ZIMBABWE COMPENSATING
BRITISH COLONIALISM?

Land and Zimbabwe. Like Siamese twins, the two are often mentioned together. That's because the southern African nation of 16.7 million has had land at the centre of its politics and economy since attaining independence from Britain in 1980. Known as Southern Rhodesia (in memory of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, of "Cape to Cairo" infamy) before independence, Zimbabwe became home to many White farmers emigrating from the UK, South Africa and some European countries. Under British colonial rule, White settlers acquired huge ranches that contributed to the country's agricultural output, making Zimbabwe the region's bread basket.

Long-serving president Robert Mugabe (1924-2019) skilfully leveraged the land issue to maintain his grip on power. In the early 2000s, he initiated a radical land-repossession programme to bolster support for his ruling party.

Continued……. This move, however, resulted in severe sanctions from Western countries, leading to a prolonged economic crisis.

As our man Kenneth Kaigua reports, Zimbabwe must now address another land-related issue before international creditors are willing to assist in reviving its economy.

Sources:

https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/zimbabwe-to-pay-white-farmers-r6-billion-in-bonds-20241125

https://www.herald.co.zw/zim-okays-compensation-for-92-bippa-farms/#:~:text=Zimbabwe%20has%20approved%2092%20farms,being%20resolved%20through%20separate%20arrangements

https://www.semafor.com/article/11/26/2024/zimbabwe-plots-return-to-international-capital-markets

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-25/zimbabwe-to-pay-ex-farmers-331-million-in-move-to-rework-debt?srnd=undefined

https://www.ecofinagency.com/finance/2611-46181-zimbabwe-approves-331mln-compensation-for-white-farmers-to-tackle-debt-crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/08/robert-mugabe-slates-tony-blair-over-zimbabwes-land-reform-programme

https://history.blog.gov.uk/2019/12/23/the-lancaster-house-agreement-forty-years-on/

https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/zimbabwe/ZimLand0302.htm

https://www.cgdev.org/page/scorched-earth-zimbabwe-and-after-satellite-photos

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/08/robert-mugabe-slates-tony-blair-over-zimbabwes-land-reform-programme

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25845845

https://www.africanews.com/2019/04/16/zimbabwe-appeals-for-uk-support-to-compensate-white-farmers//

https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/managing_the_economy/understanding-zimbabwes-economic-collapse-causes-and-consequences.html/

https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/zimbabwes-seemingly-endless-currency-crisis/

https://www.africanews.com/2019/04/16/zimbabwe-appeals-for-uk-support-to-compensate-white-farmers//

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/investing/2024/11/25/zimbabwe-to-pay-ex-farmers-331-million-in-move-to-rework-debt/

https://apnews.com/article/zimbabwe-white-farmers-land-colonialism-mugabe-8ef1747c1f02d92487b0c47bb1be1f4d

https://taxjustice.net/2020/06/09/slavery-compensation-uk-questions/#:~:text=The%20British%20government%20borrowed%20%C2%A3,of%20the%20largest%20in%20history.

This week’s African proverb is a reminder that the same challenge can affect us differently - depending on our constitution. Do we bow to life’s pressures or is our character toughened by them?

After holding out for 13 years, Syria's Bashar al Assad's government fell to al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, with the capture of Damascus and subsequent exile of Assad. It is a culmination of years of Western machinations for the country that now sees a terrorist figure with a $10 million bounty paraded by Western media as some young Fidel Castro. What does all this have to Africa, Libya and AES? Join us for a special live edition of Pan-African Attitude, where we will unpack all of the above and more in around one hour.

ZEPHANIAH CONVINCES JOURNO TO DROP BRITISH AWARD

On 7 December 2023, one of Britain's finest anti-colonial poets, Benjamin Zephaniah, passed away at 65, leaving behind a revolutionary and anti-imperialist legacy. He used his exceptional talent and voice to expose and campaign against the crimes committed by the British Empire across the Global South.

In this 2003 video clip, a journalist told Zephaniah that he had made her rethink holding onto her Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) medal, returning it afterwards. Zephaniah himself had turned it down because it indicated loyalty to the empire. For many in the Global South, British imperialism represents the indignity of occupation, the theft of natural resources as well as slavery. Therefore, accepting such an award would have betrayed Zephaniah's principles.

Continued……Britain still presents a sanitised image of its empire, which spanned the globe as the largest of its kind until the mid-20th century, when the United States overtook it. To date, many are knocking on the UK's door, calling for reparations for the impact of its slave trade and colonisation.

KENYA POLICE IN HAITI TENDER THEIR RESIGNATIONS

Twenty odd Kenyan police officers who were sent on the controversial US- and UN-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti have reportedly resigned - with others threatening to do the same.

This comes after media claims that the mission is underfunded in terms of the resources required to carry out its stated task, namely, cracking down on Haiti’s rampant armed gangs. Additionally, officers have complained about delayed salaries.

Kenyan authorities along with the MSS leadership, however, have denied receiving any resignation letters, despite widely circulated news to the contrary, including accounts by unidentified officers in a Reuters report.

Continued……In September, Kenya's President William Ruto hinted that the MSS mission could be transformed into a UN peacekeeping one, though he also pledged to deploy more Kenyans. The current Kenyan force in Haiti is grappling with a task that has clearly stretched it beyond capacity. Moreover, the support promised by the US has yet to appear, with the Kenyan Treasury still waiting on $2 million.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/world/kenyan-police-haiti-tender-resignations-over-pay-delays-2024-12-06/

https://nairobileo.co.ke/news/article/18298/haiti-mission-responds-after-reports-of-resignation-of-20-kenyan-police-officers

https://www.reuters.com/world/kenyas-ruto-open-converting-haiti-mission-un-peacekeeping-operation-2024-09-21/

https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2024/11/kenya-spent-sh2-1-billion-on-haiti-security-mission-despite-u-s-funding-pledge/

WE REACT TO REVOLUTIONARY MUSIC: LOWKEY'S 'TWO KITES'

To amplify revolutionary music that is nowhere to be found on mainstream media playlists, we embark on a new series where we react to music created to inform and uplift.

To kick off the series, we check out British-Iraqi rapper Lowkey's ‘Two Kites’ (@Lowkey0nline on X) from his new album, 'Soundtrack to The Struggle 3.’

What do you think of the song, and what other songs do you recommend we listen to as part of the series?

MICHEL SOUKAR ON HAITI'S DISASTER CAPITALISM

In this clip from a recent Haïti Inter interview, Haitian historian and journalist Michel Soukar argued that the political class and others who benefit from the socio-economic turmoil in Haiti deploy and maintain gangs, asserting the Haitian police have always had the competence and resources to combat them. Still, when close to capturing gang leaders, operations would be called off, forcing police to retreat.

@soukarmichel (X) further explained that disaster capitalism, where reconstruction serves the interests of foreign and capitalist entities, has further destabilised Haiti.

Continued……The West has long exploited the Caribbean country for cheap labour with the help of compliant Haitian politicians. About 100 years after Haitians ousted French enslavers, the United States began controlling Haiti and stealing its wealth through military force. Later, UN peacekeeping forces missions failed amidst foreign-backed coups d’état. Now, Kenyan police are deployed to the Caribbean state on a US-backed mission, continuing the cycle of instability. 

What do you think of Soukar's comments? Let us know in the comments.

Video credit: @haiti_inter (X)

'ANY OF YOU MIGHT BE NEXT'

Was Syria's Bashar al-Assad the latest target of a Western-engineered regime-change agenda against Global South governments? That's what many are thinking after the lightning seizure of power by al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

His fall is seen as confirmation of a prediction made by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Speaking at an Arab League summit in 2008, he warned his fellow Arab leaders that if they did not unite, they would suffer the same fate as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006 in the wake of the US-led Western invasion of his country.

Back then, Arab leaders chuckled at Gaddafi's warning. Sixteen years on, it's no longer a laughing matter: a number of those in that room, including Gaddafi himself, have since been deposed. Assad was also there. His laugh was most notable, although he probably doesn't see the funny side now.

Video Credit: Al Jazeera

MALCOLM X: MAU MAU SELF-DEFENCE

The word ‘terrorist’ has been bandied around since the US kicked off its ‘War on T*rror’ in 2001 and really even before that. But who gets the label depends on whose interests the ‘t*rrorists’ serve.

For example, although the mainstream media touts Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as Syria’s new tolerant leader, the US still designates HTS a t*rrorist organisation, with US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claiming on 9 December that the US can still work with such entities. Miller said he could not verify that a $10-million bounty remained on Jolani, though a 2017 FBI press release indicates so.

Similarly, more than a century ago, European colonialists claimed they brought civilisation and progress to the 'Dark Continent', despite employing extreme violence and brutality to subjugate and exploit Africans.

Continued….. However, when our ancestors rose up to liberate our homelands, the West depicted them as t*rrorists and savage criminals. 

In this clip, Pan-Africanist Malcolm X (1925-65) courageously defended Kenya's Land and Freedom Army, popularly known as the Mau Mau. Like so many Pan-African freedom fighters, such as Frantz Fanon (1925-61), Kwame Ture (1941-98), Josina Machel (1945-71), Amilcar Cabral (1924-73), Titina Silá (circa 1943-73), Malcolm X understood that the violence oppressed deploy differs fundamentally from the oppressor’s violence, hence his famous line, 'by any means necessary.'

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Sources:

https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-syrian-rebel-leader-abu-mohammed-al-jolani-and-what-are-his-links-to-al-qaeda-13270212

https://www.history.utoronto.ca/events/mau-mau-face-international-terrorism-1950s-contemporary-perspective

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1952/oct/21/mau-mau-terrorism-in-kenya

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-december-9-2024

https://www.odni.gov/nctc/terrorist_groups/hts.html

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/up-to-10-million-reward-offered-for-information-on-the-leader-of-the-al-nusrah-front