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Last Updated on 2023-03-18 by Guy Taylor

I don’t like to blog about politics and political analysis and I stepped away from it a while ago. It was not good for me and it created some very hostile, or toxic environments and whilst I mainly blogged about British and Zimbabwean politics, separately, on a whole I did not enjoy it. Although they are sought after niches in the world of blogging, it just was not me.

I have not felt at all comfortable about writing this blog but hopefully it will give people more awareness as to what happened to a once formidable country with so much potential. With that this will be the last time you will see a blog about Zimbabwean politics (or any politics for that matter) on this website.

This will be my only political piece as this blog is not for politics by any means, it is a mere explanation as to why Zimbabweans do not trust the ruling party in Zimbabwe and thus will never return.

The other day I was asked why Zimbabwe is like it is and why I am the way I am towards the country of my birth and whether I think it will ever take centre stage in its place in the world again. Whilst there is no simple answer to any of the questions I will give the reasons why I do not believe that it will take its place on the global stage again any time soon and I will also state why I feel the way I do about Zimbabwe. Starting with my attitude towards the country.

My Zimbabwean Identity That Doesn’t Exist.

I once wrote a blog about this entitled The Need for Belonging and as I stated in that blog I never truly felt Zimbabwean. I never felt like I belonged and I felt culturally detached my entire life, I had a few school friends growing up who have always identified with being Zimbabwean but I never have and now even more so no longer having Zimbabwean citizenship – not by free will but by Zimbabwe’s constitution and immigration rules. Does it upset me? No, not one bit for the reasons I have stated above.

Since a very young age I have always felt like I belonged to an American way of life. I have always preferred baseball over cricket, American Football over rugby. I have always felt immense pride with the Star Spangled Banner and like the American flag it is my most favourite national anthem. I have always cherished the idea of the cowboy way of life (not talking about cowboys and Indians. although I probably would have preferred life back then) and even on the farm in Zimbabwe when I had my own horse I adopted several practices of Western Horsemanship in the relationship with my horse. I just never felt like I belonged in Zimbabwe and as time when on and on, up until the time I left I never felt more estranged.

It is for those reasons why I do not think it is right for me to blog about Zimbabwean politics as I do not think it is my place to do so anymore and whilst I have some very special friends who are Zimbabwean, it is just like having friends from anywhere else in the world.

Zimbabwean Alienation

The reasons why Zimbabwe will never return to the global stage and why ex-Zimbabwean farmers do not trust ZANU-PF vary, for political and economic reasons and in the words below I will highlight those reasons.

For over half a century, both pre-independence and post-independence Zimbabwean agriculture, like agriculture anywhere across the globe, provided for the majority of the nations GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and carried both Zimbabwean commercial and industrial industries on its back. Zimbabwe was open for business in every sector you can think of.

The country exported various agricultural and other products such as export quality beer and wine etcetera to all four corners of the globe with a lot of horticultural products coming here to the UK. It fed neighbouring countries like Mozambique & Zambia and kept the country sustained. Poverty was never an issue, the country had a world class healthcare system, a world class education system with a Cambridge syllabus. Jobs were plenty, there was a rule of law with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Zimbabwe National Army and the Zimbabwe Airforce (ZRP, ZNA, ZAF) somewhat maintaining their level of professionalism that they inherited from their Rhodesian forebears (the various units of the Rhodesian Army, the British South Africa Police and the Rhodesian Airforce). Tourism flourished with people from all across the globe flocking to Zimbabwe to visit the various national parks such as Victoria Falls, Motopos, Hwange, Mana Pools, Kariba, Gonarezhou, Chimanimani, Nyanga and the various privately owned “game lodges” and hunting establishments and other hospitality around the country.

Zimbabwe was the land of milk and honey and of course that does sound like words of a patriot but it is just being realistic, being a straight shooter I will always give credit where it is due.

Then towards the end of the 20th century Zimbabwe begun to fall apart, both politically and economically. A relentless land reform programme initiated by ZANU PF took precedence with many very successful farming setups taken over by the government for personal use which many of those now not being used and have become derelict and fallen into ruin. One of them was our family farm in the North East of the country where my grandfather (my late mothers father) is buried. There were a number of murders of white farmers throughout the whole process and a number of those people my family knew. One of my former school mates father was shot in the head with a shotgun. My mothers cousin being one of those murdered during the process.

Then in 2002 something that could have benefitted the country’s economy greatly happened after a hurricane swept across Mozambique and the East of Zimbabwe. It unearthed vast diamond and gold deposits never uncovered by the Rhodesians, despite their technology. De Beers found the diamonds to be as valuable as those found in the diamond mines of Sierra Leone but rather than use that wealth for the benefit of rebuilding and improving Zimbabwean infrastructure and pouring that wealth into the economy the government used that wealth for their own personal benefits, lining their pockets and building mansions. Importing expensive vehicles from the United States and the UK. Allowing them to go on expensive holidays to the Caribbean and the UAE where they were not sanctioned from going and totally overlooking the benefit that wealth could be to the country and the people, people from all from all walks of life.

Despite heavy targetted sanctions imposed by the UN, the EU, the UK, US and various other countries ZANU-PF have very cleverly and deceitfully managed to sell their wealth to various Asian and Arabic markets, such as in China and the UAE and of course this has made the Chinese pour into Zimbabwe and assert their own colonial agenda, as they have all across the African continent. ZANU-PF initiated that with what they call the “Look East Policy”. The so called policy has raped Zimbabwe of its wildlife, natural habitat and wealth leaving the ordinary Zimbabwean struggling and poverty shooting through the roof.

Then in 2017/2018 Robert Mugabe’s successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa pleaded with former white and black Zimbabweans who are now living successful lives abroad across the diaspora, whether in other parts of Africa or across the Western world to return back to Zimbabwe with most refusing the plea.

It is very much an issue of trust, that trust has been destroyed over and over and over again and until justice is met those responsible, including Emmerson Mnangagwa and the majority of ZANU PF being dragged off to the Hague or Arusha and prosecuted for their crimes against humanity there will never be trust.

What I have written about here barely skims the surface, I have not written about the other vast levels of corruption or crimes against humanity but they run deep. As per usual in my blogs I have inserted hyperlinks at the bottom of this blog for your own perusal.

Zimbabwean Mineral Wealth

Land Reform in the Twenty Years After Independence

2020 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT: ZIMBABWE

Land Reform in Zimbabwe