is giving his people a rough time or is it just another conspiracy?

[aminata]

Jemba, if you consider the rought time given to their people by the like of Eyadema, Deby, Bozize or Yaya Jameh, you can argue that the pressure on President Mugabe is just another conspiracy.

[madinda m]

Bush's hands drips with inocent blood of iraqs,and Mugabe's hands drips with inocent blood of Matebeleland,take Gukurahundi for example.Mugabe had just gone to un meeting to shout Bush and Blair and now it's Brown,but not to solve climate change being faced by the people of Zimbabwe not his people as he mentioned,but the people of Zimbabwe.

[kudak]

Mugabe is right,if there was no Gukurahundi Zimbabwe could have sunk into civil war .but why does the UK and USA are so concerned about Zimbabwe ? The truth is Zimbabwe through the heroics of Mugabe are opening the tins of worms .Africa should wake up and realise that they have resources and poor to stand as a united states of Africa.

[Monde]

I come a little late to the discussion to confirm there is suffering. There are intense and dignified efforts not to succumb to this suffering which receive but scanty coverage in the mainstream media (so intent on portraying the population as helpless, hopeless victim of just one man and his band of cronies)beyond fellow Africans' exclamations of schadenfraude carefully dressed up as pity, at how low the Zimbabwean people have fallen. Mugabe has made many important points and it would be hard to fault him on many. But the fact remains that we could do better than him.

[Gabriela Tomicki Plesea]

Mr. Mugabe is using manipulation in all its forms in his speech. Like any politician. But his manipulation has the potential of giving the people of Zimbabwe the impression that their freedom depends on him,and exists because of him. He also relays information about others (mostly criticism),while he himself is in a position of power, which gives him the advantage of appearing objective. The ideological content of his discourse is mostly rhetoric. He offers Zimbabweans only one thing: hope. Hope of material and spiritual wellbeing. This hope in fact has not much to do with the realisation of the people's dreams, for it is an immaterial good. Mugabe is a good political actor, and his emotional pathos often makes a powerful impression on his listeners, it actually offers a successful illusion of a dramatic representation. I am fascinated with his speeches, and waiting to see for how long he can get away with selling his people the wrapping of the gift only....

[Jemba]

Mugabe is just another evil politician. I knew he was bad immediately after independence by the brutal way in which he crushed a revolt in Matabeleland. He chose not to listen. His methods are even worse than that of Ian Smith. What is the meaning of "independence" if the people have to be punished like this.

Therefore, his fine words are hollow.

[chinanassm]

It is a disappointment that I have joined this party a little too late. But I would like to first point out that I am Zimbabwean and have been so for 27 years. Yes I was born after independence but I truly believe that Mugabe is an essential part of African politics like it or not and he has raised important issues. Some might argue that the platform (the UN congress) was not the right place but how else can he explain his situation to a large audience. (That’s politics for you) I say Africa for the Africans because I do not know a single African who owns land in Europe. mugabe tried the right method of acquiring land, he talked to John Major and Blair because the British government through Margret Thatcher promised to review the land issue in the Lanchester Conference in 1979. The British were supposed to pay reparations to the white settlers in Zimbabwe. Mugabe brought up the issue in the early to mid 90s and instead of honouring their promise of assisting in land reform and giving reparations to the white settlers in Zimbabwe, they told Mugabe and his government to go to hell for they claimed that the British government (Thatcher’s - the Conservatives)was no longer in power. Hence, Mugabe’s hatred of Blair and the British was born. Mugabe is not the type of man who walks away from a dare or a fight instead, I believe that the revolution he led against Ian Smith (which is referred to as the Second Chimurenga from 1966 to 1980 when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe) was not for us Africans in Zimbabwe to be able to walk down the streets that we were once not allowed, or to use the same toilets as the Europeans, yes the Chimurenga came forth to end oppression, but when a man owns a large portion of land that he did not acquire justifiably and that land is rightfully yours is he not oppressing you? Our African ancestors never received a cent for this land possessed by the European settlers so why should an African government that is struggling to pay off debts, debts may I point out from the World Bank and other European countries acquired by Ian Smith to murder and kill African fighters. Right now the British are pumping out money to bring about regime change to Zimbabwe, this money they should have used as reparations to the white settlers. Sanctions they have placed on my country are just a means to runaway from the responsibility they know is theirs and make Mugabe seem like he has failed to lead his people.

[Hektor]

Dear Jemba,

Did Blacks have working toilets to use, while living under Smith?

Also don't lie about land being owned by "your ancestors" or that Blacks were not allowed to walk on the streets, since they actually were.

[Jemba]

Make no mistake, Hektor. There is no EITHER OR relationship between Ian Smith and Robert Mugabe. The people of Zimbabwe deserve better than either of these stubborn fools.

Your use of the phrase, "...Blacks are ALLOWED" tells me a lot about your mindset.