Saturday, April 5, 2008

Don't Let The Despot (Mugabe) In

Hantu Laut

I used to admire our former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad to a fault. I still do to certain extend but with some reservations to some of his recent outbursts which has kind of put me in a dilemma. Call it disappointment if you wish but I certainly do hope he tones down a little and minces his words before he says them.

Honesty and frankness are good virtues and helping a friend in distress is no less a good virtue too. As the saying goes "A friend in need is a friend indeed"

Does Robert Mugabe fits as that kind of a friend.A despot who robbed and ruined his country and shattered the economy that will take generations to recover.

Mugabe was once hailed as a symbol of the new Africa.During his 28 years rule the well-being and health of his people has dropped dramatically.It has the world's shortest life expectancy....37 for men and 34 for women, the highest percentage of orphans and abuse of human rights using arbitrary arrest and torture of political opponents.

When Zimbabwe gained independence 46.5% of the country's arable land was owned by around 6,000 commercial farmers.Mugabe accepted a "willing buyer, willing seller" among other concessions to the white minority.The compensations were paid by the British government to white settlers to return land to poor Zimbabwean farmers. As part of this agreement, land redistribution was blocked for a period of 10 years.

In 1997 the British government led by Tony Blair unilaterally stopped funding the "willing buyer, willing seller" land reform programme on the basis that the initial 44 million pound sterling allocated under the Thatcher government was used to purchase land for members of the ruling elite rather than landless peasants.

Mugabe's family owns three farms: Highfield Estate in Norton, 45 km west of Harare, Iron Mask Estate in Mazowe, about 40 km from Harare, and Foyle Farm in Mazowe, formerly owned by Ian Webster and adjacent to Iron Mask Farm, renamed to Gushungo Farm after Mugabe's own clan name.These farms were seized forcibly from their previous owners.

He has allowed seizure of white-owned farmland without compensations.This are the very people he asked to stay back and guarantee them security of their land when the country gained independence.

Zimbabwe once the "bread basket" of southern Africa is now economically crippled and its farmlands lay in ruins. It now depend on food program and help from outside to feed at least one-third of its population.

Mugabe who has a string of academic degrees hanging around his neck is one of the most useless and corrupted African despots. He is responsible for the freefall of the country's economy by his appalling economic mismanagement, corruption and brutal repression.

It's so disheartening to hear our former Prime Minister Mahathir to ask our government to give asylum to this crook who had destroyed a nation and makes its people suffer immeasurably.

I don't think we need this kind of despot in our midst and I urge the government not to let him enter the country let alone give him asylum.



Mugabe: I will quit, as long I do not face prosecution
Zimbabwe backlash starts as Mugabe thugs march

15 comments:

Unknown said...

You gotta give credit where it is due..Perhaps the Tun was wishing some other dictators will make the same offer to him when the need arises?

Anonymous said...

Freedom fighter or crazed old geezer, human beings are always in a state of flux.
Perhaps Tun Mahathir felt for Mugabe because of their initial struggle for power. But, does Tun Mahathir know that Mugabe is attempting a coup d'etat?
Will he extend the same offer to Mugabe after Zimbabwe fell into bloody civil unrest?

Pak Zawi said...

People of a kind have mutual feelings for each other.

Monsterball said...

The Mahathir & Mugabe mutual appreciation society.
It takes a rat to appreciate another...

gram.kong said...

rudy,

That may not be his intention.

Mahathir believes Mugabe is a victim of Western countries retaliation.But that doesn't change he is still a crook.

gram.kong said...

supa,

If Mahathir is still in power I think he would take Mugabe in.

gram.kong said...

Zawi,

Mahathir is not as bad as Mugabe.He has his downside but nowhere near to what Mugabe did.

gram.kong said...

kittykat46,
If Mugabe loses and stay back in Zimbabwe, somebody might want to kill him.

Africa, for some reason or another, seems to have tendency for violence.What happened in Kenya recently was typical Africans reaction.

That's why most despot has to flee their country, to avoid prosecution or getting kill.

Anonymous said...

HL,

What little respect I had for TDM has "gone"!
He still thinks he owns the country?
Geezeee...has he finally "lost it" or what?

Anonymous said...

Betul, tak boleh beri Robert Mugabe settle in Malaysia under kita punya "Our Second Home" program.

Also heard, he is trying to apply to masuk Malaysia under the name of Trebor Ebagum! That's Robert Mugabe backwards

Anonymous said...

"What little respect I had for TDM has "gone"!
He still thinks he owns the country?
Geezeee...has he finally "lost it" or what?"

Agreed with you,SM.

TDM think he is still the TAI-KO... wonder when will he gives up. He is very vocal nowadays, especially after the election.
He is not much different from Mugabe for being a Dictator.
How else would you explain his 22 yrs grip on power and what happen to his potential challengers?.. kena ISAed most of them...
I hope Mugabe will take him into his country one day when the PR Gomen starts digging up skeletons from the cupboard, gardens, under his bed, under tons of wigs, swiss a/c... etc and open up the Pandora box and walla... it will definitely be in the history books for our children to read.

Just my 5 cents worth.. it use to be 2 cents but the Gomen says we have to round up the figure...heheheh

Anonymous said...

Jeff / HL,

Pak Lah should use the ISA on TDM! By undermining the PM, he is "indirectly" undermining the Government & the Country.
Let the HINDRAF 5 go as they were only fighting for the rights of their community (as bloody MIC & Semi Value were / are not doing it).
TDM is accusing Pak Lah of the exact things he (TDM) was guilty of in the first place!
By the way, Jeff, 2 cents rounded up to 5 cents worth! Hahahaha! Good one!

gram.kong said...

sm,

Mahathir is not only sabotaging Abdullah, he is also killing UMNO, the party he said he wanted to save.

He is just being selfish, it's clear now, it's about himself, not UMNO.

gram.kong said...

anonymous,
It's bad for Malaysia if they let him in.

Latest event shows he is not leaving his country.

Anonymous said...

hantu laut said...
"Mahathir is not only sabotaging Abdullah, he is also killing UMNO, the party he said he wanted to save.
He is just being selfish, it's clear now, it's about himself, not UMNO."

I think TDM wants to save himself rather than the party. If he is really sincere about saving the party, don't you think he should meet up and have dialog with AAB..... "Behind Closed Door" instead of complaining to the press... since BN is famous for "Behind Close Door" meetings like the time when Hisapputin pulled his little crooked knife... and MCA youth had meeting with their master "Behind Closed Door", after much uproar from the public.
Perhaps TDM is afraid of the dark... Dear TunMadhatter, we knew what you did last Friday(22yrs)... be afraid...very afraid.... you reap what you sow...

Just my Zimbabwean $1.00 worth.
(black-market exchange rate is Z$3,650,000 to one sterling pound)