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Hear no evil, see no evil |
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Written by Rejoice Ngwenya
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Friday, 03 August 2007 |
Zimbabwean
activists are now resigned to institutions such as the United Nations
(UN), African Unity (AU) and Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC) which are nothing but expensive congregations of harmless
penguins.
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all's bright as day on the Western front
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African delegates gladly collaborate in this deadly
symphony of deception by vetoing anti-fascist resolutions. When it
comes to global warming, the extermination of Palestinians, violation
of women's rights in Saudi Arabia and the Chinese plundering resources
in Africa by sacrificing political expediency at the altar of business
sense, the US government exhibits similar tendencies of double-faced
showmanship manifested in reckless abuse of its veto powers.
Therefore,
I was not surprised when I heard that Francis Nhema, Zimbabwe's
Environment and Tourism Minister, had been elected to chair the United
Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The struggle against
modern-day slavery in Sudan and environmental degradation in Zimbabwe
can no longer be concluded behind the façade of tinted glasses in New
York or Addis Ababa, for it is in those corridors that perverted
political minds squander the taxes of the very same people they
torture, maim and rape.
It
is naïve to be hood-winked by Zimbabwe's masquarade on the global
stage as a protagonist of sustainable development, yet Nhema chose
to ignore his government's destruction of conservancies. Those who were
rewarded with tracts of land expropriated from white commercial farmers
have totally destroyed water catchment areas, resulting in irreversible
siltation and desertification. We see large scale degradation in the
form of politicised gold panning in Zimbabwe's midlands and the diamond
'mining' in the eastern highlands of Marange. The Sabi-Limpopo tourist
development project meant to yield huge benefit for Zimbabwean citizens
is under threat because of villagers who invaded the game reserve as
payoff for allegiance to the regime of Robert Mugabe. All this drama is
under the supervision of Francis Nhema who did not so much as play a
single note in fear of upsetting Mugabe's political octave.
The
free world can no longer watch in bewildered paralysis as the United
Nations continues to pander to the whims of political patronage. Just
like Thabo Mbeki's quiet diplomacy, the UN's culture of corrosive
tolerance casts itself as fatal collusion with fascist dictatorships.
African presidents have been arguing for a case of UN reform - I say,
forget UN reforms and close shop altogether.
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Apparently, even with all the sanctions, Zimbabwe can still pack a proper punch.