ONE of the key pillars of a nation is an idea or ideas.

We build our future from an idea.

We formulate our strategies, policies and programmes from an idea.

And that idea is what brings the people together; what forms our nation and, most crucially, what gives us the strength to forge ahead.

This country is no exception.

We have walked through the painful path of bringing to fruition our idea.

Significantly, ours is an idea that is founded on the values and virtues of total independence and empowerment of our people.

It has not gone without capturing the global eye.

We labour today under unrestrained abuse from the West because of that idea.

Mothballs of Western anger today threaten to consume us because of that idea.

Even diplomatic etiquette has gone to the dogs.

The principle of respect for sovereign territories has been thrown out the window.

This is why the issue of the Western-sponsored economic sanctions is continuously haunting us.

It is for a reason.

This is an issue that has been used by the West to define our internal politics.

They have equally sought to do the same to tell us how to run our economy.

We have, in the same vein, been told how to run our country.

More so, the sanctions have been used as a barometer to measure the depth our relations.

The same embargo is also being used to destabilise the country.

Nothing surprising there.

That is how the West perceives us.

That is how they try to control the world.

That is how they loot resources from other nations.

Zimbabwe is no exception.

And in this country, the West has almost had it easy through their local conduits who have presented themselves as willing tools to the furtherance of the anti-Zimbabwe project.

We call it the regime change project for a reason.

This is because it is not only the late President Robert Mugabe whom they resented; rather it is the people’s idea. 

The people’s idea has been that colonialism, imperialism and neo-colonialism have no place in our country.

That idea has been that the masses, the majority have to be in control of their destiny in order for Zimbabwe to thrive.

That idea has transcended generations and decades and cannot thus be extinguished by these vain attempts to take the country back to the colonial era.

A people who have fought and conquered against the might of colonialism, imperialism and neo-colonialism are a true definition and representatives of an idea.

The country’s leadership has a choice to make; to either tolerate gunboat diplomacy or respect the people’s will.

The choice is simple; the people of Zimbabwe come first.

They are the owners of the country.

They are the owners of the land.

They own and control the means of production.

They are the repositories of our future.

They are the bearers of our heritage.

They, thus, deserve to be given the respect they deserve especially by Western diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe. 

Period.