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Obi Egbuna Jnr Simunye

As 15 years have come and gone since ZDERA was introduced by US Senators Bill Frist of Tennessee and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, . . . it appears Congresswoman McKinney arrived at the conclusion that the influence of late Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey was too strong to overcome within the CBC.

On August 30, 2016, the pro-US-EU regime change Congressional Black Caucus received an anonymous letter from a Concerned Zimbabwean citizen who gave the following Twitter address @concernedzimcit. The letter requested that the CBC do the following:

* That you issue a strong statement condemning the human rights abuses and lack of the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

* That you to continue to assist us with aid that alleviates suffering for the common citizen (not in any way that can prop up the Government).

* That you ensure that targeted sanctions on the Government be maintained (and strengthened where possible) until this Government reforms and starts to respect its citizens and the rule of law.

Before the contents of this letter are analysed to determine its legitimacy or accuracy, what must be exposed is how the individual or collective responsible for drafting the document in question completely underestimates the intelligence of Africans worldwide who will have the opportunity to peruse it. One major point of concern is how the writers deliberately decided not to sign their names and organisational affiliations, which attempts to paint a picture that they fear for their lives, because President Mugabe and ZANU-PF are on a bloodthirsty rampage obsessed with murdering their political opponents due to their sadistic nature. This opportunist overture encourages Zimbabweans who belong either to MDC or 400 civil society organisations in the country and renegade journalists to engage in more clandestine activity, especially because they have full support of every layer of the Obama administration at their disposal.

Another troubling aspect of this document is that the individuals or collective who penned it are grossly ignorant of the degree of CBC’s involvement in attempting to bring about a racist and illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.

The individual or collective that penned this letter appear to have forgotten that the CBC came five votes short of voting unanimously in favour of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 (which is the full name of the sanctions). The architects of this letter should also have a full contextual overview of what the ramifications of the CBC’s decision to aggressively embrace sanctions introduced by former US president George W. Bush, who, based on his decision to reinvade Iraq, was their sworn enemy diametrically opposed to everything the CBC represented on paper and in principle.

The one voice amongst the ranks of the CBC who openly and defiantly voiced her displeasure with ZDERA was former US Congresswoman of Georgia Sister Cynthia McKinney, who in a meeting on November 28 2011, made the following remarks: “I asked a question of my colleagues who were vociferously supporting this misdirected piece of legislation, can anyone explain how the people in question who now have the land in question in Zimbabwe got title to the land?”

What former Congresswoman McKinney was attempting to do was get her colleagues in the US Congress to acknowledge the role of Cecil John Rhodes and the British South Africa Company in conquering Zimbabwe. This also was challenging US imperialist political culture who only a few years before that had finally removed their favourite African leader, Madiba Nelson Mandela, from the US government’s list of terrorists.

Which reveals if Madiba had to wait nearly 20 years after serving 27 years in prison while his place of birth was under apartheid before he could be cleared, it would be idealistic and laughable if Democrats and Republicans believe President Mugabe and ZANU-PF are losing any sleep seeking to be viewed favourably by US imperialism.

Former Congresswoman McKinney went on to say: “Whatever the reason for this silence the answer to this question is the unspoken real reason for why the US Congress is now concentrating its time and resources on squeezing an economically devastated African state under the hypocritical guise of providing a transition to democracy.”

McKinney followed this up by calling Zimbabwe’s Government Africa’s second most stable democracy because it is multiparty and stressed that MDC won over 50 seats in Parliament and the opposition press vigorously criticises the Government.

Congresswoman McKinney then turned attention to what she referred to as an independent judiciary that issues decisions contrary to the wishes of the ruling party. McKinney went as far to say: “Zimbabwe is not without trouble but neither is the US. I have not heard anyone proposing a US Democracy Act following last year’s presidential electoral debacle. And if a foreign country were to pass legislation calling for a US Democracy Act which provided funding for US opposition under the fig leaf of voter education this body and country would not stand for it.”

What surprised Zimbabweans in particular and Africans in general was former Congresswoman McKinney decided not to vote against ZDERA, after making such a strong and compelling argument concerning the nefarious intentions of US-EU imperialism as it pertained to the Zimbabwe question.

As 15 years have come and gone since ZDERA was introduced by US Senators Bill Frist of Tennessee and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and was co-sponsored by now US Vice President Joe Biden and US presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton and deceased white supremacist Jesse Helms, it appears Congresswoman McKinney arrived at the conclusion that the influence of late Congressman Donald Payne of New Jersey was too strong to overcome within the CBC.

Congressman Payne along with his Republican counterpart from the same state, Christopher Smith, took the lead in pushing ZDERA in the halls of the US Congress which resulted in 194 Democrats and 200 Republicans dancing to the music and favouring regime change in Zimbabwe.

This meant that former Congresswoman McKinney and the eight Caucasian Republicans and two Caucasian Democrats who voted against ZDERA decided in the final analysis this battle could not be won on the floor of the US Senate and Congress.

Because Congressman Payne played the role of the pied piper and made the CBC blindly follow his lead, President Bush appointed him Congressional Liaison to the United Nations, for the purpose of bribing African heads of state to turn their back on Zimbabwe. While this strategy blew up in the face of the US government as they failed to block Zimbabwe from chairing the UN Committee for Sustainable Development and to persuade the UN Security Council to impose additional sanctions on Zimbabwe, this was after attempting to force Zimbabwe to accept LDC status and attempting to prevent President Mugabe from addressing the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome.

Congressman Payne, who served on the board of directors of both Trans Africa Forum and the National Endowment for Democracy, appeared to be the bagman who made it possible for TAF to funnel NED blood money to civil society groups in Zimbabwe.

Congressman Payne is also on record as calling Zimbabwe’s historic and revolutionary land reclamation programme misguided and wrong, which suggests that President Mugabe and ZANU-PF should have asked Congressman Payne to assist them in the manner that guard dogs escort the blind throughout streets all over the world.

The crafters of this letter realise that even though Congressman Payne is no longer alive, his cohorts in the CBC are equally as committed to the overthrow of President Mugabe and ZANU-PF as he was. This explains why CBC member Congresswoman Karen Bass, the ranking member on the US Congressional Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Human Rights and International Organisations, has ignored several attempts by the Zimbabwe Ambassador HE Ammon Mutembwa to sit down face to face and discuss the sanctions like mature adults with all cards on the table.

While this publicity stunt will more than likely be used by the CBC to justify defending regime change in Zimbabwe and unconditional support for Pastor Evan Mawarire, the dominant sentiment on the ground is external interference from the West is not welcome, is what helps President Mugabe and ZANU-PF continue to defend Zimbabwe’s sovereignty with the utmost confidence.

 Obi Egbuna Jnr is the US correspondent to The Herald and the External Relations Officer of ZICUFA (Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email is [email protected]