I would like to welcome the newly appointed United State of America Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Aaron Ray. I hope your tour of duty will be a pleasant and fulfilling one.
I wish you were coming to a Zimbabwe that was at least had an inkling of hope after three decades of mismanagement, rampant corruption and brutal political repression. Sadly that was not to be. The country had its best chance ever to end Mugabe’s tyrannical rule last year following the sham elections unfortunately the MDC led by Tsvangirai wasted that chance by entering into a power sharing agreement with the dictator. A power sharing agreement that gave Mugabe all the dictatorial powers.
You will hear endless stories of the parties negotiating on “outstanding issues”. These negotiations have been going on ever since the formation of the inclusive government ten months ago. The administration has done little else. What are the outstanding issues – they are the few concessions Mugabe had made but now would not implement.
The people are living in abject poverty and every day they face life threatening challenges and all the country’s leaders are doing is argue endlessly over trivial issues or else spent the little wealth the country has left. Mr Ambassador, you will soon understand why your successor, Ambassador James Mcghee was forced to take the regime head-on; Zimbabwe is a mad house.
In Mugabe you will find a ruthless dictator who is set in his way. All Mugabe cares about is making sure that his dictatorship survives. He and his cronies have had to steal from a helpless child to finance their luxurious life styles and they would hate to lose their loot. Many of them have committed some heinous crimes; Mugabe’s three decade iron grip on power has costed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. In Tsvangirai you will find an unbelievably naïve man who is certainly no match for the canning fox, Mugabe.
The ordinary Zimbabweans, those at the cutting edge of the country’s economic melt down and political repression, have suffered enough and need to see an end to this madness. The targeted sanctions have had to effect on Mugabe and his cronies. However, it is high time the screw is turned another full turn: the sanctions must be reviewed to include the next tier of Mugabe’s ruling elite and all their families.
Ambassador Ray, Zimbabweans are fighting for human dignity, for their very lives and those of their children. They certainly hope you WILL join them in this fight and not shy away.
No comments:
Post a Comment