We want to title this rebuttal: 'Do Lies Really Outsell the Truth. If So, For How Long?'

HE the President, Cde R.G. Mugabe said, "Should our journalists really indulge in what they know to be deliberately misleading stories and therefore stories that go against objectivity and the truth?" (Herald newspaper August, 2007).

Turning to Andrew N. Matjila's article and in the context of the above quotation, the Embassy of Zimbabwe dismisses the article as an inaccurate and distorted portrayal of events in Zimbabwe, in particular the caricature of HE the President Cde R.G. Mugabe as a "dictator".

The mischievous article, which is written on the eve of our historic harmonised elections scheduled for March 29, 2008, is not surprising to most of us; it is a ritualised agenda of the agents of illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.

Andrew N. Matjila, who showed some misplaced flash of brilliance in his narration, should have acknowledged some important historical events which place Zimbabwe where it is today.

He deliberately chose to ignore the bilateral dispute between London and Harare and the resultant illegal declared and undeclared economic sanctions and instead pandered to the Western agenda by regurgitating anti-Mugabe hype.

Andrew N. Matjila, a learned man from the opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance Party (DTA) of Namibia, is free to visit Zimbabwe to acquaint himself with the positive political and economic dynamics obtaining on the ground in Zimbabwe today before age catches up with him.

In the absence of a visit to Zimbabwe, Matjila needs to be reminded of the following:
HE President R.G. Mugabe is a revered veteran of the guerrilla war against British colonialism and its proxy apartheid Rhodesia. He has been demonised and vilified by opposition politicians, so-called human rights organisations and the Western and opposition media and the likes of Andrew Matjila for his anti-imperialist principles.

The Western countries led by former coloniser Britain want President Mugabe gone; fly-by-nights like Andrew Matjila who moonlight want President Mugabe gone; white commercial farmers and black stooges want President Mugabe gone. Reason? President Mugabe's economic policies are not congenial to white man's interests viz. land reform programme, indigenisation of strategic minerals and protection of Western-owned banks, investments and corporations.

Andrew Matjila forgot to mention that Britain has a special interest in Zimbabwe because colonization paved the way for economic domination of the country by British corporations, investments and banks (a legacy of colonial rule). The continued control of Zimbabwe's natural resources by the British is at the bottom of the bilateral dispute between Harare and London.

The United States of America President George Bush, is currently undertaking his last trip to Africa to fool who? He fired a hackneyed and tired tirade labelling President R.G. Mugabe a dictator. (Do we see Andrew Matjila nodding?)

What tyranny is Bush talking about when he twice rigged elections and manipulates news to stay in office and has enjoyed the title of "War President"? What has happened to Iraq and Afghanistan? Matjila? Is that what you are agitating for for Zimbabwe?
The Embassy wishes to correct certain deliberate inaccuracies and distortions in Andrew Matjila's article:

The SADC Initiative is a clear testimony of brothers helping another brother.
President T. Mbeki who was mandated by SADC Heads of State in March 2007 to "continue to facilitate dialogue between the opposition and the Government", is almost complete in his task with all the major areas of contention being agreed upon, hence next month's harmonised elections.

The SADC Executive Secretary was mandated to "undertake a study on the economic situation in Zimbabwe and propose measures on how SADC can assist Zimbabwe recover economically". The Summit appealed for the lifting of all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe. The economic package is being worked out. How and why does Andrew Matjila brazenly claim that Harare "prefers to go it alone"?

He should acknowledge efforts by fellow Africans in assisting Zimbabwe recover and overcome the yoke of illegal economic sanctions. Never in his article does Matjila admit that Zimbabwe is under unjustified and illegal sanctions. We know why he chose to ignore that fact.

The effects of the illegal declared and undeclared economic sanctions are well documented. For the sake of Andrew and others of his thinking, it is important to point out the following:

• Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which receive funding from Western governments have realigned their policies in consultation with their governments. Some donors have withdrawn their funding or frozen further development partnerships.
• Notably, DANIDA and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) pulled out of Zimbabwe in 2001 and 2003 respectively terminating all projects in progress and retrenching their employees.
• The cornerstone of the illegal 2001 economic sanctions is the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act promulgated by the Bush Administration's arrogance and an evil piece of legislation meant to destroy Zimbabwe. (It is in the interest of anybody who cares to understand the evil machinery of the Anglo-Saxon regime change agenda on Zimbabwe).
• Balance of payment support started deteriorating in 1997 from US$740 million to US$21 million. The IMF stopped supporting Zimbabwe by way of BoP in 1999 and ADB stopped supporting Zimbabwe by way of BoP in 1998.The World Bank stopped supporting Zimbabwe by way of BoP in 2001.
• Foreign direct investment which had averaged US$95 million in the 1990s has declined to averages of US$20.4 million in the new millennium.
• Other manifestation of the economic sanctions are:
  • denial of medication to the unborn child;
  • poor rural folks not beingable to grind their maize;
  • school children not able to go to school;
  • transport system grinding to a halt;
  • fuel and electricity shortages;
  • declines in the key sectors of the economy have occasioned high unemployment, an inefficient delivery system reduction in FDI and the drying up of balance of payments support..

Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa is not a new phenomenon. South Africa is Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner and informal trading constitutes 70% of trade between the two neighbours.

The BBC World Service aired a "special propaganda" documentary on Zimbabwe on August 13, 2007 titled, "The BBC investigating a country on the brink: Zimbabwe out of control". This is the same documentary Andrew Matjila in all his "innocence" watched and believed.

What Matjila should have observed was that the documentary was aired on the eve of the annual SADC Heads of State Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia and the United Nations General Assembly held in September 2007. The documentary had an AGENDA Matjila.

Do we need to remind and repeat the agenda of the West on Zimbabwe and its leadership? Maybe Andrew's spectacled eyes failed to see that it was a cut and paste documentary. The so-called border jumpers spoke with a distinct South African accent.
Heaping praise on how Ian Smith warded off sanctions.

Andrew Matjila again displays his political myopia by singing glory on the murderer "for loving his white countrymen so much that he was prepared to hijack a country - beat the sanctions". Why Matjila acknowledges sanctions during Smith's oppressive rule and FAILS to admit that Zimbabwe's economy is reeling under eight years of declared and undeclared sanctions is an ENIGMA.

The Government of Zimbabwe led by the able leadership of President R.G. Mugabe has not sat on its laurels but has gone further to empower the majority through access to land; financial sector; mines

The Government's Look East Policy meant to reduce reliance on Western markets and products has shamed critics like Andrew Matjila who still think that anything which is not from the West is inferior.China is now the largest investor in Zimbabwe with its investment portfolio now standing at more than US$600 million.

More than 50 companies from China, Malaysia and other countries from the East grace our economic landscape.Might we add that these countries and in particular China have been all weather friends.China helped Zimbabwe and Southern Africa to liberate themselves from British colonialism.

South Africa is still Zimbabwe's biggest trading partner.Trade and investment is also being strengthened within economic regional blocs and through bilateral arrangements.

Zimbabwe's challenges which stem from the evil policies of the Western countries are multifaceted. Andrew Matjila should take a cue from the history of liberation parties and movements and stop deluding himself into false hope that by simply removing a democratically elected President from power the country's problems will be solved.
What happened to Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Patrick Lumumba, Africa?

It is people like Andrew Matjila who give Africa and its leadership a "bad name".

Articles written by Africans and which are critical of other Africans particularly its leadership find favour in the Western countries. Where is your pride as an African, Andrew? Where were you when the Boers were raping and murdering thousands of Namibians? Were you not having supper with those who were by day killing your own relatives?

It was the African-American Malcolm X who said that if white people especially the liberally racist, display dislike of black leaders then it is good.

But if the whites start praising black leaders then it is time to start worrying because such leaders must be doing everything right to aid the white establishment and everything wrong to advance the black cause.