Robert Mugabe Speech: 24th Independence Anniversary, 18 April 2004

Today, we once again celebrate, as free and proud Zimbabweans, our country's anniversary of Independence. We celebrate this 24th anniversary of our freedom with a stronger sense of unity and cohesion at home, and a strong sense of place and identity internationally. We face the future with confidence, hope and dignity. The last four years presented us a number of challenges and real trials for our country. Yet they have years also of break-throughs arising from our firm and indomitable stand on matters of national sovereignty and economic freedom, the high point being the fulfillment of our liberation war goal of recovering and regaining the ownership and control of our land, and distributing it to our people. Expectedly, this far reaching policy has not endeared us to those countries of the West, led by Britain and America, forcibly linked to us by cruel history of colonial occupation and other forms of imperial plunder. We will not compromise our principles of freedom and national sovereignty, no matter who gets upset. Zimbabwe is not for the convenience and pleasure of any country, less still of adventurous, bloodthirsty and domineering neo-colonialists. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again! While we continue to fine-tune the results of the Land Reform Programme, the focus is now clearly on the utilization of that land which is ours to work on, feed and prosper from. This, we must address with the same sense of urgency and resoluteness that characterized the four defining years that have gone by. The new Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement will expedite the land delivery process, once other outstanding matters, which include the acquisition programme, are resolved. Repossession of excess land from greedy multiple owners and re-distributing it to the needy and landless must be accelerated. Land must genuinely and irreversibly change hands in favour of the formerly landless indigenous population. It must never go back to the white settler community. The gray areas of our land policy, including land allocated to conservancies, should be resolved during this mop-up phase. The same also applies to agro-industrial concerns, particularly those belonging to owners and companies, who continue to show contempt for our people and our land policy. Such landowners must have their resistance broken once and for all. The financial support Government has extended to agriculture has been growing over the years, with the $150 billion made available through Agribank in the current Budget, bearing testimony to Government commitment to agrarian reform. This is over and above the billions that have been channeled to agriculture and irrigation through the Productive Sector Finance Facility and other instruments, including those availed to farmers by the private sector. A part from providing financial support for agriculture, it is clear that agrarian reform needs complementary extension and information services, an efficient input supply machinery and satisfactory provision of tillage. Happly, the bilateral agreements we have concluded with friendly countries like China, Malaysia, Egypt, Indonesia and Iran should facilitate greater mechanization in agriculture for enhanced output. Within the context of the National Economic Revival Programme, the 2004 National Budget and the December 2003 Monetary Policy Statement, Government is determined to tame inflation and grow the economy, relying of course, on the impulse from agriculture. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's pointed support for the productive and export sector facilities is expected to increase output in the manufacturing, agriculture, mining, tourism, construction and transport sectors. This positive outlook, which will benefit also from the deregulation of the oil industry, is expected to lead to an improved GDP out-turn, compared to the originally projected negative out-turn of 8.5 per cent. To ensure the country's self-sufficiency in electricity, Government has embarked on a process of opening up electricity generation to private participants. The electrification of rural areas continues at a satisfactory pace with assistance from friendly countries. Since the start of the Expanded Rural Electrification Programme, 2 125 institutions have been electrified countrywide, rendering true, the mission of " Taking Power to the People". Indeed, rural communities can contribute significantly to the economy if only they have electricity to drive their business. In the past year, Government continued to implement rural development projects, especially in the newly resettled areas. Throughout the country's fifty-eight districts, the Rural Development Fund implemented micro-scale rural infrastructure projects that included clinics, schools, and such water supply facilities as boreholes and piped water schemes. Work was also carried out on small-scale irrigation facilities, access roads, bridges and bakeries. Given the success of the programmes, a total of $16 billion has been allocated to the Rural Development Fund this financial year. Investor confidence in mineral exploration has improved significantly as demonstrated by the increase in the number of Exclusive Prospecting Orders which, this year, already stands at 179 for diamonds compared to 136 for all minerals in 2003 and only forty-six in 2002. The success story of Rio Tinto's Murowa diamond project in Zvishavane and the strengthening of investments at Ngezi, Mimosa and Unki platinum mines, also point to increased investor confidence. Further, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese company, which will lead to exploration for ferrochrome and other minerals. As part of Government's continued support for mining development, the sector has accessed $85, 8 billion from the Productive Sector Finance Facility. This should go some way in resourcing this crucial sector as principal earner of foreign exchange, and thus advancing our empowerment goals. The newly created Indigenisation and Empowerment Department in my Office will ensure that indigenisation and empowerment policies, including the takeovers and mergers that are being proposed in various, but principally, the financial sector, are consistent with our indigenisation thrust and benefit the majority of our people. Unless and until we commit ourselves to clean business practices, the billions of dollars we have made available for growth of our economy will not yield desired results. We have millions of youngsters without employment, who depend on Government safety nets for survival, education and general sustenance. All these want to work and the many facilities made available through banks, led by our Reserve Bank, are meant to bring about greater employment through an expanding economy. The National Housing Delivery Programme launched in November last year has seen the allocation of stands to housing co-operatives, land developers and individuals in Harare and other towns. Government hopes that by the end of this year, 250 000 Zimbabweans will have stands which will become their future homes. In addition, new housing arrangements to facilitate cheaper and faster housing delivery, using new technologies have been made. The Rural Housing Programme, which will assist people in resettlement and communal areas acquire descent housing, has also been revived. To this end, $400 million has been disbursed to Provincial Governors who will identify the beneficiaries. Government is deeply concerned about the escalating costs of education, which have the potential of undermining our proud record as Africa's most literate society. Government will soon come up with arrangements, which will continue to make education accessible to each and every child regardless of his status or family background. The HIV and AIDS pandemic continues to be, by far, the biggest challenge facing the country. Its devastating effects on the lives of individuals, families and communities have become known to all of us. Public education and awareness programmes continue to be intensified while the decentralized structures for the management and distribution of funds from the National Aids Levy also continue to be strengthened. Our security forces have continued to effectively and efficiently discharge their core function of safeguarding and guaranteeing our national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The country enjoyed peace and tranquility in the year 2003. These fine men and women performed exceptionally well by intercepting mercenary terrorists who would have wreaked real havoc in sister African republics. We thank them heartily for their alertness, and urge them to remain even more vigilant. In realm of foreign relations, we have continued to consolidate and broaden our excellent relations with our partners in SADC. We are grateful that SADC has remained firm in its support for Zimbabwe. The support we enjoy in the African Union, our continental organization, is similarly solid and unwavering. We are most grateful for it. Zimbabwe remains an African country whose obligations are to the continent of Africa. Our membership to other organizations outside our continent and the United Nations will strictly be on principles of equality and mutual respect. We will not allow our membership to be used against our interests or those of our neighbours, allies and friends. This is why we left the Commonwealth once it became apparent that some racist countries were using that colonial Club for selfish policy ends that were clearly detrimental to our national interest. For us in Zimbabwe, our challenge is to clearly join hands in unity and work selfishly for our country. We always aim at unity of purpose with those who share our salient principles and ideals and not with those align themselves with our enemies. We are Zimbabweans and will never, never ever, aspire to be Britons! I thank you.

Robert Mugabe Speech: 23rd Independence Anniversary, 18 April 2003

Today, the 18th of April 2003, is a special day for our country, marking the twenty-three years we have travelled as an independent and sovereign people. I say hearty congratulations Zimbabwe, and may this precious day forever remain with the children of this land. Long live our Freedom! Long live our Independence! In commemorating this day, we remain ever conscious of the fact that, behind it, is a whole history of painful struggle and huge sacrifice by our people. We use the day to affirm to them that the same spirit of patriotism, which propelled their valiant sons and daughters to battle, today immanently pervades and guards this nation, quick to chastise any of its citizens who dare betray the cause by pawning our hard-won Independence. Dear Zimbabweans, it gives me immeasurable pleasure to be able to tell you that the land which, for over a century and a decade we yearned to recover, has indeed finally come back. It has been delivered back to you who are its rightful owners. It has come back, notwithstanding the obstacles presented at every step of the way, by powerful western interests. Through our Land Reform Programme, we have now set a new concrete benchmark to our Independence. We have fore-grounded the question of decolonisation, the central question of the rights and conditions of the neo-colonially occupied and oppressed. The so-called unipolar world would like us to accept deprivation and, because we have asserted the right of our sovereignty, we are regarded as a great threat to powerful nations of the western hemisphere. In exercising the right of ownership to our resources, we designed our land reform, funded and implemented it with only that foreign assistance that came from a few friendly countries, most of them in the non-western world. We thank them immensely for their support and co-operation. The milestone we have achieved through our land reform is not the only important achievement of our twenty-three years of Independence. Even our own detractors grudgingly acknowledge the strides we have made in education and manpower development, health and child welfare, horticulture and forestry, mining and infrastructural development. Indeed, we have educated our children like no other nation on the sub-continent has done. Our literacy level is uniquely high, well over eighty percent, and quite a far cry from the low literacy levels under the British settler colonialism. Our products excel wherever they are and are in great demand throughout the world, including Britain. Our goal of universal primary education has largely borne fruit, as has also the vastly improved access to secondary education. Tertiary education has significantly expanded, underpinned by a good secondary educational base, numerous colleges, polytechnics, vocational schools or centres, and more than half a dozen universities, all except one, founded after Independence. I would like also to refer to our Electrification Programme, which is set to transform the life and economy of our countryside, again setting another benchmark of post-Independence progress. Given another two years, we shall certainly have electrified most of our rural areas. Our efforts at reviving the economy and improving the general welfare of our people can only take place in an environment of peace. As already noted, Zimbabwe has enjoyed continual peace, especially so after the landmark Unity Accord of 22 December 1987. This environment of peace has been the envy of many nations who have had the misfortune of losing their peace through fratricidal conflict. Let us maintain it through our national unity and complete rejection of violence. Those who reject democracy and choose the road of violence to achieve their political goals are the evil enemies of Zimbabwe and will not be allowed to succeed. Zimbabwe continues to seek interaction with other nations. Zimbabwe is an African country, which is part of the Third World. It belongs to a number of African and Third World organizations. We are a member of SADC, COMESA and the African Union and accordingly we shall continue to work towards greater integration of our region. This is more vital now than ever before, given the imperialist attempts by powerful nations to divide and subject us to their will. We abhor imperialistic machinations and iniquitous efforts by Britain and its ally, the United States, to recognize us and we stand ready to resist such attempts. Africa is far for Africans and Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans! Let us remain united in defence of our sovereignty, and in seeking a better future for our people. Let us believe in our future, an African future, shaped and driven by our ideals and efforts. We have already made a start to the turnaround of our economy and are beginning to break the economic shackles imposed by imperialism on our country. Our land, our dear Zimbabwe, will never again fall into foreign hands. Never, never, never! Long live our Freedom. Long live our Independence.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), South Africa 2002

Ten years ago, we gathered in Rio de Janeiro, in the same numbers and were moved by the same developmental anxieties that many of us have today. We worried about our troubled Earth and its dangerously diminishing flora and fauna. We worried about the variegated poor of our societies, in their swelling numbers and ever deepening, distressful social conditions. We complained about the unequal economic power that existed and still exists between the North and South and had historically reposed itself in our international institutions, including the United Nations. Indeed, we denounced the debt burden by which the rich North continued to take away from the impoverished South even that little which they still had. We must examine why, 10 years after Rio, the poor remain very much with us, poorer and far more exposed and vulnerable than ever before. Our children suffer from malnutrition, hunger and diseases, compounded now by the deadly HIV-AIDS pandemic. The betrayal of the collective agenda we set at Rio is a compelling manifestation of bad global governance, lack of real political will by the North and a total absence of just rule of law in international affairs. Institutionally, we have relied for much too long on structures originally set to recover and rebuild Europe after a devastating war against Nazism. Over the years, these outdated institutions have unilaterally transformed to dominate the world for the realization of the strategic national goals of the rich North. That is why, for example, the International Monetary Fund has never been a fund for the poor peasants seeking sustainable development. Even the United Nations, a body that is supposed to give us equal voices, remains unreformed. For this reasons, we join our brothers and sisters in Third World in rejecting completely manipulative and intimadatory attempts by some countries and regional blocks that are bent on subordinating our sovereignty to their hegemonic ambitions and imperialist interests, falsely presented as matters of rule of law, democracy and good governance. The real objective is interference in our domestic affairs. The rule of law, democracy and governance are indeed values that we cherish because we fought for them against the very same people who today seek to preach them to us. The poor should be able to use their sovereignty to fight poverty and preserve their heritage in their corner of the earth without interference. That is why we, in Zimbabwe, understand only too well that sustainable development is not possible without agrarian reforms that acknowledge in our case, that land comes first before all else, and that all else grows from and off the land. This is one asset that not only defines the Zimbabwean personality and demarcates sovereignty but also an asset that has a direct bearing on the fortunes of the poor and prospects for their immediate empowerment and sustainable development. In deed, ours is an agrarian economy, an imperative that renders the issue of access to land paramount. In our situation this fundamental question has pitted the black majority who are the right-holders, and, therefore, primary stakeholders to our land against an obdurate and internationally well-connected racial minority, largely of British descent and brought in and sustained by British descent and brought in and sustained by British colonialism now being supported and manipulated by the Blair government. We have said even as we acquire our land we shall not deprive the white farmers of land completely. Every one of them is entitled to at least one farm bur they would want to continue to have more than one farm. More than one farm indeed, fifteen, twenty, thirty-five farms, one person. These are not figures I am just getting out of my mind. They are real figures. So no farmer is being left without land and there is no one who would want to leave Zimbabwe any way. So, those operations, which are underway of how to uplift those who are threatened in Zimbabwe by the regime of Mugabe as it is said, really are underserved. We are threatening no one and therefore the operations by Mr. Blair are artificial, completely uncalled for and interference in our domestic affairs. But, we say this as Zimbabweans that have fought for their land. We have fought for our sovereignty. Small as we are, we have won our independence and we are prepared to shed our blood in sustenance and maintenance and protection of that independence. Having said that, may I say, we wish no harm to anyone. We are Zimbabweans. We are Africans. We are not English, we are not Europeans. We love Africa, we love Zimbabwe. We love our independence. We are working together in our region to improve the lot of our people. Let no one interfere with our processes. Let no one who is negative want to spoil what we are doing for ourselves in order to unite Africa. We belong to this continent. We don't mind having and bearing sanctions, banning us from Europe. We are not Europeans. We have not asked for an inch of Europe, any square inch of that territory. So Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe. We are happy that in our region, through SADC, through COMESA and through ECOWAS, we are doing our best to sustain our environment in everyway possible. We keep even our reptiles plus insects. We look after our elephants and ivory. We look after our lions as they roar everywhere. They attract those who would want to see them. We sustain our environment and are committed to doing that not just now but in the future because we want a heritage as a legacy. We want that to pass on to future generations. We want to be friends and not enemies of other regions. We want to work together and that is why the theme of this conference is very important to us. Not only has it brought us together but we hope that at the end of it, will have cemented our relations, our oneness to work for this globe, which is ours together. As we look at the next decade we must honestly acknowledge those of our actions, which have saved mankind and those many others, which have undermined our collective well being. Clearly there has to be a paradigm shift from the global corporate model to a people-centred paradigm that reaffirms that people must always come first in any process of sustainable development. And let our Africans come first in the development of Africa, not as beggars or puppets but as a sovereign people. I thank you.

 

Prime Minister Robert Mugabe’s address to the nation on independence eve 1980

Robert Mugabe


April 17, 1980 Long live our Freedom!


The final countdown before the launching of the new State of Zimbabwe has now begun. Only a few hours from now, Zimbabwe will have become a free, independent and sovereign state, free to choose its own flight path and chart its own course to its chosen destiny. Its people have made a democratic choice of those who as their legitimate Government, they wish to govern them and take policy decisions as to their future.

This, indeed, is the meaning of the mandate my party secured through a free and fair election, conducted in the full glare of the world’s spotlight.While my Government welcomes the mandate it has been freely given and is determined to honour it to the letter, it also accepts that the fulfillment of the tasks imposed by the mandate are only possible with the confidence, goodwill and co-operation of all of you, reinforced by the forthcoming support and encouragement of all our friends, allies, and well wishers in the international community.


The march to our national independence has been a long, arduous and hazardous one. On this march, countless lives have been lost and many sacrifices made. Death and suffering have been the prize we have been called upon to pay for the final priceless reward of freedom and national independence. May I thank all of you who have had to suffer and sacrifice for the reward we are now getting.


Tomorrow we shall be celebrating the historic event, which our people have striven for nearly a century to achieve. Our people, young and old, men and women, black and white, living and dead, are, on this occasion, being brought together in a new form of national unity that makes them all Zimbabweans.Independence will bestow on us a new personality, a new sovereignty, a new future and perspective, and indeed a new history and a new past. Tomorrow we are being born again; born again not as individuals but collectively as a people, nay, as a viable nation of Zimbabweans.

  Raising of the New Independent Zimbabwe Flag at Rufaro Stadium at midnight on the 18th April 1980. The ceremony was attended by HRH Prince Charles.

Tomorrow is thus our birthday, the birth of a great Zimbabwe, and the birth of its nation.Tomorrow we shall cease to be men and women of the past and become men and women of the future. It’s tomorrow then, not yesterday, which bears our destiny.As we become a new people we are called to be constructive, progressive and forever forward looking, for we cannot afford to be men of yesterday, backward-looking, retrogressive and destructive. Our new nation requires of every one of us to be a new man, with a new mind, a new heart and a new spirit.Our new mind must have a new vision and our new hearts a new love that spurns hate, and a new spirit that must unite and not divide.


This to me is the human essence that must form the core of our political change and national independence.Henceforth, you and I must strive to adapt ourselves, intellectually and spiritually to the reality of our political change and relate to each other as brothers bound one to another by a bond of national comradeship.If yesterday I fought as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself. If yesterday you hated me, today you cannot avoid the love that binds you to me and me to you.Is it not folly, therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten.If ever we look to the past, let us do so for the lesson the past has taught us, namely that oppression and racism are inequities that must never again find scope in our political and social system. It could never be a correct justification that because whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today because they have power.


An evil remains an evil whether practiced by white against black or by black against white.Our majority rule could easily turn into inhuman rule if we oppressed, persecuted or harassed those who do not look or think like the majority of us.Democracy is never mob-rule. It is and should remain disciplined rule requiring compliance with the law and social rules. Our independence must thus not be construed as an instrument vesting individuals or groups with the right to harass and intimidate others into acting against their will.It is not the right to negate the freedom of others to think and act, as they desire.


I, therefore, wish to appeal to all of you to respect each other and act in promotion of national unity rather than negation of that unity.On Independence Day, our integrated security forces will, in spite of their having only recently fought each other, be marching in step together to herald the new era of national unity and togetherness.


Let this be an example of us all to follow. Indeed, let this enjoin the whole of our nation to march in perfect unison from year to year and decade to decade towards its destiny.We have abundant mineral, agricultural and human resources to exploit and develop for which we need perfect peace. Given such peace, our endeavours to transform our society and raise our standard of living are bound to succeed.The mineral resources lying beneath the surface of our country have hardly been scratched, nor have our agricultural and industrial resources yet fully harnessed. Now that we have peace, we must go fully out to exploit them.We already have a sophisticated infrastructure. Our expertise is bound to increase as more and more educational and technical institutions are established to transform our skilled manpower.The whole world is looking on us this day. Indeed, many countries in the international community are amazed at how we have so quickly and unexpectedly moved from war to peace. We have certainly won the goodwill of many countries and can confidently expect to benefit from the economic and technical aid they are able and willing to provide for us.May I assure you that my Government is determined to bring about meaningful change to the lives of the majority of the people in the country. But I must ask you to be patient and allow my Government time to organize programmes that will effectively yield that change.There are people without land who need land, people without jobs who need jobs, children without schools who need schools and patients without hospitals who need them.We are also fully aware of the need for increased wages in all sectors of employment. My Government will certainly do its best to meet the existing needs in these areas. But you have to assist us by being patient and peaceful.


I now finally wish to appeal to you, wherever you are, to participate fully today and Saturday in the Independence celebrations that have been organized throughout the country.There are, of course, those of you who have the duty to maintain essential services. These services must indeed be maintained so that the celebrations are facilitated. Maintaining such essential services during the celebrations is a significant contribution of their success.I wish to thank Her Majesty the Queen for having sent His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales to represent her and officiate at our Independence ceremony, where he will perform the symbolic act of severing our colonial ties with Britain.


As you are aware, this historic ceremony will be witnessed by Heads of State and Government and representatives of nearly 100 countries plus representatives of several international, political and voluntary organizations. The ceremony will be also be reported and relayed to millions of people in the world by the mass media.May I enjoin you all to regard this solemn occasion with honour and dignity, and participate in the celebrations that follow it with jubilation. Let us rejoice over our independence and recognize in it the need to dedicate ourselves to national unity, peace and progress.I now wish to pay tribute to Lord Soames, our Governor, for the most important role he has played in successfully guiding this country to elections and independence. He was from the very onset given a difficult and most unenviable task. And yet he performed it with remarkable ability and overwhelming dignity.


I must admit that I was one of those who originally never trusted him, and yet I have now ended up not only implicitly trusting but fondly loving him as well.He is indeed a great man through whom it has been possible within a short period I have been Prime Minister, to organize substantial financial and technical aid from Britain and other countries.I am personally indebted to him for the advice he has constantly given me on the art of managing the affairs of Government.


I shall certainly be missing a good friend and counselor, and so will our independent Zimbabwe and all its people.I also wish to thank all our distinguished quests for the honour they have given us by coming to attend our Independence celebrations on behalf of their countries or organizations.Their presence in our country signifies a bond of solidarity and friendship between their countries or organizations and our country.Without the support they have given us towards our liberation, this day would never have come about.




Thanks, therefore, for all the material, political, diplomatic and moral support they have given us.Sons and daughters of Zimbabwe, I urge you to participate fully and jubilantly in our Independence celebrations and to ensure that all our visitors are well entertained and treated with utmost hospitality.I shall be one in spirit and love, in loyalty and commitment with you all. Forward with the Year of the People’s Power!Long live our Freedom!Long live our Sovereignty!Long live our Independence!

Bob Marley - Zimbabwe 17th April 1980

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