IT is high time the European Union (EU), Britain and the US come to terms with the prevailing reality and forget about their dashed dream of lording it over their colonial subjects forever and a day.

We would like to remind them once more that most of the former colonies are now independent sovereign States, the Republic of Zimbabwe included.

It is the condescending statements like the ones recently issued by the EU, following their meeting with a Zimbabwean delegation. 

Zimbabwe is on a re-engagement and engagement trajectory as a sovereign State.

The recent dialogue between the EU and Zimbabwe was on that basis with no-one to be assumed to be the custodian of good governance instructions.

It is allegations by the EU, of shrinking democratic space in Zimbabwe, that make us feel compelled to urge this established organisation to move out of their stereotyped colonial prejudice.

The days of colonial rule are over. 

The world cannot be said to run well only according to the tenets of the whiteman.

If democracy loosely translates to ‘government by the people for the people’, then the EU and the rest of the Western world has no right to teach Zimbabwe about this concept of governance.

In fact, if anything, it is us who should be justified to do so.

For democracy was ushered into Zimbabwe when a Government by the people was elected into power by all adults who had been given the right to vote by the gun. 

And it indeed became the first Government for the people, by not restricting distribution of resources to a minority.

The Land Reform Programme was one of the major empowering tools, as the ZANU PF Government embarked on policies aimed at bringing the greatest happiness to the greatest number.

Here we are seeing an approximation of real democracy at work.

We know land redistribution angered the West as it saw itself losing ground to the the indigenes.  

The democracy the West expected was one where the West would remain in charge of all resources – gold, diamonds, land, labour and all.

Realisation that these were slipping out of their control triggered the imposition of illegal sanctions and not a desire to promote democracy.

Seeing the ZANU PF Government going ‘wayward’, the West, the EU included, chose to back a pliant black political party. 

That’s how the MDC came into being.

In trying to prop up its surrogate, the West has found it expedient to accuse ZANU PF of bad governance at every turn.

The EU finds traction in MDC lies when it accuses the Government of gross violations of human rights, abductions, detentions, arbitrary arrests and denial of freedom of expression. 

Most of these accusations are either fabricated or outright lies.

The whole aim is to portray ZANU PF as a rogue party and hopefully gain international support for the puppet opposition.

ZANU PF upholds the rule of law — and that nobody is above the law.

Those who break the law find themselves face to face with law enforcement agents. 

There are those who fake abductions and those who deliberately break the law in order to attract attention.

Their fate, like in all democratic states, is determined by the courts of law after due processes would have been followed.

Meanwhile, the Government is expected to continue to be seen as a Government for the people through robust empowerment programmes that will nullify the impact of sanctions.

And the West might once again be reminded that it is, indeed, a Government by the people come polling day in 2023. 

It is not the prerogative of the EU to choose either Labour or the Conservatives to govern Britain.

The same principle should apply to Zimbabwe.

The EU, Britain and the US should accept ZANU PF and normalise relations, if that is the wish of the Zimbabwean voter.