Friday, August 6, 2010

To Hell with the West

There has been a public political spat going on this week. Last Sunday Sabina Mugabe was buried at Heroes Acre, Sabina being the late 80 year old sister of Robert and thus being automatically declared a Public Hero – this also to the chagrin of the MDC who believe that as ‘senior’ partners in the GNU they should be consulted on who should or should not be declared a Public Hero – and they weren’t.

Nonetheless as is Mugabe’s wont, he chose to politicise the occasion by slamming the already much maligned Western Bloc for refusing to lift ‘economic sanctions’. “To hell, to hell, to hell with them” declared Mugabe.

Of course this was a Public occasion and all the diplomats, including western diplomats, had been invited to attend and pay their respects. The Americans, the Greeks, the Germans and the EU Charge d’Affairs waited until the end of Mugabe’s speech, then walked out of the ceremony. Not surprising really. America is the largest donor to Zimbabwe. Germany follows close behind and the EU , despite being a primary donor of aid has been the instigator of ‘sanctions’ against Mugabe and his clique of thieves.

But not to be outdone, the Foreign Affairs minister – Simbarashe Mubengegwe, chose to summon the ambassadors to his offices to give them a dressing down for being ‘disrespectful’. What could be more disrespectful than choosing the burial ceremony as a time to publicly humiliate those paying their last respects to a woman who, some years ago, stole a farm in the Norton area because she liked the farmhouse?

On another note, Temba Mliswa is still in jail!

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