Obama is afraid of me, says Mugabe

By Fungi Kwaramba

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe on Saturday said despite his small stature, US President Barack Obama was scared of him though he was not a wizard or a murderer.

The 90-year-old president told his relatives gathered to witness the enthronement of two chiefs from the Gushungo clan at his rural home in Zvimba that Western leaders snubbed him from leaders’ meetings ostensibly because they were scared of him.

Mugabe spoke after he was left out by Obama when he hosted  47 African leaders to the landmark US-Africa summit in Washington last month which widened US trade development and security ties with the African continent.

“Chinoita kuti naikoka kamhumhu kangu aka ndibva ndatotyisa vananaObama vese ava mufunge. Ose mamwe maleaders angadzi angaungane asiMugabe hatimude ndogoti ko munyama here wangu? (What makes people like Obama to fear me with this small stature of mine, imagine all leaders can meet but I will not be included),” Mugabe said.

Obama invited African countries that are currently in good standing with the United States or are not suspended from the African Union.

Seeking to strengthen America’s financial foothold in Africa, Obama announced $33 billion in commitments after the US-Africa summit aimed at shifting US ties with Africa beyond humanitarian aid and toward more equal economic partnerships.

The US indicated Mugabe was not invited to the summit because he is currently a “Specially Designated National” (SDN) or an individual with whom US citizens and permanent residents are prohibited from doing business with.

Mugabe is also subject to US sanctions for rights abuses, electoral fraud and undermining democratic processes and institutions in Zimbabwe.

Seemingly miffed by the snub, Mugabe said in the past, Western leaders have literally ran away from him whenever he attended the same function with them.

“Kana kareko taiti tikaenda kumeeting vakaziva kuti ndiripo vanongo nzvenga pese pandiri vachingo nzvenga vachingo nzvenga. Handiuraye munhu, handisi muroyi ini. (In the past when we went for meetings and they hear that I was around, they would avoid me. I do not kill people, I am not a wizard),” he said to rapturous applause and ululations. “Isimba ramakandipa. Saka handingakuregererei kuti mabhunu adzoke. (But it is a result of the powers you bestowed on me. We will never allow the whites to return and take control of this country).”

Mugabe’s broadside against Western countries is at odds with the new spirit of rapprochement  that has seen the EU, which imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle in 2002 over alleged rights abuses, ease the embargo.

In the wake of Mugabe’s re-election last year, the EU has said it was resuming  direct development assistance to Harare this year if the European Council of Ministers votes to lift the embargo.

Speaking about his recent four-day State visit to China, where he said he was promised aid to support vital sectors such as agriculture and infrastructural development, Mugabe said the West imposed “sanctions” on him thinking he would be left out in the cold.

Snubbed at the US-hosted gathering of African leaders, Mugabe turned to “old friend” China, but critics say Beijing’s support is inadequate to revive his collapsing economy.

“Vaifunga kuti hatina shamwari vachitiisira zvirango pamusana pekuti takatandanisa mabhunu muno. Ngavaone kuti tichine shamwari (The Western countries thought we did not have friends elsewhere after they imposed sanctions on us when we chased away whites. They should realise that we still have friends),” he said.

In Beijing he got  VIP treatment: red carpets were rolled out for him, received a 21-gun salute, and toasts to “traditional friendship … forged in the glorious years when we stood shoulder to shoulder against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony”.

Chines President Xi Jinping hailed Mugabe as a “renowned leader of the African national liberation movement” and “an old friend of the Chinese people”.

He said: “The traditional friendship between China and Zimbabwe was forged in the glorious years when we stood shoulder to shoulder against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony.

“The Chinese people value friendship and we will never forget those good friends and good brothers who have shown mutual understanding and support vis-a-vis China and who have come through thick and thin with us.”

Mugabe said his most faithful friends are his ardent supporters, who he said have backed him through thick and thin.

He said the West is angry with his rule because he does not pander to Western whims and has expropriated land from whites for redistribution to landless blacks under his agrarian revolution.

Avoiding the contentious succession issue and the factional fights that are threatening to rip his party apart, Mugabe said the remaining white farmers in Zimbabwe should go back to their countries of origin.

His speech was replete with humorous anecdotes. Daily News