via Zimeye – Zimbabwe: Top Historian Diana Mitchel Dismisses Baba Jukwa Uprising
A senior Zimbabwean historian, Diana Mitchel who alone foretold the downfall of the former Ian Smith Rhodesian government way back in 1977 has spoken against thoughts in the wait for an uprising that is being engineered on social networking website Facebook by the faceless MDC character and Zanu PF de-filer, Baba Jukwa.
Mitchell signalled that an Egyptian style revolution is not possible in Zimbabwe where she has had a wealth of experience analysing complex political forces for the past 40 years.
The statement comes after the faceless character began coordinating a campaign known as Vapanduki (insurgents) on the website. The campaign is a grouping of people who are all opposed to Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party.
Mitchell is credited for her outstanding work in canonising Zimbabwe’s liberation war heroes at a time when they were internationally regarded as terrorists in the 70s.
Below was her full argument:
Any Zimbabwean, at home and abroad could or should have predicted with absolute certainty that Robert Mugabe and his acolytes would never allow power to slip from their hands. One wonders if the masses of red-clad MDC supporters seen at rallies in the major cities truly believed that their visible numbers and their wishful thinking could somehow vanquish the old dictator. They have learned, once more, as we former `white liberals’ learned in our past, anti-Rhodesian Front struggles, that a `level playing field’ is the first requisite for electoral success in a developing country.
Ian Smith taught Robert Mugabe that control of all the institutions of government – which included the incorporation of the national media – was all that was needed to ensure perpetual rule for the incumbent government. It was the horrific deaths among a relatively few civilians and a miniscule, white-led military, along with a lot of external support for African nationalist freedom fighters, which succeeded in overturning 88 years of white minority rule.
Without weapons or powerful external support, how could free Zimbabweans in the MDC or its leadership have forgotten those lessons of the recent past? So recent are those lessons for now, Zimbabweans will cling to peace as a preferred option. The flames of the Arab Spring’s violent revolutions are not an attractive model for change right now.
COMMENTS
Armed uprisings in Sub-Saharan Africa tend to lead to protracted civil wars which create a million refugees, thousands dead, extreme poverty and nobody benefits, in the end. For these reasons alone, it is not worth it!
The only valid statement in her analysis is that the faceless “MDC character”. The rest is trash and she left out vital information such as the idiotic baba jukwa, childish, foolish and brainlees MDC
face book character.
The true Historians of the Zimbabwean tragedy have not even been heard from.No historian ever even mentioned the Lancaster House sellout to the west by Mugabe , the assasination of Tongogara insigated by MI 6 , the charade of elections under Lord Soames, the butchery of innocents while Brit army instructors looked on and carried on “intergrating” the army the use of Rhodie air force by sellout Mugabe ..”discovery”of arms caches on Zipra farms all this skullduggery was planned at Lancaster by the Brits in the name of the cold war Mugabe was offered power if he agreed to be used as a nato tool now in the wake of the demise of the Soviets his services are no longer needed and as one discards a used condom he finds himself in the trashcan of perfidious albion… I could say more and more hamsati mave kuziv politics ma zimbo
Wow….so true!!!
“When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.” Proverbs 29:16
There is no need for ordinary people to die in Zimbabwe.All that is needed is to pay an assassin and take these guys out one at a time starting with the joc.Here I am talking to diaspora pay for a job to be done, ten US DOLLARS from all outside the country will be enough to do the job.You all want to come home so pay. What have your vigils achieved so far,nothing. These guys are cowards, sort out one and the rest will run.
No no no you don’t understand .In mass death there exists a certain release ..a kind of inevitability..rega povo ife sterek mhani iwe and in so doing people vachaita right.Look at Europe WW2 kwakafiwa blaaz saka rega mabhoyi afe ndo the hard school of politics ichava graduatisa and after that they deserve and have earned the vote .Hamufe makachemera ma observers futi.Those that killed the innocent must see their innocent reletives die in the most gruesome manner then and only then we will forgive
You don’t heat the Zimbabwe innocent people. When you kill the snake you heat the heard. Mdcs and all others parties involved who cater to bring freedom to the masses of zimbabwe. The war vets are not our enemies include them so they know hat we stand for. We don’t fight zanu because we hate the people. We hate the policies If zanu gives people the freedom they need today we will praise them. Independence without freedom is not enough.
Moreover in 2014 there is the World cup.No time for riot.