Wars have taken place throughout the history of mankind and majority of them have taken place to gain freedom from a foreign ruler. One of the main reasons for wars besides a want for freedom is that of land taken over by foreign powers. In 1979 land reform issues were a major stumbling block during discussions of the independence constitution, the Lancaster House Agreement. The Agreement came with a ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ plan where white farmers were compensated for land they lost with funds provided by the British. In 1997 the British government, under the leadership of Tony Blair stopped funding this compensation which may have played a very big part in Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform program.
Almost half of the arable land was in the hands of the white minority and Mugabe did not see Zimbabwe as being truly independent because of the percentage of arable land owned by white colonialists. He took drastic steps to rid the land of so called colonialists and give it back to its original and rightful owners. He is one of a few leaders in modern times to take extreme measures to ensure that colonialists have little or no influence in affairs of a nation.
Mugabe has been called one of the great African liberation fighters because of his efforts in the liberation struggle and in more recent times for stepping up and taking measures to rid Zimbabwe of foreign influence. He is hailed as a hero by a number of people for taking a firm stand against imperialism.
A number of nations and leaders around the world are against colonialism/imperialism. During a visit to Algeria, French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned colonialism with the following statement, “Yes, the colonial system was profoundly unjust, contrary to the three founding words of our Republic: freedom, equality, brotherhood,” he said. Even though he said he was against colonialism he was not apologetic for France’s colonial past. Kevin Rudd is the only leader in recent history I can recall apologizing to an indigenous people for the actions of colonial masters. In New Zealand talk does come up on the occasion about breaking ties with the Monarchy and becoming independent which just goes to show that everyone the world over wants ‘true independence’ even if the nation were they reside is in a good state.
Where Mugabe has faltered may be in the methods he has taken to try and get Zimbabwe to the point he sees as being independent. Is Mugabe wrong for having the view that he has on Colonial and Western powers?
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