Brian Kagoro, a Zimbabwean lawyer and academic, has claimed that the late former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe did not inherit a great country from Ian Smith.
Posting on Twitter, Kagoro said that he was now uncomfortable with unsubstantiated claims that the country that was inherited by Mugabe was better than it has become. He said:
#AfricanLivesMatter I am sick and tired of this “inherited a great country mantra”.Great for whom? We cannot pretend that Rhodesia was the most inclusive,egalitarian& Democratic country unless we are totally dishonest or brain dead. This notwithstanding Mugabe’s repression&faults
Kagoro’s remarks come when some Zimbabweans reflecting the legacy of Zimbabwe’s founding leader have opined that Mugabe inherited a great country and then destroyed it.
They observe that the country used to be a breadbasket of SADC but now has become a basket case. Below are some of the responses to Kagoro’s post.
We inherited infrastructure. Road dzisina makomba. Mvura muma Taps. We did not maintain and to expand mudhara. (We inherited infrastructure including roads which did not have potholes. We also had potable water coming out of taps. We failed to maintain and expand what we inherited.)
Please read reports of what infrastructure was there in 1980 and the additional infrastructure built after 1980 (schools, clinics, hospitals, roads, boreholes, etc). He was a gravely imperfect man, but let us use facts to describe his achievements and failures
We also need to ask what percentage of the population had access to primary education, clean drinking water, primary health care, birth certificates, and access to formerly whites-only social amenities. There were great roads, bridges, schools, clinics reserved mostly for whites
We also inherited a huge debt, inequality, etc.
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How right he is. How can a country that had just come out of war and strife ever be considered by a reasonable thinking man to have been in great condition. Mugabe did his best in the face of adversity.
Even his own team immediately upon appointment were stealing and involved in scandals and corruptions. Remember the Watergate scandal of Calistas Ndlovu and Enos Nkala? He had a team from the onset, that were greedy and corrupt. How was he to uphold values when chaos reigned around him?
Nature as well was not favourable as the nation was plagued with drought that was utterly debilitating and even the best of economies would have been staggering.
Then the sanctions. So many sanctions upon a small nation can be crippling. We agree that because of atrocities such as Gugurahundi there was a need for the world to be seen to be doing something but in the meantime those who suffered and continue to suffer are the innocent victims who are the civilians of Zimbabwe.
The reality is that many left our beautiful country with bitterness and were instrumental in the crippling sanctions. Remember statements such as made by Ian Smith, “never in a thousand years shall Rhodesia be ruled by a black man.” Contrary to those evil words our black fearless leaders arose and challenged colonialism. Sanctions were never about the love of the oppressed blackman, but a manifestation of anger, disappointment and frustration of those that had it too good raping, African nations of their bountiful resources.
Hence a few minutes after the announcement of the death of Robert Mugabe the BBC spent a significant ammount of time focusing of the white farmers ousted out of their Never purchased farms that they refused to share with the rightful owners of the land the indigenous people of Zimbabwe. Apparently this lot have said that now Mugabe is dead, they want to come back and help us rebuild our land.
The land was taken away because the white farmers were preparing for a civil war that would result in the bondage of the black Zimbabweans, making our losses in the liberation struggle a pointless and futile act. Are the loved ones we lost so insigficant? Lest we forget!!
Zimbabwe can only be rebuilt by its own people. Hence the government of Zimbabwe must respect Our Fallen Heroes who died for liberation and Stop Treating Its Own People As Enemies who end up as victims of xenophobia.
It so easy for the government to decide to make changes to bring people back home. Zimbabwe has enough natural resources to equip each family to grow food to sustain themselves and develop infrastructures that will not succumb to plights of drought and other caprices. Other countries have turned deserts into lush and verdant lands by a simple use of properly utilising their resources.
Our people in desperate bids to survive are now known for wrongs when our people used to be highly respected and hardworking. It happen again that our country can become, “the bread basket of Africs,” with a slight adjustment of thought.
Leaders of Zimbabwe should learn to love the people and ensure their wellbeing. This antagonism and hatred is counterproductive and useless. Our nation needs to embrace each other, build bridges and rectify wrongs. Together we are survivors.
Let Zimbabwe regain its dignity and be a worthy flourishing economy that does not need hands outs that cause us further and unnecessary bondage. We can learn from other nations and empower ourselves and it starts with the government of Zimbabwe not regarding its own people as the enemy. Surely even those who were in power for the money there must be a point when other values and responsibility Must become a necessary priority.
Zimbabwe has enough to empower itself!!!
That is crap. He inherited the country with everything working but simply because he was also corrupted with power he destroyed everything. Why is it that after he took over everything started to collapse. Politically he was strong. Economically he was corrupt.
Everything was working …. water elect schools hospitals … factories running and exporting .banks serving customers minus corruption … cash ….tax system … proper airway ….. now its a squatter camp .
Add zzzz railway , bus system taxi service … vendors / squatters were not in the city centre ….. pension funds … savings a/c …. excel university …… robots worked … roads got fixed … passports ?????? All gone
If u are under 30 years old … u have no idea how good this place used to be .