THE decision to work and co-operate with countries like China and Russia is solely ours.

Let us send a crystal clear message to the United States that Zimbabwe and, hopefully, the rest of Africa will not be held to ideological ransom.

Zimbabwe and Africa will not collapse because the West withholds its ‘support’.

We are a sovereign continent that should not be dictated to. The US will significantly benefit by emulating the way the Chinese and Russians conduct business with other nations.

For long we conducted business following ways set by our erstwhile colonisers, ways that were not mutually beneficial but favoured the West at our expense.

No more!

That is our message, no more!
We will increase co-operation with our all-weather friends because they respect us. We have been able to work with them because we have mutual respect.

Hunhu hwedu hausi kukanganiswa mukushanda kwatiri kuita navo/ubuntu bethu abuphazanyiswi yikusebenza ndawonye esikwenzayo.

They have not interfered in our politics; have not dictated how we should conduct ourselves in our communities; they have not forced us to adopt their values and way of life.

The Russians and Chinese have not questioned the deals, work and co-operation we have with some Western countries.

It is none of their business and they have not tried to make it otherwise.

Yet the West continues to scream why we are working with the Chinese and Russians.
That is a futile exercise; they are pissing against the wind — nay, whistling in the dark. 

The US must care about its business and its business alone; we are not obliged to explain to them who we engage and why.

It is time the US not only show, but truly respect us as a continent, as a people.

It is time the US stops its bullying tactics for we will not be bullied; we are an independent people aware of our worth.

The US will benefit from appreciating the fact that they need us more. We have all the resources they desperately need.

African politics and the politics of Africa should cease to be depressing.

It is no longer the playground of superpowers.

There are 54 States in Africa and, with one voice, we should be able to determine who is friend or foe.

Africa must realise that it is a continent and has to decide its destiny, on its own, without seeking approval or aiming to please the whiteman. 

The West does not define us as a people and, indeed, as a the African continent.