Zimbabwe - Jeff Koinange shares his perspective on Mugabe's reign

I read Jeff Koinange's article today and couldn't help but feel a deep sense of concern for him. It was his (Jeff's) idea to put the current state of Zimbabwe "into perspective" yet he forgot to mention what led to that day in 1980 when as he recalls, "...that historic day on April 18 when the southern African nation of Rhodesia became independent Zimbabwe".

The situation in Zimbabwe needs to be resolved urgently and neither Robert Mugabe nor the members of the local opposition are free from blame for what now obtains.

Jeff continued "... Rhodesia was named after the British financier-turned-philanthropist, Cecil Rhodes, and was a bastion of white settler rule with commercial farms, producing everything from tobacco to maize. Africa's latest independent republic rightfully boasted the title: southern Africa's bread basket". Hearing these words from Jeff would have made Cecil Rhodes a very happy man.

Jeff seems to forget that it was at the end of 19th century into the early 20th century (less than 120 years ago) that Matabeleland was ravaged by the invading British troops and that under the terms of the subsequent Victoria Agreement the lands of these people were stolen and allotted to the soldiers and volunteers (they could occupy and own a few thousand acres each). In 1930 a bad situation was made worse with the Land Apportionment Act which saw thousands of these Africans removed from their lands and dumped into reserves under the ensuing apartheid regimes! A lot of these people are alive today!!!

The root of the latest round of problems I recall started with the issue of land reform in Zimbabwe and for Jeff to put this issue into perspective without mentioning this makes me wonder. A lot of us still hold to the principle that crime should not pay. I would recommend that Jeff have a quick look at a report from Global Research which does bring some historical perspective to this issue. This might explain why the rest of Southern African leaders are urging a negotiated resolution and are not too eager to condemn Mugabe as Jeff did.

Let's work for a just solution in Zimbabwe.

The brave may fall but should never yield

April 9, 2007 marks 90 years since the Canadian army did battle at Vimy Ridge as part of the forces allies against the Nazis. Throughout our history we have been confronted by those who would oppress and repress those who are powerless to fight back. The brave men and women of the Canadian military made the sacrifice, a large number of them paid the ultimate price.

On this day we honour and salute their memory.

When "Good men" did nothing...

Last weekend was another sad anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. 800,000 were slaughtered while the UN Security Council ignored warnings from the small UN peacekeeping force. The then Clinton administration was not eager to support any new deployment of forces given the recent events during their peace keeping efforts in Somalia.

The end result was no different that what now obtains in Darfur, Sudan.