THE recent provocative remarks by the UK and the US on Zimbabwe is proof that the two nations will soon up their relentless onslaught as Harare heads towards the March 26 2022 by-elections and the crucial 2023 harmonised elections.

Time and again we have said Zimbabwe is not an appendage of the UK and the US, and will not, at any point in time, take instructions from those two countries that have yet to come to terms with the fact that this country is an independent nation with an inalienable right to self-determination.

On Monday last week, both the UK and the US were up to their usual anti-Zimbabwe antics as they made it clear for the umpteenth time that they have no qualms in interfering in the country’s internal affairs as well as destabilising it to pave way for the opposition to take over.

First to come out of the block was the UK which somehow continues to cling on to the fallacy that it still has a hold over how Zimbabwe conducts its business.

The UK House of Lords MPs ‘urged’ Zimbabweans living in that country to make the life of Harare’s diplomats at the Embassy of Zimbabwe in London ‘uneasy’.

What was curious, but not surprising, was that Zimbabwe was somehow smuggled into a debate that focused on removing the UK’s Constitution Clause 56, which focuses on the imposition of conditions on public processions related to making noise.

Such is the UK’s obsession with Zimbabwe that it could not resist a chance to bring their ‘beloved’ country up for discussion.

“However, the debate later turned on Zimbabwe as the UK MPs felt if the clause was not removed, it would affect thousands of Zimbabweans living in Britain who gather every Saturday at the Zimbabwean Embassy to demonstrate against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration,” an online publication reported last week.

The obsession emanates from the beauty that is Zimbabwe, the beauty which made the UK colonise this country and the beauty the UK mistakenly believes will once again fall into their hands despite the fact that this country attained its independence on April 18 1980.

The UK’s anger is further inflamed by the fact that Zimbabwe has nudged remnants of colonialism through the Land Reform Programme of 2000, as well as the many economic empowerment initiatives that the country has carried for its people since 1980.

During the debate, the usual suspect, Kate Hoey, was once again at the forefront, laying bare her naivety which borders on what she believes is the people of Zimbabwe’s ‘fight’ for freedom.

“Every Saturday, the Zimbabwean diaspora turn up outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, sing very loudly and play their drums and music in a loud way,” Hoey said in the House of Lords.

“Who is going to decide whether that is bringing unease to people? 

It certainly brings unease to Mnangagwa in Zimbabwe, I hope. 

This is something on which I am sure the Minister is sitting there and thinking, ‘Why on earth are we doing this?’ 

I hope that even at this stage, the Government will not press these ridiculous amendments.” 

She was supported by Lord Cormack.

“The noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, was right when she talked about Zimbabwe,” he said. 

“Do we wish to see regimes like that continue to repress their people?

Is it not right that those living in this country should have a right to make life a little uncomfortable for those who live in the Zimbabwean High Commission? 

It is just silly to put this in. 

A Bill that is injected with a dose of stupidity is not a very good Bill.”

Ironically, the dose of stupidity was what the so-called Lords were mired in when they took time to discuss and provoke a Zimbabwe that has been quietly going on about its business of empowering its citizens through the massive developments that are taking place across the economic board.

It does not take rocket science to note that the UK’s obsession with Zimbabwe is not only becoming nauseating but is now degenerating into an embarrassing yawn for the country’s former coloniser.

But there is certainly a method to their madness.

With all their attempts to paralyse Zimbabwe having failed dismally, the British are going for broke, pulling all stops to destabilise the country.

2023 provides them with the tonic they need to execute that plan which will see several workers’ unions going all out to tarnish the country’s image in 2022.

That plan, which has since been unearthed by the country’s security will once again be foiled as has been the case with previous ‘plans’.

Which is why it is critical to unpack the US’ provocative posturing on their Twitter handle on Monday last week.

The forthcoming by-elections were ostensibly the target of the furious tweeting by an evidently agitated Uncle Sam while the real deal is on the 2023 harmonised elections.

Murmurs from the US Embassy in Harare indicate that there is reluctant resignation to the fact that ZANU PF will win those polls due to its ever increasing popularity that is anchored on its sound and well received economic policies as well the chaos that is pervading the opposition camps.

Miffed by those factors, the US Embassy in Harare, working with the opposition and rogue NGOs, have started prepping the world for what they believe will be a disputed election.

Already, a plot to tarnish the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) was unearthed last week when it emerged that certain NGOs were paying people to register for the elections, resulting in several people registering more than once in order to get more money.

ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba, who was a target of the plot, has since clarified matters to the embarrassment of the US and its cohorts.

There is more to this plan.

The idea is to push ZANU PF into a coalition Government with the opposition Nelson Chamisa-led faction.

That is not going to happen.

ZANU PF will cruise to victory with ease and those elections will be endorsed by the progressive world.  

Yet the unearthing of the anti-elections plot and the subsequent clarification of matters by Justice Chigumba has done little to quell the US’ brazen and bizarre attempt to interfere with the country’s electoral processes.

Their fervent tweets last week inadvertently laid bare the whole plan.

“March by-elections and the 2023 harmonised elections give the government of Zimbabwe a chance to show that #ZimVotesMatter, especially if it honours its commitment to level the playing field by undertaking #ZimElectoralReform,” the US tweeted on Monday last week.

“This week, the US embassy in Harare will tweet several examples of what our government sees as the criteria for a free and fair election. Stated in the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) and also in Zimbabwe’s own Constitution, these values have remained constant.”

When all is said and done, the message that we will send to the UK and the US is that we will not take instructions from them.

They can harp all they want about reforms but that is where it will all end, in their House of Lords and on their Twitter accounts.

Meanwhile Zimbabwe continues to make great strides on all fronts.