THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WISH to register my disappointment with some Rastas that came to Zimbabwe a couple of months ago to show solidarity with the Zimbabwe government. While it is a good thing to come together as black people in times of trouble I feel also that we need facts before you lend support.
What is happening in Zimbabwe is not about black and white. It is about the government having lost touch with its people. So, towards elections in 2000, ZANU PF (the ruling party in Zimbabwe for 24 years now) could see that the people were tired of them and they were going to lose the elections because they had nothing to offer to the country. They decided to entice the populace with land.
AN IMBALANCE
It is true that there was an imbalance in the land ownership and that needed to be addressed. Now, this party which has been in power since independence in 1980 with no more than 10 members of opposition in parliament, suddenly decides that people need land as a matter of urgency. Something fishy here. Faced with a very strong opposition for the first time the government formed militias and trained them to terrorise the white farmers and their workers and the opposition.
There was mayhem, killings, rape, torture. People were being beaten left, right and centre. Every high school graduate was required to serve a year with the militia. You cannot be a nurse, doctor, teacher, soldier or anything in the public sector without proof that you served in the militia. I don't think you have this in Jamaica.
PRIVATE MEDIA HOUSES
We don't have a private daily paper. The only one we had was shut down just last week. It had just reopened the previous week. I don't know how many private media houses you have there in Jamaica. We've never had a private radio station in Zimbabwe. It's simply not allowed. We are still under the same laws we had before independence. Gatherings of 10 or more people, be it a party or funeral, requires police clearance. Demonstrations, in your dreams forget it, or it will be quashed with brutal force.
In 1998, a loaf of bread was Zim $5, now its between Zim$3000-5000 if you are lucky to find it. This is a country that was the biggest producer of food in Southern Africa. Most of the farms are lying idle. The powerful people took all the best farms and shared amongst themselves and their families. Zimbabweans are now refugees in their own country and millions more are scattered all over the world.
I could go on and on. I hope the Rastas that came to Zimbabwe are not part of this new kind of oppression in modern times. A few black people oppressing the majority(black).
I am, etc.,
RAS VENHENGO
Kwekwe, Zimbabwe
raslock@yahoo.com
Via Go-Jamaica
