ZANU-PF Mugabe Bans Annan, Carter, and Mandela's Current Wife from Zimbabwe

The ZANU-PF Mugabe Government has initiated talks with the opposition MDC again. At the same time, the Zimbabwe Government has decided to ban the following people from Zimbabwe: Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Former US President Jimmy Carter, and Graca Machel the current wife of Nelson Mandela and widow of the late Mozambican President Samora Machel. The three were to visit Zimbabwe to assess the humanitarian crisis at hand.

The reason for the ban [although the ZANU-PF Mugabe Government later denied wanting to ban Annan, Carter, and Mrs. Mandela] is that the three [as quoted by the Zimbabwean Pro ZANU-PF Magazine The Herald] are "a clique of personalities hostile to Zimbabwe". The latest chapter in the tragedy of Zimbabwe unfolds with ZANU-PF and Mugabe possibly suffering from a delusion of persecution.

It appears that Mr. Mugabe forgot the talks that were held in the late 1970's in which Carter and the late President Machel of Mozambique were involved. The talks were successful in allowing Mr. Mugabe to become President of Zimbabwe in 1980.

It appears that Mr. Mugabe has forgotten the advice he received from his old friend and old comrade Samora Machel during the struggle for liberation in the 1970's. He thanks his late comrade and friend with the equivalent of a punch in the face by snubbing his widow and current wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mugabe has also forgotten the friendship of Mr. Mandela by snubbing his current wife. South Africa and Mozambique deserve better alies than one that snubs the Father of Their Countries.

The people have had a love and hate relationship with Jimmy Carter but it appears that Mugabe has bitten the hand that feeds him. Jimmy Carter and the West were instrumental in placing Mugabe in power and this is the thanks they get. The West may be to blame for the crisis in Zimbabwe because they placed the person who caused the problem in power and now they do not want to listen to the cries for help in Zimbabwe.

Kofi Annan was willing to admit that the UN should have done something to stop the genocide in Rwanda. It appears that he wants to atone for the past sin and attempt to find a resolution to the current humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. Again, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF Party close the door.

It is worth mentioning that while I have written for Now Public concerning the Cholera Outbreak in Zimbabwe and its possible spread to South Africa, I do not condone the xenophobia that some South Africans have manifested towards Zimbabweans in their country. The people of Zimbabwe are not to blame for their predicament as Mr. Gono of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would have you believe.

Zimbabwe is currently suffering because of the leaders that are governing the country, the inability of the parties involved in arriving at a solution to the problems, and the rest of the world closing their eyes, closing their ears, and closing their mouths to the acute problem. It is hoped that the situation does not go from bad to worse.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20081120122448883C263656

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7739169.stm