Correspondent
In August 2018, just after Zimbabwe’s general elections, the country witnessed some demonstrations that were staged by opposition activists who had lost patience in waiting for the presidential election results.
The impatience was, however, not justified considering that it was only a day after the elections had been held and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was within the five day constitutional deadline of announcing the presidential results.
The demonstrations unfortunately led to six people losing their lives, with several others injured, thereby inviting condemnation of Zimbabwean authorities by the alleged human rights defenders and the international community.
They blasted the Zimbabwean authorities opining that they used excessive force in dealing with the demonstrations.
Yet Zimbabweans across the country were all patiently waiting for the results to be announced and there was no reason for such hooliganism to take place.
Actually, according to the Electoral Act, the general elections which were held on July 30, 2018 had a grace period of five days of which results could be announced in totality.
Opposition activists chose to ignore the five-day grace period and demanded that the results be announced at their request.
As was expected, before the Zimbabwean government issued a statement, social media was awash with statements condemning the Zimbabwean government on how the same handled those demonstrations.
The European Union member states and the US embassy in the country issued statements raising concern over what had transpired in the country.
They also urged the Zimbabwean Government to institute a commission of inquiry to find out what really caused the deaths of those unfortunate six demonstrators.
The outcry from the Western embassies concerning what transpired on the 1st August 2018 completely ignored the unruly behaviour of the demonstrators who looted and destroyed properties of innocent people in the city centre.
The destruction of people’s properties had nothing to do with the presidential election results which the people were waiting for.
One would have expected the Western countries to also condemn the opposition activists who ignored the grace period of when elections results were to be announced.
However, the self-appointed human rights defenders rushed to blame Government for everything that took place on that fateful day.
What is now raising dust is the silence of the same Western countries on what is taking place in South Africa and eSwatini.
It is surprising that those so-called defenders of human rights have decided to “hear no evil, see no evil” to the currently unfolding events in those two countries.
In eSwatini, more than two weeks since people embarked in organised sporadic demonstrations against King Mswati’s government, reports coming from there are that scores of people have lost their lives during confrontations with government security services.
But no word from the holier-than-thou world event watchers.
The same deafening silence has been witnessed to what is taking place in South Africa where demonstrations erupted after the former South African President; Jacob Zuma, was dragged to jail as he was convicted by the Constitutional Court over contempt of court.
So far, reports coming from there are that as of Tuesday 72 people had lost lives in the skirmishes.
With such unprecedented violence causing some demonstrators to lose their lives, one would expect the same Western countries to issue statements condemning such brutalities.
If that were to happen, it would show how all African lives matter despite geographical location.
Some takeaway from all this is that Zimbabweans should be aware that those Western countries care nothing about Zimbabwean people, but do care much about their interests in the country.
It should be made loud and clear that the Western countries’ silence on what is taking place in South Africa and eSwatini is because those two countries have never scuttled Western interests in their respective countries to warrant reprimand.
Those lacking the understanding of why Zimbabwe is always under the spotlight of the Western countries need to read this.
The land reform, which saw black majority owning vast tracts of land in the country which was previously owned by whites, is what caused Zimbabwe to be always under the spotlight of these Western countries.
South Africa and eSwatini have done nothing to raise the ire of Western countries, hence everything in the two countries is good to go.
All the negative publicity Zimbabwe has endured over the years from Western countries and their proxies in the country emanated from the land reform that the country embarked on.
The talk of human rights abuses and the corruption narrative are just scapegoat issues meant to let Zimbabwe remain under economic sanctions and ensure her people “repent” from the error of their ways, being bold enough to challenge the status quo.
Some countries in Africa and even outside Africa have bad records on corruption and human rights, but are not censored because they follow the rules of Uncle Sam.
Any country which challenges Western countries’ hegemony is made to feel the pinch, until or unless it reverses its course of action.
Those who follow international affairs should ask themselves why Israel, with all the killings which that country is doing to the innocent Palestinians, still enjoys good relations with the West, especially America.
It is because Israel has not challenged western hegemony and it always does what the Americans like.
So, Zimbabweans should know that this country has done nothing wrong against the Western countries, but only made sure that indigenous people become owners of their land, a move which irked the West.