The AfricanSenator

Charles Taylor –The warlord son Africa would rather forget.

2012-05-07T17:03:00.001+03:00

Charles Taylor is one man who will forever remain a scar on Africa’s conscience. Europe had Hitler, South America had Augusto Pinochet and Asia had Suharto and Pol Pot. Charles Taylor fits perfectly in this list of heartless tyrants who terrorized entire generations in the last century. Taylor’s story is a fascinating tale of violence, lawlessness and impunity in a world whose moral compass is obscured by endless greed, and where the wheels of justice (if at all) take decades to turn. From a variety of sources, here is the story of the man whose memory evokes images of chopped off limbs of young children in Sierra Leone and horrific images of rebel soldiers eating raw human hearts of their dead enemies. This is a man who served interests of the two cold war powers, sponsored multiple conflicts in West Africa and even claimed to be Jesus.

Read, and thank God he is gone....

Charles McArthur ‘Ghankay’ Taylor (born ) was born in Arthington, Montserrado County, Liberia on 28 January 1948. He attended Bentley College in the US before returning to Liberia to work in the government of Samuel Doe.

Government, imprisonment and escape

Having supported the 12 April 1980 coup led by Samuel Doe, which saw the murder of President William R. Tolbert, Jr. and seizure of power by Doe, Taylor was appointed to a high position in Doe’s government in the General Services Agency of Liberia, which left him in charge of procurement on behalf of the Liberian government. However, he was sacked in May 1983 for embezzling almost $1,000,000 and channelling the funds to an American bank account.

Taylor fled to the US but was arrested on 24 May 1984 by two US Deputy Marshals in Somerville, Massachusetts, on a warrant for extradition to face charges of embezzling $922,000, government funds, intended for machinery parts. Citing a fear of assassination by Liberian agents, Taylor sought to fight extradition from the safety of jail with the help of his attorney, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark. He was detained in a House of Corrections in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

On 15 September 1985, Taylor and four other inmates allegedly escaped from the Plymouth facility, a minimum security prison, by sawing through a bar covering a window in an unused laundry room. After dropping 12 feet to the ground by means of a knotted sheet, the five inmates climbed a fence. Shortly thereafter, Taylor and two other escapees were met at nearby Jordan Hospital by Taylor's wife, Enid, and Taylor's sister-in-law, Lucia Holmes Toweh. A getaway car was driven to Staten Island, where Taylor then disappeared. All four of Taylor's fellow escapees, as well as Enif and Toweh, were later apprehended.

Civil war

Taylor managed to flee the United States and shortly thereafter it is assumed that he went to Libya, where he underwent guerrilla training under Muammar Gaddafi, becoming Gaddafi's protégé. Eventually, he left Libya and traveled to Côte d'Ivoire, where he founded the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL).

In December 1989, Taylor launched a Libyan-funded armed uprising from Côte d'Ivoire into Liberia to overthrow the Doe regime, leading to the First Liberian Civil War. By 1990, his forces soon controlled most of the country. That same year, Prince Johnson, a senior commander of Taylor's NPFL, broke away and formed the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL). In September 1990, Johnson captured Monrovia, depriving Taylor of outright victory. Doe was captured and tortured to death by Johnson and his forces, resulting in a violent political fragmentation of the country. The civil war turned into an ethnic conflict, with seven factions fighting for control of Liberia's resources ( iron ore, diamonds, timber, and rubber).

According to a 2 June 1999, article in The Virginian-Pilot, Taylor had extensive business dealings with American televangelist Pat Robertson during the civil war. According to the article, Taylor gave Robertson the rights to mine for diamonds in Liberia's mineral-rich countryside. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported this incident to the Commonwealth of Virginia for investigation in 1994, Robertson used his Operation Blessing planes to haul diamond-mining equipment to his new mines in Liberia, despite the fact that Robertson was telling his 700 Club viewers that the planes were sending relief supplies to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda. The subsequent investigation by the Commonwealth of Virginia concluded that Robertson diverted his ministry's donations to the Liberian diamond-mining operation, but Attorney General of Virginia Mark Earley blocked any potential prosecution against Robertson, as the relief supplies were also sent.

Presidency

After the official end of the civil war in 1996, Taylor ran for president in the 1997 general election. He famously campaigned on the slogan "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him." The elections were overseen by the United Nations' peacekeeping mission, United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia, along with a contingent from the Economic Community of West African States. Taylor won the election in a landslide, garnering 75 percent of the vote. Taylor's toughest competitor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, collected only 10 percent of the vote. Taylor's victory has been widely attributed to the belief that he would resume to war if he lost.

During his time in office, Taylor ran down the Armed Forces of Liberia, dismissing 2,400–2,600 former personnel, many of whom were ethnic Krahn brought in by former President Doe. In its place, he installed the Anti-Terrorist Unit, the Special Operations Division of the Liberian National Police (LNP), which he used as his own private army.

Numerous allegations were leveled at Taylor during his presidency, particularly regarding his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War. He was accused of aiding the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) through weapon sales in exchange for blood diamonds. Due to a UN embargo against arms sales to Liberia at the time, these weapons were largely purchased on the black market through arms smugglers such as Viktor Bout (arrested and extradited to the US from Bangkok, Thailand). Furthermore, he was charged with aiding and abetting RUF atrocities against civilians that left many thousands dead or mutilated, with unknown numbers of people abducted and tortured. Moreover, he was accused of assisting the RUF in the recruitment of child soldiers. In addition to aiding the RUF in these acts, Taylor reportedly personally directed RUF operations in Sierra Leone

Taylor obtained spiritual and other advice from the evangelist Kilari Anand Paul. As president, he was known for his flamboyant style. Upon being charged by the UN of being a gunrunner and diamond smuggler during his presidency, he publicly appeared in all white robes and begged God for forgiveness, while at the same time denying the charges. He was also reported to have said that “Jesus Christ was accused of being a murderer in his time.”

Rebellion and indictment

In 1999, a rebellion against Taylor began in northern Liberia, led by a group calling itself Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). This group was frequently accused of atrocities, and is thought to have been backed by the government of neighboring Guinea. This uprising signaled the beginning of the Second Liberian Civil War.

By early 2003, LURD had gained control of northern Liberia. That year, a second Ivorian-backed rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), emerged in southern Liberia and achieved rapid successes. By the summer, Taylor's government controlled only about a third of Liberia: Monrovia and the central part of the country.

On 7 March 2003, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) issued a sealed indictment for Taylor. Earlier that year, Liberian forces had killed Sam Bockarie, a leading member of the RUF in Sierra Leone, in a shootout under Taylor's orders. Some have claimed that Taylor ordered Bockarie killed in order to prevent Bockarie from testifying against him at the SCSL.

In June 2003, the Prosecutor to the Special Court unsealed the indictment and announced publicly that Taylor was charged with war crimes. The indictment asserted that Taylor created and backed the RUF rebels in Sierra Leone, who were accused of a range of atrocities, including the use of child soldiers. The Prosecutor also said that Taylor's administration had harbored members of Al-Qaeda sought in connection with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The indictment was unsealed during Taylor's official visit to Ghana, where he was participating in peace talks with MODEL and LURD officials. With the backing of the then-South African president Thabo Mbeki and against the urging of Sierra Leone president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Ghana declined to detain Taylor, who returned to Monrovia.

Resignation

During his absence for the peace talks in Ghana, it was alleged that the U.S. government urged Vice President Moses Blah to seize power. Upon his return, Taylor briefly dismissed Blah from his post, only to reinstate him a few days later.

In July 2003, LURD initiated a siege of Monrovia, and several bloody battles were fought as Taylor's forces halted rebel attempts to capture the city. The pressure on Taylor increased further as U.S. President George W. Bush stated that Taylor "must leave Liberia" twice that month. On 9 July, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo offered Taylor exile in his country on the condition that Taylor stay out of Liberian politics.

He instead insisted that he would resign only if U.S. peacekeeping troops were deployed to Liberia. Bush publicly called upon Taylor to resign and leave the country in order for any American involvement to be considered. Meanwhile, several African states, in particular the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the leadership of Nigeria, sent troops under the banner of ECOMIL to Liberia. Logistical support was provided by a California company called PAE Government Services Inc., which was given a $10 million contract by the U.S. State Department. On 6 August, a 32-member U.S. military assessment team were deployed as a liaison with the ECOWAS troops.

On 10 August, Taylor appeared on national television to announce that he would resign the following day and hand power to Vice President Blah. He harshly criticized the United States in his farewell address, saying that the Bush administration's insistence that he leave the country would hurt Liberia.

On 11 August, Taylor resigned, with Blah serving as president until a transitional government was established on 14 October. At the handover were Ghanaian President John Kufuor, South African President Thabo Mbeki, and Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, all representing African regional councils. The U.S. brought Joint Task Force Liberia's Amphibious Ready Group of three warships with 2,300 Marines into view of the coast. Taylor then flew to Nigeria, where the Nigerian government provided houses for him and his entourage in Calabar.

Exile

In November 2003, the United States Congress passed a bill that included a reward offer of two million dollars for Taylor's capture. While the peace agreement had guaranteed Taylor safe exile in Nigeria, it also required that he not attempt to influence Liberian politics, a requirement that his critics claimed he disregarded. On 4 December, Interpol issued a red notice regarding Taylor, suggesting that countries had a duty to arrest him. Taylor was placed on Interpol's Most Wanted list, declaring him wanted for crimes against humanity and breaches of the 1949 Geneva Convention, and noting that he should be considered dangerous. Nigeria stated it would not submit to Interpol's demands, agreeing only to deliver Taylor to Liberia in the event that the President of Liberia requested his return.

On 17 March 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the newly elected President of Liberia, submitted an official request to Nigeria for Taylor's extradition. This request was granted on 25 March, when Nigeria agreed to release Taylor to stand trial in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Nigeria agreed only to release Taylor and not to extradite him, as no extradition treaty existed between the two countries.

Disappearance and arrest

Three days after Nigeria announced its intent to hand him over to Liberia, Taylor disappeared from the seaside villa where he had been living in exile. One week prior to his disappearance, Nigerian authorities had taken the unusual step of allowing local press to accompany census takers into Taylor’s seaside Calabar compound.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo was scheduled to meet with President Bush less than 48 hours after Taylor was reported missing. Speculation ensued that Bush would refuse to meet with Obasanjo if Taylor were not apprehended. Less than 12 hours prior to the scheduled meeting between the two heads of state, Taylor was reported apprehended and en route to Liberia.

On 29 March, Taylor tried to cross the border into Cameroon through the border town of Gamboru in northeastern Nigeria. His Range Rover with Nigerian diplomatic plates was stopped by border guards, and Taylor's identity was eventually established. State Department staff later reported that significant amounts of cash and heroin were found in the vehicle.

Upon his arrival at Roberts International Airport in Harbel, Liberia, Taylor was arrested and handcuffed by LNP officers, who then immediately transferred responsibility for the custody of Taylor to the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Irish UNMIL soldiers then escorted Taylor aboard a UN helicopter to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he was delivered to the SCSL.

Trial

The SCSL prosecutor originally indicted Taylor on 3 March 2003 on a 17 count indictment for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone. On 16 March 2006, a SCSL judge gave leave to amend the indictment against Taylor. Under the amended indictment, Taylor was charged with 11 counts. At Taylor's initial appearance before the court on 3 April 2006, he entered a plea of not guilty.

In early June 2006, the decision on whether to hold Taylor's trial in Freetown or in The Hague had not yet been made by the new SCSL president, George Gelaga King. King's predecessor had pushed for the trial to be held abroad because of fear that a local trial would be politically destabilizing in an area where Taylor still had influence. The Appeals Chamber of the Special Court dismissed a motion by Taylor's defense team, who argued that their client could not get a fair trial there and also wanted the Special Court to withdraw the request to move the trial to The Hague.

On 15 June 2006, the British government agreed to jail Taylor in the UK in the event that he is convicted by the SCSL. This fulfilled a condition laid down by the Dutch government, who had stated they were willing to host the trial but would not jail him if convicted. British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett stated that new legislation would be required to accommodate this arrangement. While awaiting his extradition to the Netherlands, Taylor was held in a UN jail in Freetown.

On 16 June 2006, the United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously to allow Taylor to be sent to The Hague for trial. The Association for the Legal Defense of Charles G. Taylor was established in June 2006 to assist in his legal defense.

When Taylor's trial opened 4 June 2007, Taylor boycotted the proceeding and was not present. Through a letter which was read by his attorney to the court, he justified his absence by alleging that at that moment he was not ensured a fair and impartial trial. On 20 August 2007, Taylor's defense now led by Courtenay Griffiths obtained a postponement of the trial until 7 January 2008.

During the trial, the chief prosecutor alleged that a key insider witness who testified against Taylor went into hiding after being threatened for giving evidence against Taylor. Joseph "Zigzag" Marzah, a former military commander, testified that Charles Taylor celebrated his new-found status during the civil war by ordering human sacrifice, including the killings of Taylor's opponents and allies that were perceived to have betrayed Taylor, and by having a pregnant woman buried alive in sand. Marzah also accused Taylor of forcing cannibalism on his soldiers in order to terrorize their enemies.

In January 2009, the prosecution finished presenting its evidence against Taylor and closed its case on 27 February 2009. On 4 May 2009, a defense motion for a judgment on acquittal was dismissed, and arguments for Taylor's defense began in July 2009. Taylor testified in his own defense from July through November 2009. The defense rested its case on 12 November 2010, with closing arguments set for early February 2011.

On 8 February 2011, the trial court ruled in a 2–1 decision that it would not accept Taylor's trial summary, as the summary had not been submitted by 14 January deadline. In response, Taylor and his counsel boycotted the trial and refused an order by the court to begin closing arguments. This boycott came soon after the 2010 leak of American diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks, in which the United States discussed the possibility of extraditing Taylor for prosecution in the United States in the event of his acquittal by the SCSL. Taylor's counsel cited the leaked cable and the court's decision as evidence of an international conspiracy against Taylor.

On 3 March, the appeals court of the SCSL overturned the trial court's decision, ruling that as the trial court had not established that Taylor had been counseled by the court and personally indicated his intent to waive his right to a trial summary, Taylor's due process rights would be violated by preventing him from submitting a trial summary. The appeals court ordered the trial court to accept the summary and set a date for the beginning of closing arguments. On 11 March, the closing arguments ended and it was announced that the court would begin the process to reach a verdict.

Verdict

The verdict was announced in The Hague on 26 April 2012. The SCSL unanimously ruled that he was guilty of all 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Read More on Charles Taylor

Family

In 1997, Taylor married Jewel Taylor, with whom he has one son. She filed for divorce in 2005, citing her husband's exile in Nigeria and the difficulty of visiting him due to a UN travel ban on her. The divorce was granted in 2006. Jewel Taylor currently serves as the senior senator from Bong County.

Phillip Taylor, Taylor's son with Jewel, remained in Liberia following his father's extradition to the SCSL.

He was arrested by Liberian police officials on 5 March 2011 and charged with attempted murder in connection with an assault on the son of an immigration officer who had assisted in Charles Taylor's extradition. At the time of his arrest, he had been attempting to cross the border into Côte d'Ivoire.

Taylor has another son, a U.S. citizen named Charles McArther Emmanuel, born to his college girlfriend. Emmanuel was arrested in 2006 after entering the US and was charged with three counts, including participation in torture while serving in the Anti-Terrorist Unit in Liberia during his father's presidency. The law that prosecuted Taylor was put in place in 1994, before "extraordinary rendition" in an attempt to prevent US citizens from committing acts of torture overseas. To date, this is the only prosecuted case. In October 2008, Emmanuel was convicted on all three counts and sentenced to 97 years in prison.

The AfricanSenator: CHINA’S FORAYS IN AFRICA: Is it a blessing or a curse?

2010-12-28T13:26:00.000+03:00

The AfricanSenator: CHINA’S FORAYS IN AFRICA: Is it a blessing or a curse?

The AfricanSenator: Youngest World CEO - Self made billionaire at 24

2010-12-27T16:48:00.000+03:00

The AfricanSenator: Youngest World CEO - Self made billionaire at 24

CHINA’S FORAYS IN AFRICA: Is it a blessing or a curse?

2010-12-27T10:22:00.000+03:00

China’s venture into Africa has been one of the pivotal events to happen to the continent this past decade. From private sector boardrooms, diplomatic gatherings, academic halls and theatres, cabinet meetings and even to ordinary folks in the local bars and bus stops, the Chinese affair with Africa has attracted heated debates and occupied significant time shares in the continent.

With majority of African governments and private sector favoring ties and greater cooperation with China, in contrast, the western countries and their allies in the international community have been constantly opposed to it. The neutral foreign policy applied by Beijing in dealing with Africans has been their sticking point. The west is especially vocal when China conducts business with ‘rogue’ African states. I have always treated western countries with contempt in anything that Africa does with them. We are never partners with the west, but subordinates…and at one time colonies..and even further back we were a source of slaves. Therefore, it would not be surprising to me if they called us names or regarded Africans as second class citizens in this world.

China has challenged this status quo, and given Africans a better deal (though not great but at least it is better than the bitter pill served from the west). I personally believe this is the reason for their continuous outbursts. I came across this article which has some important facts that could better expose the truth about china’s presence in Africa.

Enjoy….

By Zhang Jun

2010-06-02

I came across an article titled "China's Voice Cannot be Heard in Africa" in the Oriental Morning Post written by a senior journalist Ding Gang and felt shocked by the title. Fortunately, the author started by giving explanations about the title. He said, "When someone travels in Africa, the biggest problem is that he cannot hear China's voice. What I mean by "China's voice" is not the voice of the Chinese people. There are indeed many Chinese in Africa. Whether in a restaurant or a shop, one can often hear familiar Chinese words, even dialects from his hometown. The "China's voice" I refer to here is the voice of the Chinese media. Almost all the reports about China in the African newspapers are the "secondhand ones" from Western media, while there are even fewer reports from China on TV. Even though China is mentioned occasionally, they are mainly images from the Western media."

Ding Gang got the impression from his trip in Africa. What he feels is that in the eyes of African brothers, China is still a place far away. He wrote, "In a hotel at Cairo, when I turned on the TV, all the international news of the local stations is relayed. Of course, you can easily receive programmes from CNN or BBC, which broadcast not only international news, but also African and local news. It gives people the impression that journalists of CNN and BBC are quite active in Africa. Even the local people mainly depend on these two media for local news. Although China's media do have reporter centers in various parts of Africa, the local news reported by them mainly aim at the Chinese there. And the international broadcasting by the Chinese media is mostly China's domestic news and China's own views."

While China's business ties with Africa is growing increasingly closer, The African media is still unfamiliar with China. In the business field, there is no doubt that China's voice in Africa is growing. As a matter of fact, there are more discussions on the issue of "China-in-Africa", whether in the economic or political sense. Of course, it is hard to separate politics with economy when talking about this issue. I once read a paper written by Barry Sautman and Yan Hairong titled "China in Africa –Difficulty of the Global System", which gives a systemic assessment of China's import and export trade and investment in Africa over the recent years and makes a comparison with those of Western countries. We can find a positive image about China not only among the elites, but also among the ordinary people in African countries, which is in sharp contrast with the comments by Western mainstream media about "China-in- Africa".

The elites of the West view China as a rival for Africa's resources and influence, thus distorting the facts about China-in-Africa. Their "China-in-Africa" discourse is much more negative than their "West-in-Africa" discussion. For example, some commentators from the West claim that China's action in Africa is impeding the local development. A New York Times editorial in 2007 was titled "Patron of African Misgovernment", and the patron here refers to China. It states that if African countries put natural resources in hock to the People's Republic of China, China will write them big checks, without questioning about corruption or authoritarianism. The New York Times avers that China is pushing the poorest African workers deeper into poverty by flooding Africa with cheap goods and lending to African states without insisting on standards that Western countries purportedly promote through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The New York Times even expresses its "outrage" at a Chinese company's "exploitation" of Zambian miners.

Here I will quote some of the figures and comments from the paper written by Barry Sautman and Yan Hairong to facilitate the readers' understanding about China's business activities and economic influence in Africa.

Import and export

China-Africa trade is rising sharply. Being merely US$3 billion (b) in 1995, it had jumped to $55b in 2006, balanced slightly in Africa's favor. In 2006, China's trade with Africa was merely 3% of its US$1.76 trillion foreign trade but by 2008, China's trade with Africa totaled $107b, now distinctly in Africa's favor. But China's foreign trade had reached $2.56 trillion, making trade with Africa still only 4% of the total. In 2006, China was at the third place, behind the US and France, among Africa's trading partners, while by 2008 China had leapfrogged over France, while still trailing behind the US, with $140b of trade. "China asserts that its trade is responsible for 20% of Africa's economic growth."

Ten percent of Sub-Saharan African exports went to China in 2005, by 2007, the figure was 13.4%. Five oil and mineral exporting countries accounted for 85% of Chinese imports from Africa. In 2004, Africa's exports to China were composed 62% of oil and gas, 17% of ores and metals, and 7% of agricultural raw materials. In 2009, oil, gas and minerals accounted for 86% of such exports. This profile is not unusual: except for South Africa, as the continent's manufacturing is largely confined to textiles and clothing, which China also produces in abundance. As a matter of fact, China and the US have similar structures in terms of their imports from Africa.

In fact, oil accounted for 80% of 2005 US imports from Sub-Saharan Africa; apparel was less than 3%, with minerals most of the remainder. Petroleum products accounted for 92% of the value of goods imported under the US's preferential African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2005. The figure was still 92% in 2008, when 88% of overall US-Africa trade (AGOA and non-AGOA) was in petroleum products. Four African countries alone take up 84% of the total AGOA trade.

About 47% of the oil China consumed in 2006 and 50% in 2008 was imported. China's imports in 2006 were 6.8% of the world oil trade and supplied 12% of all energy China consumed, as coal, hydropower and nuclear power being major sources of Chinese energy consumption. China's 2005 oil imports from Africa provided 4% of China's energy needs. Of the 31% of China's oil imports from Africa, Angola's share was 14%, Sudan's 5%, Congo (B)'s 4%, and Equatorial Guinea's 3%. African oil supplied 14.5% in 2006 and 16% in 2008 of all the oil China consumed, not much different from US imports from Africa of 13.2% of all oil it consumed in 2006, imports that provided 5.2% of US energy needs. China imports oil largely to fuel its production: as 70% of its demand is for industrial uses, while 70% of the US demand is for motor vehicles. In 2009, China's special envoy on African affairs put these figures in perspective when he noted that China receives 8.7% of Africa's oil exports, while the European Union and the US each take 33%. China's Premier also stated that China's investment in Africa's oil and gas industries amounted to one-sixteenth of the total global investment in these industries. Thus China is hardly a dominating force on Africa's oil markets. However basing on such a weak account, the "China-in-Africa discourse" tries to present China as aspiring to be the chief taker of African resources.

In much of Africa, many basic consumer items are expensive imports from developed countries, yet because of the poor infrastructure and perhaps corruption in Africa, which drives production costs high, these are often cheaper than locally-made goods. As Chinese goods are cheaper than both, they thus appeal to the grassroots Africans. The Chinese goods in Madagascar are 2-3 times cheaper than local or imported products. As more Chinese people invest and trade in Africa and compete with each other, the prices are falling. In Kinshasa, the Congo capital, the Chinese merchants first sold shoes at US$12 a pair; but as more Chinese arrived, the price has fallen to $6. In Ghana, as more Chinese bikes are imported, the price fell from $67 to $25 in two years.

If the affordability of the Chinese imports benefits the grassroots African consumers, Chinese imports are taking a significant share of the local imported market (5-14%) only in seven countries, after all. Basic consumer goods do not dominate Chinese exports, which are composed rather of "machinery, electronic equipment and high- and new-tech products." A UK government study found in only one African country, Uganda, that basic consumer goods comprise more than a fifth of the value of all goods imported from China and, moreover, Chinese imports to Africa mainly replace imports from elsewhere and have little impact on the local production. The Chinese government recognizes that some exports are of poor quality but many Chinese goods are sent to Africa by private Chinese or African firms over which the government has little control. Nevertheless Chinese government has "put in place stringent measures to ensure its goods meet all the minimum quality standards for export and designated a department to prevent low quality goods from being exported."

While most Chinese exports to Africa do not displace existing local producers, the Chinese exports to the world at large also have not the "crushing effect" on African exports, as widely charged by the Western countries. The Export Similarity Index, a measurement of the overlapping value of the exported products between various countries, is only 4% between China and the whole of Africa, which involves almost exclusively textiles and clothing (T&C). However, the "China-in-Africa Discussion" features a constant stream of charges against China for "gutting African T&C production".

Direct investment.

Most foreign direct investment (FDI) to Africa comes from Europe, South Africa and the US. These countries together account for more than half of Africa's FDI inflows. China's FDI in Africa was only $49 million in 1990 and $600m in 2003. China's FDI in Africa was $1.6b and in the world as a whole $57b in 2005. From 1979 through 2000, the most recent years for which figures are available, 46% of Chinese FDI in Africa went into manufacturing (15% to textiles alone), 28% to resource extraction, 18% to services (mostly construction) and 7% to agriculture. China has pledged that it would encourage investment in Africa's processing, infrastructure, agriculture, and natural resource industries.

Chinese firms' investment in Africa has increased dramatically. It is estimated that at the end of 2006 investments put in place or pledged to Africa reached $11.7b that went to industries including manufacturing, trade, transportation, and agriculture. The amount of Chinese investment in Africa reached $7.8b in 2008 and $5.5b of which was made in that year alone. It is reported that Chinese direct investment in Africa in the first nine months of 2009 increased by 77% over the the same period of 2008. China will likely soon be a the main source of FDI in Africa, as the Chinese government institutions are offering tax incentives, loans, credits, and ready access to foreign exchange to enterprises that invest directly overseas.

Thus Chinese investment also appears in the "China-in-Africa discussion". Even worse than that about trade, this discussion is narrow-minded and primarily focuses on just one investment by one Chinese SOE against more than 800 major Chinese enterprises in Africa, 100 of them being large SOEs. The Western media have devoted their attention extremely and disproportionately to the Non-Ferrous Company-Africa (NFCA) Chambishi copper mine. The upshot of these reports accuses China as Africa's "super-exploiters".

A comprehensive observation of the Chinese and Western activities in Africa would lead people to question the current global system. Though China's trade and investment do not follow the line of "new liberalism" and thus cannot serve the "mission" of the West, China has still increasingly integrated itself into it. Failing to see that, one is incapable of counter the dual claim that the West is fulfilling its "mission of civilization" in Africa and China is a "moral violator". In fighting against the false charges, China criticizes the West for playing the self-righteous role of Africa's "new mentor" whilst avoids meddling by promoting trade with and invest in Africa for "win-win" outcomes and Africa's development. Many Africans rebut such accusations in the same way too. Compared with that of the main Western states, the popularity of China's presence in Africa goes well beyond the local elites. The 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Survey questioned people in ten African countries asking them to compare the influences of China and the US in their countries. In nine of the ten countries, by margins of 61-91%, the African respondents said the Chinese influence was good. The percentages substantially exceed those for the US. The 2009 Pew Global Attitudes Survey asked the ordinary people in 26 countries about their attitudes towards China. Of the only two Sub-Saharan countries-- Kenya and Nigeria -- 85% and 73% of the respondents expressed good feelings toward China, ranking No. 2 (next only to the Chinese mainland) and No. 4 respectively. One important implication of the Chinese presence in Africa is that the Western countries and firms might need to reflect on their own presence in the continent.

Youngest World CEO - Self made billionaire at 24

2010-12-22T12:37:00.002+03:00

The truth of the matter is, if this kid did it at 14...then you too can do it..the only difference is how passionate and focused you are. I hope Suhas Gopinath’s story can orient you to the right direction.

HERE IT IS:

When 14-year-old Suhas Gopinath started Globals Inc ten years ago from a cyber cafe in Bangalore, he didn't know that he had become the youngest CEO in the world.

Today, Globals Inc is a multi-million dollar company with offices in the United States, India, Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, Singapore and the Middle East and has 100 employees in India and 56 abroad.

Among the several honors that have been bestowed upon this young man, the most prestigious is the invitation to be a member of the Board of the ICT Advisory Council of the World Bank.

In 2007, the European Parliament and International Association for Human Values conferred 'Young Achiever Award' on him. He was also invited to address the European Parliament and other business dignitaries assembled in the EU Parliament. He is also recognised as one of the 'Young Global Leaders' for 2008-2009 by the prestigious World Economic Forum.

Suhas is the youngest member ever in the World Economic Forum's history. The other members include the Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, Hollywood star Leonardo Di Caprio, musician A R Rahman, Prince of Brunei, etc.

In this interview from his office in Bangalore, Suhas Gopinath talks about his decade long journey and his dreams for the future....

On his childhood:

I come from a middle class family. My father worked as a scientist for the Indian Army. I used to study in the Air Force school in Bangalore.

As a child, I was more interested in animals and veterinary science. But when I saw my friends who had home computers talk about it, I had this urge to learn and talk in their wave length. But we didn't have a computer at home. In those days, computers were very expensive and we couldn't afford one. So, what I did was, I located an Internet cafe near my house. With my modest monthly pocket money of Rs 15, I couldn't afford to surf the net every day. I noticed that the shop was closed in the afternoon from 1 PM to 4 PM. So, I offered to open the shop for him after my school hours and take care of the customers. In the bargain, he let me browse the net for free. That was the first business deal of my life and it turned out to be a successful one.

Suhas with Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates on building websites using open source technology:

Once I got the chance to manage the shop and browse the net, I started building websites. It became my passion in no time. I got hooked to open source technology after I started looking for e-books on how to build websites. They were not available as they were created in propriety sources. So, I started using open source to build websites.

On getting the first contract to build a website:

There is a freelance marketplace on the web where I could register and offer my services to build websites. I registered myself there as a website builder. The first website I had to do was free of cost as I had no references. It was for a company in New York. My first income was $100 when I was 13 for building another website but I didn't have a bank account. So, I told my father that I built a website and got paid for it. I was not excited to get the money because money was not a factor that drew me to it. It was the passion for technology that attracted me. I used to build websites free of cost also. I was only a 9th standard student. After that, I built my own portal and called it Coolhindustan.com. It was focused on NRIs. It was a portal where I wanted to showcase my skills. After that, many companies approached me to be their web designer.

On buying his first computer:

When I was in the 9th standard itself, I had made enough money to buy a computer for myself. At that time, my brother was studying engineering and my father thought he needed a computer. In no time, I also bought one for myself. But we didn't have a net connection at home. My spending hours in the net cafe working on websites did affect my studies. I spent the entire summer vacation after the 9th standard in the cafe.

On rejecting a job offer from the US:

When I was 14, Network Solutions offered me a part-time job in the US and they said they would sponsor my education in the US. I rejected the offer because that was the time I had read a story about Bill Gates and how he started Microsoft. I thought it was more fun to have your own company. Many US companies used to tell me that I didn't even have a moustache and they felt insecure taking my services. They used to connect my ability with my age and academic qualifications. So, I wanted to start my own company and show the world that age and academic qualifications are immaterial. I decided then that when I started a company, I would recruit only youngsters and I would not ask for their academic qualifications and marks cards. I follow that in my company.

On starting his own company at 14:

Soon after my 9th standard summer vacation, I started my own company, Globals Inc. I wanted the name Global or Global Solutions but both were not available, so I named it Globals. I registered my company in the US because in India, you will not be able to start a company unless you are 18. It takes only 15 minutes to start a company in the US. I became the owner and CEO of the company. My friend, an American who was a university student, became a board member. I was very excited because that was what I wanted to do. From that day, I started dreaming of making my company as big as Microsoft.

On doing badly in school:

In my pre-board CBSE exam, I failed in Mathematics. The school headmistress was shocked because that was the first time I had failed in any subject. She called my mother and said she was horrified by my performance. At home, like any typical South Indian mother, my mother made me swear

on her head that I would focus on academics. I told my mother that the world's richest man Bill Gates had not completed his education. Why do you force me then, I asked her. She then said, I am sure his horoscope and yours are not the same! I come from a family where entrepreneurship is considered a sin. My mother was quite upset. She wanted me to do engineering, then an MBA and work in a good company. As per my mother's wishes, I took a four-month sabbatical from my company and studied for my board exam. I passed with a first class. I still feel that you cannot restrict yourself to bookish knowledge. I believe that practical knowledge is more important.

In the first year, the turnover of Globals Inc was Rs 1 Lakh (Rs100,000). The second year, the turnover went up to Rs 5 Lakh (Rs500,000).

On looking at Europe as a market

Till I was 16 or 17, I didn't tell my parents that I had started a company. I kept it a secret because I thought they would object to it. They only knew that I was a freelancer. We used to build websites and also offer online shopping and e commerce solutions. We even gave part time work to a few programmers in the US when we got many projects but we never had any office. When I was 16, I saw that there were enormous business opportunities in Europe as a majority of the Indian IT companies were working for American companies. When I contacted a Spanish company, it rejected my offer saying Indians do not know Spanish. As an entrepreneur, you can't accept rejection, especially when you are young. I hired five student interns from some Spanish universities and told them they would be paid based on their successful sales. They were the people who met the companies and bagged the projects for us. By now, we decided to have a home office in Spain. I replicated the same model in Italy. I contacted some Italian university students.

On going to Germany to talk about entrepreneurship:

The American newspapers were writing a lot about me as the world's youngest CEO at 14 from India, from a middle class background. It was a good story for the BBC also. I never expected to be in the limelight. For me, starting a company was like realising a passion of mine. On seeing these stories, a B-school in Germany invited me to talk to its students on entrepreneurship. I was 17 then. By now, I had completed my 12th standard and had joined Engineering in Bangalore. When I was 18, we set up an office -- the European HQ in Bonn. Then, we moved to Switzerland. Six months back, we started our operations in Vienna as well. That is how we spread our operations from a small Internet cafe to become a multinational company with significant operations in Europe, Middle East, the US, Canada, the UK, Australia etc.

On registering a company in India at 18:

The day I turned 18, I registered our company in India as Globals, opened an office and recruited four people. I opened the office next to the Internet cafe where I started my career. By then, he had closed shop and joined a factory as an employee. Whenever I met him, I used to tell him, 'you made me an entrepreneur but you stopped being one.'

On moving to creating products:

We wanted our company also to be a product development company and our focus was on education, like the software that manages everything about a child while in school starting from admission till he/she leaves school and becomes an alumnus. It is nasty software which students are going to be quite unhappy about! This software was aimed only at the Indian market. I want to be the market leader in ICT in education. Our software is being used in more than 100 schools all over India, Singapore and the Middle East.

We are now in the process of raising funds. Once we do it, we will separate the company into two -- service and product development. I want to concentrate on products as I can't sail on two boats.

On meeting former President of India Abdul Kalam

I met Dr Abdul Kalam when he was the President of India. I was 17 or 18 then. My meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes but we had such an intense conversation that it went on for one-and-a-half hours. I didn't feel that I was talking to the President of India. We talked like two friends. He was sitting in his chair across the table but after some time, he came and sat next to me. He is such a modest person that it was a learning experience for me.

On being on the board of the World Bank:

As per the wishes of my parents, I joined engineering but didn't complete my engineering: like Bill Gates! When I was in my 5^th semester, the World Bank invited me to attend their board meeting. I am the only Indian on the board of the World Bank. The objective was to explore how ICT can improve the quality of education in the emerging economies, by bringing in accountability and transparency in their financial deeds. Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, decided that they could not have only Americans on the board and needed people from across the world. As they were focusing on education, they wanted young minds to add value to the work.

He preferred a young mind from an emerging country and that was how I got the invitation in 2005. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be on the board of the World Bank. The invitation was the most unforgettable moment in my life. I report directly to Robert B Zoellick!

Some of the others on the board are the CEO of Cisco, the vice president of Microsoft and the CEO of SAP; all Fortune 500 companies and me, the only Indian!

I am helping the World Bank set policies on ICT in university education so that employability can be enhanced. My aim is to reduce the number of unemployed eligible youth in the world. Right now, we are concentrating on Africa. Soon, I want to shift the focus on to India. It has been an amazing experience for me. But I had to discontinue my engineering education at the time I joined the board, as I didn't have enough attendance in college!

On his dreams for his company:

I have always believed that IT is not just technology but a tool that can solve the problems of people.

That is what I want to do in my company. I want my company to be a market leader in software solutions concentrating on education.

When I was younger, I didn't care about money. Now that I am responsible for my employees, I care about what we make. If I am not bothered about money, we cannot scale up our business. When I started my company from a net cafe in Bangalore, I never ever imagined that one day my company would be a multi-million dollar company and I would be on the World Bank board as a member.

What drives me is my passion and it has been an amazing journey so far.

Well well well...that’s how it is supposed to be done....If you are good at something, you go for it, with absolute resolve and dedication. You never look back!!!

Henry Stanley Morton - Where was the rule of law?

2010-09-16T17:30:00.000+03:00

Henry Morton Stanley; the Journalist, Explorer and Murderer.

Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands (28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904), was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Stanley is often remembered for the words uttered to Livingstone upon finding him: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" His legacy of death and destruction in the Congo region is considered an inspiration for Joseph Conrad's book ‘Heart of Darkness’, detailing atrocities inflicted upon the natives.

Early life

Stanley was born in Denbigh, Wales. At the time, his mother, Elizabeth Parry, was 19 years old. According to Stanley himself, his father, John Rowlands, was an alcoholic; there is some doubt as to his true parentage. His parents were unmarried, so his birth certificate refers to him as a bastard and the stigma of illegitimacy weighed heavily upon him all his life. He was brought up by his grandfather until the age of five. When his guardian died, Stanley stayed at first with cousins and nieces for a short time, but was eventually sent to St. Asaph Union Workhouse for the poor, where overcrowding and lack of supervision resulted in frequent abuse by the older boys. When he was ten, his mother and two siblings stayed for a short while in this workhouse, without Stanley realizing who they were. He stayed until the age of 15. After completing an elementary education, he was employed as a pupil teacher in a National School. In 1859, at the age of 18, he made his passage to the United States in search of a new life. Upon arriving in New Orleans, he absconded from his boat. According to his own declarations, he became friendly with a wealthy trader named Stanley, by accident: he saw Stanley sitting on a chair outside his store and asked him if he had any job opening for a person such as himself. However, he did so in the British style, "Do you want a boy, sir?" As it happened, the childless man had indeed been wishing he had a boy of his own, and the inquiry led not only to a job, but to a close relationship. The youth ended up taking Stanley's name. Later, he would write that his adoptive parent had died only two years after their meeting, but in fact the elder Stanley did not die until much later in 1878. In any case, young Stanley assumed a local accent and began to deny being a foreigner.

Stanley participated reluctantly in the American Civil War, first joining the Confederate Army participating in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. After being taken prisoner he promptly deserted and joined the Union. He served in the Navy but eventually deserted again.

Following the Civil War, Stanley began a career as a journalist. As part of this new career, Stanley organized an expedition to the Ottoman Empire that ended catastrophically when Stanley was imprisoned. He eventually talked his way out of jail and even received restitution for damaged expedition equipment. This early expedition may have formed the foundation for his eventual exploration of the Congo region of Africa.

In 1867, Stanley was recruited by Colonel Samuel Forster Tappan (a one-time journalist) of the Indian Peace Commission, to serve as a correspondent to cover the work of the Commission for several newspapers. Stanley was soon retained exclusively by James Gordon Bennett (1795–1872), founder of the New York Herald, who was impressed by Stanley's exploits and by his direct style of writing. This early period of his professional life is described in Volume I of his book My Early Travels and Adventures in America and Asia (1895). He became one of the Herald's overseas correspondents and, in 1869, was instructed by Bennett's son to find the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, who was known to be in Africa but had not been heard from for some time. According to Stanley's account, he asked James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (1841–1918), who had succeeded to the paper's management after his father's retirement in 1867, how much he could spend. The reply was "Draw £1,000 now, and when you have gone through that, draw another £1,000, and when that is spent, draw another £1,000, and when you have finished that, draw another £1,000, and so on — BUT FIND LIVINGSTONE!" In reality however, Stanley had lobbied his employer for several years to mount this expedition that would presumably give him fame and fortune.

Finding Livingstone

Stanley travelled to Zanzibar in March 1871 and outfitted an expedition with the best of everything, requiring no fewer than 200 porters. This 7000-mile expedition through the tropical forest became a nightmare. His thoroughbred stallion died within a few days after a bite from a Tsetse fly, many of his carriers deserted and the rest were decimated by tropical diseases. To keep the expedition going, he had to take stern measures, including flogging deserters. Many missionaries of the day practiced tactics no less brutal than his, and Stanley's diaries show that he had in fact exaggerated the brutal treatment of his carriers in his books to pander to the taste of his Victorian public. Some recent authors suggest that Stanley's treatment of indigenous porters helps to refute his reputation as a brutal criminal. However, statements by contemporaries of Stanley like Sir Richard Francis Burton, who claimed "Stanley shoots negroes as if they were monkeys," paint a very different picture. Stanley found Livingstone on 10 November 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania, and may have greeted him with the now famous, ‘‘Dr Livingstone, I presume?’’. This famous phrase may be a fabrication, as Stanley tore out of his diary the pages relating to the encounter. Even Livingstone's account of the encounter fails to mention these words.

The Herald's own first account of the meeting, published 2 July 1872, also includes the phrase: "Preserving a calmness of exterior before the Arabs which was hard to simulate as he reached the group, Mr. Stanley said: -- `Doctor Livingstone, I presume?' A smile lit up the features of the hale white man as he answered: `Yes, that is my name' ..."

Stanley joined Livingstone in exploring the region, establishing for certain that there was no connection between Lake Tanganyika and the River Nile. On his return, he wrote a book about his experiences: How I Found Livingstone; travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa. This brought him into the public eye and gave him some financial success.

Stanley’s crimes in the Congo and Sudan

In 1874, the New York Herald, in partnership with Britain's Daily Telegraph, financed Stanley on another expedition to the African continent. One of his missions was to solve a last great mystery of African exploration by tracing the course of the River Congo to the sea. The difficulty of this expedition is hard to overstate. Stanley used sectional boats to pass the great cataracts separating the Congo into distinct tracts. After 999 days, on August 9, 1877, Stanley reached a Portuguese outpost at the mouth of the River Congo. Starting with 356 people, only 114 had survived of which Stanley was the only European. He wrote about his trials in his book Through the Dark Continent.

Claiming the Congo for the Belgian king

Stanley was approached by the ambitious Belgian king Leopold II, who in 1876 had organized a private holding company disguised as an international scientific and philanthropic association, which he called the International African Society. The king spoke of his intentions to introduce Western civilization and bring religion to that part of Africa, but didn't mention he wanted to claim the lands. Stanley returned to the Congo, negotiated with local leaders, and obtained fair concessions (that were later falsified to his advantage by the king). But Stanley refused to impose treaties that would cede sovereignty over their lands. He built new roads, but this also gave advantage to the slave traders. When Stanley discovered that the king had other plans, he remained on his payroll.

In later years, Stanley spent much energy defending himself against charges that his African expeditions had been marked by callous violence and brutality. Stanley's opinion was that "the savage only respects force, power, boldness, and decision’’. Stanley would eventually be held responsible for a number of deaths and was indirectly responsible for helping establish the rule of Léopold II of Belgium over the Congo Free State. In addition, the spread of African trypanosomiasis across central Africa is attributed to the movements of Stanley's enormous baggage train and the Emin Pasha Relief expedition, the governor of Equatorial in the southern Sudan In 1886. King Leopold II demanded that Stanley take the longer route, via the Congo River, hoping to acquire more territory and perhaps even Equatorial land. After immense hardships and great loss of life, Stanley met Emin in 1888, charted the Ruwenzori Range and Lake Edward, and emerged from the interior with Emin and his surviving followers at the end of 1890. But this expedition tarnished Stanley's name because of the conduct of the other Europeans; British gentlemen and army officers. An army major was shot by a carrier, after behaving with extreme cruelty. James Jameson, heir to an Irish whiskey manufacturer, bought an eleven-year old girl and offered her to cannibals to document and sketch how she was cooked and eaten. Stanley only found out when Jameson had died of fever. Previous expeditions had given Stanley satisfaction, but this one had only brought disaster.

On his return to Europe, he married and adopted a child, Denzil. Stanley entered Parliament as Liberal Unionist member for Lambeth North, serving from 1895 to 1900. He became Sir Henry Morton Stanley when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1899, in recognition of his service to the British Empire in Africa. He died in London on 10 May 1904. His grave, in the churchyard of St. Michael's Church in Pirbright, Surrey, is marked by a large piece of granite inscribed with the words "Henry Morton Stanley, Bula Matari, 1841–1904, Africa". Bula Matari, which translates as "Breaker of Rocks" or "Breakstones" in Kikongo, was Stanley's name among locals in Congo.

CECIL RHODES, the Tyrant of Southern Africa

2010-09-10T13:05:00.001+03:00

Cecil Rhodes, Where was Moreno Ocampo then?

Cecil Rhodes was a heartless British imperialist and racist who set the tone and requisite structures for the emancipation of Southern Africa through Colonialism. He amassed his wealth by taking advantage of the then British colonial structure, subjecting the African natives to slavery and extreme coercion tactics against the then traditional African leaders. In an interesting twist, this man is honored today by both his victims as well as his turn coat British masters. His escapades in the 19th century still continue to haunt southern Africa states like Zimbabwe and South Africa and his descendants and/or partners grip on the natural resources of southern Africa is still as strong as ever. Here is the story of one man who was supposed to be tried for crimes against humanity as early as 1880.

Cecil John Rhodes DCL (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902), an English-born businessman, mining magnate, and politician in South Africa was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%. An ardent believer in colonialism and imperialism, he was also the founder of the state of Rhodesia, which was named after him.

After independence, Rhodesia separated into the nations of Northern and Southern Rhodesia, later renamed Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively. South Africa's Rhodes University is named after him. He set up the provisions of the Rhodes Scholarship, which is funded by his estate.

Early Life in England

Rhodes was born in 1853 in England. He was the fifth son of the Reverend Francis William Rhodes and his wife Louisa Peacock Rhodes. His father was a Church of England Vicar who was proud of never having preached a sermon longer than 10 minutes. His siblings included Francis William Rhodes, who became an army officer.

A sickly, asthmatic teenager, Cecil Rhodes was taken out of grammar school and sent to Natal, South Africa because his family thought the hot climate would improve his health. They expected he would help his older brother Herbert who operated a cotton farm.

CECIL RHODES in South Africa

After a brief stay with the Surveyor-General of Natal, Rhodes took an interest in agriculture. He joined his brother Herbert on his cotton farm in the Umkomanzi valley in Natal. When he first came to Africa, Rhodes lived on money lent by his aunt Sophia.

In October 1871, Rhodes left the colony for the diamond fields of Kimberley. Financed by N M Rothschild & Sons, over the next 17 years Rhodes succeeded in buying up all the smaller diamond mining operations in the Kimberley area. He would leave South Africa for studies at Oxford in 1873 and leave the business under the care of his business partner C D Rudd. Whilst at Oxford, Rhodes continued to prosper in Kimberley. Before his departure for Oxford, he and C.D. Rudd had moved from the Kimberley Mine to invest in the more costly claims of what was known as old De Beers (Vooruitzicht). It was named after Johannes Nicolaas de Beer and his brother, Diederik Arnoldus, who occupied the farm. After purchasing the land in 1839 from David Danser, a Koranna chief in the area, Fourie had allowed the de Beers and various other Afrikaner families to cultivate the land. The region extended from the Modder River via the Vet River up to the Vaal River

In 1874 and 1875, the diamond fields were in the grip of depression, but Rhodes and Rudd were among those who stayed to consolidate their interests. They believed that diamonds would be numerous in the hard blue ground that had been exposed after the softer, yellow layer near the surface had been worked out. During this time, the technical problem of clearing out the water that was flooding the mines became serious. Rhodes and Rudd obtained the contract for pumping water out of the three main mines. It was during this period that Jim B. Taylor, still a young boy and helping to work his father's claim, first met Rhodes.

On 12 March 1880, Rhodes and Rudd launched the De Beers Mining Company after the amalgamation of a number of individual claims. With £200,000 of capital, the company, of which Rhodes was secretary, owned the largest interest in the mine.

His monopoly of the world's diamond supply was sealed in 1889 through a strategic partnership with the London-based Diamond Syndicate. They agreed to control world supply to maintain high prices. Rhodes supervised the working of his brother's claim and speculated on his behalf. Among his associates in the early days were John X. Merriman and Charles Rudd, who later became his partner in the De Beers Mining Company and Niger Oil Company.

During the 1880s Cape vineyards had been devastated by a phylloxera crop disease epidemic. The diseased vineyards were dug up and replanted, and farmers were looking for alternatives to wine. In 1892, Rhodes financed The Pioneer Fruit Growing Company at Nooitgedacht, a venture created by Harry Pickstone, an Englishman who had experience of fruit-growing in California. In 1896 he began to pay more attention to fruit farming and bought farms in Groot Drakenstein, Wellington and Stellenbosch. A year later, Rhodes bought Rhone and Boschendal and commissioned Sir Herbert Baker to build him a cottage there. The successful operation soon expanded into Rhodes Fruit Farms, and formed the cornerstone of the modern-day Cape fruit industry.

In 1873, Rhodes left Kimberley and sailed to England to complete his studies. He was admitted to Oriel College, Oxford, but stayed for only one term in 1873. He returned to South Africa and did not go back for his second term at Oxford until 1876. He was greatly influenced by John Ruskin's inaugural lecture at Oxford, which reinforced his own attachment to the cause of British imperialism. Among his Oxford associates were Rochefort Maguire, later a fellow of All Souls College and a director of the British South Africa Company, and Charles Metcalfe. Due to his university career, Rhodes admired the Oxford "system". Eventually he was inspired to develop his scholarship scheme: "Wherever you turn your eye—except in science—an Oxford man is at the top of the tree".

While attending Oriel College, Rhodes became a Freemason in the Apollo University Lodge. Although initially he did not approve of the organization, he continued to be a Freemason until his death in 1902. The failures of the Freemasons, in his mind, later caused him to envisage his own secret society with the goal of bringing the entire world under British rule.

Entry into Politics in South Africa

In 1880, Rhodes prepared to enter public life at the Cape. With the incorporation of Griqualand West into the Cape Colony in 1877, the area obtained six seats in the Cape House of Assembly. Rhodes chose the constituency of Barkly West, a rural constituency in which Boer voters predominated. Barkly West remained faithful to Rhodes even after his support of the Jameson Raid against the Transvaal. He continued as its Member until his death.

When Rhodes became a member of the Cape Parliament, the chief goal of the assembly was to help decide the future of Basutoland. The ministry of Sir Gordon Sprigg was trying to restore order after the 1880 rebellion known as the Gun War. The ministry had precipitated the revolt by applying its disarmament policy to the Basuto. In 1890, Rhodes became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and implemented laws that would benefit mine and industry owners. He introduced the Glen Grey Act to push black people from their lands and make way for industrial development. He also introduced educational reform to the area.

Rhodes' policies were instrumental in the development of British imperial policies in South Africa, such as the Hut tax (The hut tax was a type of taxation introduced by British colonialists in Africa on a per hut or household basis. It was variously payable in money, labor and grain or stock and benefited the colonial authorities in four related ways: it raised money, it supported the currency, it broadened the cash economy, aiding further development and/or exploitation; and it forced Africans to labour in the colonial economy. Households which had survived on, and stored their wealth in, cattle ranching now sent members to work for the colonialists in order to raise cash with which to pay the tax. The colonial economy depended upon black African labour to build new towns and railways and in southern Africa to work in the rapidly developing mines). He did not, however, have direct political power over the Boer Republic of the Transvaal. He often disagreed with the Transvaal government's policies. He believed he could use his money and his power to overthrow the Boer government and install a British colonial government supporting mine-owners' interests in its place.

In 1895, Rhodes supported an attack on the Transvaal, the infamous Jameson Raid, which proceeded with the tacit approval of Governor Joseph Chamberlain. The raid was a catastrophic failure. It forced Cecil Rhodes to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, sent his oldest brother Col. Frank Rhodes to jail in Transvaal convicted of high treason and nearly sentenced to death, and led to the outbreak of both the Second Matabele War and the Second Boer War.

Rhodes the Imperialist

Rhodes used his wealth and that of his business partner Alfred Beit and other investors to pursue his dream of creating a British Empire in new territories to the north by obtaining mineral concessions from the most powerful indigenous chiefs. Rhodes' competitive advantage over other mineral prospecting companies was his combination of wealth and astute political instincts, also called the 'imperial factor', as he used the British Government. He befriended its local representatives, the British Commissioners, and through them organized British protectorates over the mineral concession areas via separate but related treaties. In this way he obtained both legality and security for mining operations. He could then win over more investors. Imperial expansion and capital investment went hand in hand.

The imperial factor was a double-edged sword: Rhodes did not want the bureaucrats of the Colonial Office in London to interfere in the Empire in Africa. He wanted British settlers and local politicians and governors to run it. This put him on a collision course with many in Britain, as well as with British missionaries, who favored what they saw as the more ethical direct rule from London. Rhodes won because he would pay to administer the territories north of South Africa against future mining profits. The Colonial Office did not have the funds to do it. Rhodes promoted his business interests as in the strategic interest of Britain: preventing the Portuguese, the Germans or the Boers from moving in to south-central Africa. Rhodes' companies and agents cemented these advantages by obtaining many mining concessions, as exemplified by the Rudd and Lochner Concessions.

Treaties, concessions and charters

Rhodes had already tried and failed to get a mining concession from Lobengula, king of the Ndebele of Matabeleland. In 1888 he tried again. He sent John Moffat, son of the missionary Robert Moffat, who was trusted by Lobengula, to persuade the latter to sign a treaty of friendship with Britain, and to look favorably on Rhodes' proposals. His agent Francis Thompson, who had travelled to Bulawayo in the company of Charles Rudd and Rochfort Maguire, assured Lobengula that no more than ten white men would mine in Matabeleland. This limitation was left out of the document which Lobengula signed, known as the Rudd Concession. Furthermore it stated that the mining companies could do anything necessary to their operations. When Lobengula discovered later the true effects of the concession, he tried to renounce it, but the British Government ignored him.

Armed with the Rudd Concession, in 1889 Rhodes obtained a charter from the British Government for his British South Africa Company (BSAC) to rule, police and make new treaties and concessions from the Limpopo River to the great lakes of Central Africa. He obtained further concessions and treaties north of the Zambezi, such as those in Barotseland (the Lochner Concession with King Lewanika in 1890, which was similar to the Rudd Concession); and in the Lake Mweru area (Alfred Sharpe's 1890 Kazembe concession). Rhodes also sent Sharpe to get a concession over mineral-rich Katanga, but met his match in ruthlessness: when Sharpe was rebuffed by its ruler Msiri, King Leopold II of Belgium obtained a concession over Msiri's dead body for his Congo Free State.

Rhodes also wanted Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) under the BSAC charter. But three Tswana kings, including Khama III, travelled to Britain and won over British public opinion for it to remain governed by the British Colonial Office in London. Rhodes commented: "It is humiliating to be utterly beaten by these niggers."

The British Colonial Office also decided to administer British Central Africa (Nyasaland, today's Malawi) owing to the activism of Scots missionaries trying to end the slave trade. Rhodes paid much of the cost so that the British Central Africa Commissioner Sir Harry Johnston, and his successor Alfred Sharpe, would assist with security for Rhodes in the BSAC's north-eastern territories. Johnston shared Rhodes' expansionist views, but he and his successors were not as pro-settler as Rhodes, and disagreed on dealings with Africans.

The BSAC had its own police force, the British South Africa Police which was used to control Matabeleland and Mashonaland, in present-day Zimbabwe. The company had hoped to start a "new Rand" from the ancient gold mines of the Shona. Because the gold deposits were on a much smaller scale, many of the white settlers who accompanied the BSAC to Mashonaland became farmers rather than miners. When the Ndebele and the Shona—the two main, but rival peoples—separately rebelled against the coming of the European settlers, the BSAC defeated them in the two Matabele Wars (1893–94; 1896–97). Shortly after learning of the assassination of the Ndebele spiritual leader, Mlimo, by the American scout Frederick Russell Burnham, Rhodes walked unarmed into the Ndebele stronghold in Matobo Hills. He persuaded the Impi to lay down their arms, thus ending the Second Matabele War.[19]

By the end of 1894, the territories over which the BSAC had concessions or treaties, collectively called "Zambesia" after the Zambezi River flowing through the middle comprised an area of 1,143,000 km² between the Limpopo River and Lake Tanganyika. In May 1895, its name was officially changed to "Rhodesia", reflecting Rhodes' popularity among settlers who had been using the name informally since 1891. The designation Southern Rhodesia was officially adopted in 1898 for the part south of the Zambezi, which later became Zimbabwe; and the designations North-Western and North-Eastern Rhodesia were used from 1895 for the territory which later became Northern Rhodesia, then Zambia.

Rhodes decreed in his will that he was to be buried in Matobo Hills. After his death in the Cape in 1902, his body was transported by train to Bulawayo. His burial was attended by Ndebele chiefs, who asked that the firing party should not discharge their rifles as this would disturb the spirits. Then, for the first time, they gave a white man the Matabele royal salute, Bayete. Rhodes was buried alongside Leander Starr Jameson and 34 British soldiers killed in the Shangani Patrol.

"Cape to Cairo Red Line"

One of Rhodes' dreams (and the dream of many other members of the British Empire) was for a "red line" on the map from the Cape to Cairo. (On geo-political maps, British dominions were always denoted in red or pink.) Rhodes had been instrumental in securing southern African states for the Empire. He and others felt the best way to "unify the possessions, facilitate governance, enable the military to move quickly to hot spots or conduct war, help settlement, and foster trade" would be to build the "Cape to Cairo Railway".

This enterprise was not without its problems. France had a rival strategy in the late 1890s to link its colonies from west to east across the continent. The Portuguese produced the "Pink Map", representing their claims to sovereignty in Africa.

Political views and Ideology

Rhodes wanted to expand the British Empire because he believed that the Anglo-Saxon race was destined to greatness. In his last will and testament, Rhodes said of the British, "I contend that we are the first race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race." He wanted to make the British Empire a superpower in which all of the British-dominated countries in the empire, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Cape Colony, would be represented in the British Parliament. He supported the ideas of lebensraum and mercantilism, which were popular at the time, even if they were expressed more politely by others. Rhodes included American students as eligible for the Rhodes scholarships. He said that he wanted to breed American elite of philosopher-kings who would have the United States rejoin the British Empire. As Rhodes also respected the Germans and admired the Kaiser, he allowed German students to be included in the Rhodes scholarships. He believed that eventually Great Britain, the USA and Germany together would dominate the world and ensure peace.

On domestic politics within the United Kingdom, Rhodes was a supporter of the Liberal Party. Rhodes' only major impact on domestic politics within the United Kingdom was his support of the Irish nationalist party, led by Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891). He contributed a great deal of money to the Irish nationalists, although Rhodes made his support conditional upon an autonomous Ireland's still being represented in the British Parliament. Rhodes was such a strong supporter of Parnell that, after the Liberals and the Irish nationalists disowned him because of adultery with the wife of another Irish nationalist, Rhodes continued his support.

Rhodes was more tolerant of the Dutch-speaking whites in the Cape Colony than were the other English-speaking whites in the Cape Colony. He supported teaching Dutch as well as English in public schools in the Cape Colony and lent money to support this cause. While Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, he helped to remove most of the legal disabilities that English-speaking whites had imposed on Dutch-speaking whites. He was a friend of Jan Hofmeyr, leader of the Afrikaner Bond, and it was largely because of Afrikaner support that he became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Rhodes advocated greater self-government for the Cape Colony, in line with his preference for the empire to be controlled by local settlers and politicians rather than by London (see "Rhodes and the imperial factor" above).

Confusingly for the modern reader, self-government of the type Rhodes supported was known as "colonialism". The opposed policy, direct control of a colony from London, was known as "imperialism".

Death and legacy

Funeral of Rhodes in Adderley St, Cape Town on 3 April 1902

Cecil Rhodes died of heart failure. He was laid to rest at World's View; a hilltop located approximately 35 kilometers south of Bulawayo, in what was then Rhodesia. Today, his grave site is part of Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe.

In 2004, he was voted 56th in the SABC3 television series Great South Africans.

At his death he was considered one of the wealthiest men in the world. In his first will, of 1877, (before he had accumulated his wealth), Rhodes wanted to create a secret society that would bring the whole world under British rule. The exact wording from this will is:

‘’To and for the establishment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be for the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of colonization by British subjects of all lands where the means of livelihood are attainable by energy, labor and enterprise, and especially the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the whole of South America, the Islands of the Pacific not heretofore possessed by Great Britain, the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the seaboard of China and Japan, the ultimate recovery of the United States of America as an integral part of the British Empire, the inauguration of a system of Colonial representation in the Imperial Parliament which may tend to weld together the disjointed members of the Empire and, finally, the foundation of so great a Power as to render wars impossible, and promote the best interests of humanity.’’

Rhodes' final will left a large area of land on the slopes of Table Mountain to the South African nation. Part of this estate became the upper campus of the University of Cape Town, another part became the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, while much was spared from development and is now an important conservation area.

Rhodes Scholarship

In his last will and testament, he provided for the establishment of the famous Rhodes Scholarship, the world's first international study program. The scholarship enabled students from territories under British rule, formerly under British rule, and from Germany, to study at the University of Oxford.

Memorials

Rhodes Memorial stands on Rhodes' favorite spot on the slopes of Devil's Peak, Cape Town, with a view looking north and east towards the Cape to Cairo route. Rhodes' house in Cape Town, Groote Schuur, has recently been inhabited by the President of the R.S.A. Jacob Zuma.

His birthplace was established as a museum in 1938, now known as Bishops Stortford Museum. The cottage in Muizenberg where he died is a South African national monument.

Rhodes University College, now Rhodes University, in Grahamstown, was established in his name by his trustees and founded by Act of Parliament on 31 May 1904.

The residents of Kimberley elected to build a memorial in Rhodes' honor in their city, which was unveiled in 1907. The 72-ton bronze statue depicts Rhodes on his horse, looking north with map in hand, and dressed as he was when met the Ndebele after their rebellion.

Quotations

• "To think of these stars that you see overhead at night, these vast worlds which we can never reach. I would annex the planets if I could; I often think of that. It makes me sad to see them so clear and yet so far."

• “Pure philanthropy is very well in its way but philanthropy plus five percent is a good deal better.”

• "I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race...If there be a God, I think that what he would like me to do is paint as much of the map of Africa British Red as possible..."

• "In order to save the forty million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a bloody civil war, our colonial statesmen must acquire new lands for settling the surplus population of this country, to provide new markets... The Empire, as I have always said, is a bread and butter question"

• "Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life.

• "Equal rights for all civilized men south of the Zambezi

• "To be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life.

• “We must find new lands from which we can easily obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labor that is available from the natives of the colonies. The colonies would also provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods produced in our factories.

This man was one of the worst things that ever happened to black Africans. And his transgressions still breed conflicts across southern Africa.

So what should CECIL RHODES Legacy be?

Why should Mugabe Quit?

2010-09-09T16:29:00.002+03:00

By LCM Kenya.

President Mugabe has been at the helm of Zimbabwe for the last 29 years. He has seen his country grow from a small economy to the richest agricultural-based economy in sub-Saharan Africa by late 1990s. Mr Mugabe is a highly learned and regarded individual who valued freedom in its fundamental sense. His eloquence and clarity of vision is unrivalled amongst his peers. His desire and dedicated strife for freedom, fairness and justice for all has never been clouded by political power or the draconian double standards of the west imposed the third world. He spent years fighting a minority British-backed government of a dictator named Ian Smith and lived to tell the tale. He had been in and out of prison but never wavered in the quest of freedom for the Zimbabwean people. To crown it all, Mr Mugabe was significantly instrumental in the struggle for independence of the other sub-Saharan countries and more so the apartheid regime ruling South Africa. All the freedom struggles in Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa had an input from the veteran liberation hero. This was a clear indication of his thirst for liberation of all Africans within and without the Zimbabwean borders. The anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela had weapons training in Zimbabwe having been smuggled from his native South Africa with the help of Mugabe and other comrades in struggle in Zimbabwe. Mugabe joined his fellow comrades in Mozambique in 1975, after being released from jail, and fought the colonial government in Zimbabwe from there.

Eventually, Mugabe led his people to a hard fought independence from the British in 1980 and formed the first truly African Zimbabwean republic replacing a phoney one led by Bishop Muzarawe in coalition with Ian Smith. Mugabe won the independence vote by 64%. He had agreed to leave 20 seats in the Zimbabwe parliament to allow for representation of the white people still resident in Zimbabwe. In the independence charter (Lancaster House agreement) with the repressive colonial masters, an elaborate land policy was to be implemented. This policy involved the redistribution of illegally acquired land from the British settlers to the indigenous communities, who owned that land in the first place. Mugabe accepted a "willing buyer, willing seller" plan as part of the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, among other concessions to the white minority. As part of this agreement, land redistribution was blocked for a period of 10 years.This process was to be funded by the British government and its details are contained in the charter signed in 1979 by among others Prime Minister Mugabe and the colonial secretary of the British government.

When Zimbabwe gained independence, 46.5% of the country's arable land was owned by around 6,000 commercial white farmers. Virtually all of Zimbabwean fertile land was inhabited by white supremacists who, coldly and cowardly relegated the majority black Zimbabwean people to native, infertile and swampy low areas where they hardly fed themselves or their families. They then crudely recruited these natives to work in their illegally owned land with or without pay. These so called white farms had the principle responsibility of feeding the established agricultural industries of their counterparts back in Britain or in the neighbouring South Africa (where they had settled much longer) with raw materials. In other words, Zimbabwe provides free rich agricultural land for farming, free labour and zero responsibility to the state and its inhabitants while the final harvested products are shipped to hungry industries back in Europe. Such was the unfathomable cruelty of the colonial master.

It was therefore no wonder that after Mugabe and other Zimbabwean patriots had gained independence on behalf of their people, it was going to be difficult for the colonial mindset to just let go of these freebies at his disposal from what they referred to as the Dark Continent. His end of the deal to basically pay these white land grabbers for land that was never theirs was a total flop. So the white farmers held unto this land and continued their activities only that this time, they pretended to show more concern to the black majority of workers. The British government then unleashed its soft power to the largely uneducated Zimbabweans with scholarships and foreign direct investments to conceal the real fundamental issues that led to the struggle for independence in the first place. In fact a World Bank report alludes, to this day, that Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate in sub-Saharan Africa. A couple of UK and American universities were so cynically impressed by Mr Mugabe that they awarded him several honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of his work and talent. They were literally bribing the establishment to cloud its judgement on the real issues affecting Zimbabweans. But this could not wish away the real concerns of the Zimbabwean people.

After fifteen years of self governance, the ghost of the land problem was still rearing its head. In 1997, the new British Labor government led by Tony Blair unilaterally stopped funding the "willing buyer, willing seller" land reform program on the basis that the initial £44 million allocated under the Thatcher government was used to purchase land for members of the ruling elite rather than landless peasants. Furthermore, Britain's ruling Labor Party felt no obligation to continue paying white farmers compensation, or in Minister Claire Short's words, "I should make it clear that we do not accept that Britain has a special responsibility to meet the costs of land purchase in Zimbabwe. We are a new Government from diverse backgrounds without links to former colonial interests. My own origins are Irish and as you know we were colonized not colonizers". This statement underscored the real reason behind the discontinuation of funding of the land reform process in Zimbabwe. The claim of land purchased not reaching its intended recipients was just a public relations gimmick aimed at winning the British public support against continued funding. Furthermore, at the time, the British economy was in bad shape and cutting costs relating to ‘unnecessary’ projects was their panacea to healing their economy.

Some western media commentators, such as Matthew Sweet in The Independent paper of UK, held Cecil Rhodes ultimately responsible:

... It was Cecil Rhodes who originated the racist 'land grabs' to which Zimbabwe's current miseries can ultimately be traced. It was Rhodes who in 1887 told the House of Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa that 'the native is to be treated as a child and denied the franchise. We must adopt a system on despotism in our relations with the barbarians of Southern Africa'. According to Sweet, "In less oratorical moments, he put it even more bluntly: ‘’I prefer land to niggers.’’

At last the media was undergoing a revelation, a random awakening which, to any sane human being, is impractical and a classical case of grotesque selective amnesia. They knew in their hearts and minds all along that their fellow citizens were illegally occupying land that belonged to peasants drowning in penury only this time they are black, and only president Mugabe stood in the way. But, after closely scrutinizing the shift in British policy towards Zimbabwe, it was clear that the new labor administration had a discordant relationship with the white farmers of Zimbabwe (mainly conservatives). This new and abrupt media campaign was now throwing a spanner in the works in an effort to bury the conservative and politically powerful mindset of the wealthy beneficiaries of the colonial system food chain.

The previous British government had tried to brush aside the Zimbabwe land problem after the 10 year grace period had elapsed as long as their commercial interests were intact. They literally prayed for a drastic but natural change of circumstances to warrant their continued plundering of Zimbabwean natural resources without any shred of shame on their faces indelibly stained by ignominious acts of greed, corruption and intransigent belligerence. Their narcissism was clear to the whole world but as usual, no one, not human rights organisations, UN, USA, Commonwealth, international criminal court could raise a finger at this blatant and gross violation of sovereignty of republic of Zimbabwe and the right of its citizens to own property.

After all these years there was no government will from the British to solve the land issue. It was in the year 2000 when President Mugabe read the riot act and decided to forcefully repossess the white farms under contention. He is quoted as saying ‘The land is ours. It's not European and we have taken it, we have given it to the rightful people... Those of white extraction who happen to be in the country and are farming are welcome to do so, but they must do so on the basis of equality. He first tried this process through a referendum on several constitutional amendments touching on land, political power and granting immunity to government and military officials especially after the infamous crashing of ZAPU dissidents led by Joshua Nkomo in 1983 in Matabeleland. About 20,000 people are claimed to have died. The referendum had a poor turnout of about 20% and the government lost by 55%. However the entire campaign was personalised and the white farmers backed by media friendly to them mobilised illiterate workers to defeat it. Mugabe though had a new means to clip their wings. The Zimbabwean parliament pushed through a constitutional amendment to reclaim land from the white settlers and redistribute it to the majority black farmers. Almost immediately, war veterans from the independence struggle matched into these white farms and outside the laid down rule of law seized them. The war veterans were led by Chenjerai Hunzvi. Many white farmers were expelled from these lands and had to run away to ‘exile’ in South Africa or back to Britain. The redistribution policy by the Zimbabwe government was extremely controversial with critics arguing that the repossessed land never reached the targeted recipients – peasants and squatters. The fact though remains that the land was reverted to Zimbabweans who own it to this day. When the UK once condemned Mugabe's alleged authoritarian policies and racist attitudes as being comparable to those of German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, Mugabe responded with controversial remark, mocking the UK's claims by saying about himself and his policies that "This Hitler had only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources...If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold.’’

After the forceful eviction of these land grabbers, fortunes for Mugabe in the international arena nosedived. The British government led a diplomatic affront on both the personality and leadership capabilities of President Mugabe. They used their relatively mighty diplomatic war chest to pin him down by rallying their sidekicks to impose trade and travel sanctions against Mugabe and his government. Their irritability and obvious discontent was evident in every public arena that pitted outspoken British diplomats and leaders against an eloquent and pragmatic Mugabe in a spirited fight for credibility in measures taken on each front to solve the problem at hand. This was not enough though to bring down a revered African leader of Mugabe’s calibre. They needed a plan B but weren’t sure of the best way to implement it.

First, they had to tap the Zimbabwean Diaspora, who, desperate for scholarships and citizenships was ready to run any errands for their former colonial master. This measure was to be applied in all their sidekick countries. Through this they had a reference point to begin their ‘alternative voice’ for Zimbabwe from. This can explain the huge population of Zimbabweans resident in the UK and Europe today. They then had to find for a suitable opposition candidate to sponsor so that they could try to oust Mugabe at the upcoming elections of the year 2002. An uncouth and little learned trade unionist named Morgan Tsvangirai was hungry enough for political power to sell his ancestry to the highest bidder. Morgan had run against Mugabe in 1997 all in vain. The colonial master had long before perfected the divide and rule policy in Africa. All he had to do now was to bring it into play in Zimbabwe and await the results in a number of years.

President Mugabe wasn’t ready to sit back and relax as his distracters blemished his reputation. He was ready to fight and win the war against the colonialist at all costs. He had handled them before and knew what they were capable of. He knew that he was a good orator and was constantly in touch with his people. All he had to do is point them in the direction of the enemy and they would maul him to political extinction. Morgan was one such enemy, a stooge of the British, a vagabond who had unapologetically sold his patriotism to the greatest threat to the republic of Zimbabwe as it were. Mugabe succeeded in the elections of the year 2002 and floored Morgan in a great show of confidence of Zimbabweans in him. Morgan was all over the western media claiming irregularities in the general election. Mugabe had forthwith barred western election observers from poking their noses in the Zimbabwe election. With such a precedent set, Mugabe had handed the British a new battle front from which they could wage a relentless war on the platform of non-conformance with democratic tenets. They told everybody who cared to listen that the election was not free and fair. When such allegations are constantly aired left, right and centre by the rich western media serving the interests of its masters, then they are bound to be convoluted. The white man was scorned by the embarrassment caused by Morgan’s defeat and became more restless. He had used the media, the UN, human rights organisations, compromised Diaspora and paid an opposition candidate to fight Mugabe unsuccessfully. He was getting beleaguered and disoriented but his pride had prejudiced his moral convictions and so often than not, his judgements were premature. He continued his onslaught on Mugabe in Westminster as well as press conferences, media talk shows and western sponsored international conferences to inflict as much damage as possible on Mugabe. They continued with a systematic effort to isolate him from the rest of the world by first suspending Zimbabwe from the commonwealth, where the imperialist Britain has a huge influence and lobbied their EU counterparts to impose travel bans in all member countries. After the suspension from commonwealth, President Mugabe is quoted as saying, ‘’If I was asked to make a choice between the sovereignty of Zimbabwe and membership to the commonwealth, then I would sacrifice the membership to the commonwealth and maintain the sovereignty of Zimbabwe.’’

At the same time, technical deficiencies and capital unavailability hindered continued mechanised farming in the repossessed white farms. The government’s ability to provide subsidised farm inputs to the new owners was being limited by acute foreign exchange shortfalls due to trade sanctions slapped on Zimbabwe thanks to the British and their cronies. The Zimbabwean economy began to falter as teething cash flow problems began to set in. Food and oil prices began to rise exponentially, compounded by the uneasy relationship between Zimbabwe and its business partners. Inflation became erratic, steadily weakening the Zimbabwean dollar day after day. The financial sector was beginning its downfall and the worst was yet to come.