AU, a circus of the great oppressors.

As if that is why we elect them, African Leaders never cease amusing and amazing people; and last month was no different. The month itself was a rather momentous one as it gave steam to the decisive global democratic drive to rid Southern Africa of the ever- sickening Mugabe menace. Of importance here is the fact that on the critical question of sub-regional sanity, freedom, security and the dignity of life in Zimbabwe, there were two important voices that echoed loud and clear. One voice spoke from Europe and America in the form of a determined effort by leading members of the UN Security Council to push for the imposition of sanction against the monstrosity of Mugabe for his relentless campaign of terror and plunder in Zimbabwe. Then entered the African Union , whose members raise an argument that was not only self-serving but evidently a throw back into history. AU rather baselessly maintained that the imposition of sanction against the criminal enterprise that goes by name "Government of Zimbabwe" would only hurt the ordinary people of Zimbabwe. The Union further noted that Mugabe has legitimate concerns and a point of view that merits listening to. As opposed to the voice from Europe and America, this was the African voice of the month. The tragedy, however, is the voice from Africa spoke utter nonsense. So empty and shallow were the AU's pronouncements that I was left asking: But you see, there are no surprises here; this is déjà vu all over again, I thought. What is to be done was my next question.
Most of the African leaders show insensitivity to the plight of the Zimbabwean people and play to demagoguery in the pursuit of questionable causes, only one thing can be done. Such people and their logic must be challenged with the full clarity of facts. This is the story.
AUs’ argument that the people of Zimbabwe are the only ones to suffer the punitive bite of sanction may seem benigned on the surface, and appears to show a genuine concern for the well being of the common man. This could only be true if the realities in Zimbabwe manifested themselves the way AU wants us to believe they are. Unfortunately, they are not. When one looks at the obtaining realities in Zimbabwe, you cannot help but conclude that the AU's judgments are based solely on a set of fallacies and factual inaccuracies that have no bearing on the truth.
To argue that a catastrophe will befall Zimbabwe and that only ordinary Zimbabweans stand to suffer the choking bite of sanction, is to assume falsely that the people of Zimbabwe and Sudan are not being paraded through a catastrophe, and that they are not already suffering. Nothing could be further from the facts. Truth be told, the people of Zimbabwe have long suffered even before target sanctions which were imposed by EU and America, and are still suffering in a state of deprivation and callous neglect and may have even exceeded the threshold of pain. These are the facts; ever since Mugabe and his marauding bands of wig-wearing murderous vigilantes lost the referendum in 2000 , catastrophe descended upon the country and it was just after when the people of Matebeleland were still trying to come to terms with almost 20000 of their relatives butchered by these thugs. When years of mass murder, terror, intimidation and chicanery finally translated into a Mugabe presidency, barbarism then wore the crown of legitimacy. In Zimbabwe, Mugabe’s route is a simple one to find. The path to his grip to power laid and still lies through the carcasses of our people. So, why doesn't AU know exactly what everyone knows- that after more than one 28 years in power, Mugabe and his hangers-on have nothing to show but a track record of murderous escapades and a stranded society in a state of total collapse where nothing works.
It is important for the AU to know that all available evidences including those of the United Nations point to only single fact-that Mugabe and his entourage have taken in hundreds of millions of dollars from government coffers; millions from the uncontrolled land redistribution, which saw many expensive farm machineries looted by Mugabe for his own benefit. Despite this intake of revenue and the amassing of personal fortunes, Mugabe still presides over a Zimbabwe that bears more similarity to a zoo than a state. The only thing left to symbolize a state in Zimbabwe is the country's Graceland of Mugabe in Zvimba (the equivalent of Micheal Jackson’s Neverland) that was built using monies looted from the tax payers. The basic and rudimentary exigencies of life are nowhere to be seen. There are no roads, no running water; mortal darkness greets the eye as there is no electricity; public schools can hardly stay opened, the nations’ highest institute of higher learning (UZ) is almost always closed for lack of support; telephone lines are off more often than they are on; the public health system has collapsed; the country's referral hospitals are in a total mess due to lack of medicine, doctors and the prevalence of administrative incompetence and abuse; the per capita ratio of citizens to doctor in Zimbabwe miserably has degenerated to about 100,000 : 1; and civil servants are earning peanuts.
One will then wonder as to what if anything does the Government of Zimbabwe spent the proceeds from its stolen monies on? The answer is all too easy to find. In a sea of poverty, Mugabe and his praise singers amass personal fortunes, buy arms and ammunitions, helicopters and other military aircraft from China. For them, meeting the real needs of the people is surpassed by the raw quest for personal power. This is the status quo in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. How then can anyone honestly argue that the imposition of sanction, which seeks to rob Mugabe of his ability to survive making Zimbabwe his personal property will only, hurt the people of Zimbabwe? Can anyone actually suffer from the withdrawal of something he did not derive benefit from in the first place? Perhaps African leaders will answer in the affirmative. These lame and self-serving arguments against sanctions are as old as the concept of sanction itself. Wasn't it the AU that championed the imposition of sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa? Wasn’t it Mugabe who championed the imposition of sanctions against Smith.
We only hope that the EU and America will soon implement other alternatives since the vetoed of sanctions by China and Russia. Mugabe only understand the language of pressure and force. Chitongaika Tione.