MR Bruce Wharton is going back home to the US.
I am sure like everyone who has stayed or spent time in this country he would want to spend some more time.
Rhodesians wanted the country to be theirs until the end of time.
Some, if not most, of the white farmers who left in a huff protesting the successful Land Reform Programme and went abroad have since come back.
By the way Mr Wharton has been Uncle’s Sam’s top representative in the country since 2012.
Prior to that, in the 2000s, he was a junior officer at the American Embassy.
It was a pleasure having you around Mr Wharton.
And Zimbabwe, I assure you, will continue to roll on as it did prior to your coming, as it has when you came and as it will when you eventually leave.
Your utterances after your meeting with Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko were expected, as sure as a song in a hymn book.
There was nothing unusual.
It is understandable, there are many factors about Zimbabwe that scare and give your country sleepless nights.
One of the factors, I hear is called the ‘BRICS menace’, in particular the ‘Chinese menace’.
The US is obviously no longer the undisputed super power of the world.
What the US did or can do, there are now other countries like Russia and Brazil which can do better.
For instance, these nations are in a position to make investments in Africa without setting what we Africans call ludicrous conditions.
I have no doubt that the impending visit by the Chinese President Xi Jinping is a thorn in the hoof of Uncle Sam.
Zimbabwe is not a Pariah State.
And Zimbabwe is not a poor nation, it is a country with vast resources that can make economies tick and thrive.
President Jinping is coming to Harare and most importantly, he is coming to cement a relationship that has stood the test of time.
China is not coming to interfere in our political processes.
China is not coming to interfere in our judiciary processes.
Rather China is coming with a bowl full of goodwill for our economy, the economy you vowed to destroy, to eviscerate and make scream.
All this your country set in motion on that fateful December 4 2001 when you passed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA).
And indeed the economy collapsed, naturally it would, isn’t it the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that ‘fund’ economies around the world belong to you and they withheld desperately needed support at your behest.
But you underestimated the resilience of the people of our beloved nation.
And it emerged after all that you were not the alpha and omega.
Zimbabwe looked East and was not disappointed.
When China comes to Harare it will be under no illusions, it knows exactly what the country requires.
It knows because we engaged on the same level, there was not the overbearing big brother attitude and dictatorship.
We engaged as equals in the family of nations.
When we talk of the need to do away with ZDERA and you respond by talking about action from both Zimbabwe and the US, we know exactly what you are saying.
But we are saying no to interference.
Our policies and strategies need no approval or input from the United States.
Zimbabweans are working hard in the best way they know to keep the economy going and seeking ways to grow it.
And not once have we focused on the internal affairs of other nations.
We have never interfered in how America is being run because America is for Americans.
Thus Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans and they will run it how they see best.
We expect you Mr Ambassador to pass on this message to your superiors as you brief them about your tenure in Zimbabwe.
Farewell Mr Wharton.