SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

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Inside SEPT 18 , 2019.qxp_Layout 1 17/09/2019 9:16 PM Page 5 06 Views DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY , SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 The Mugabe Africans will remember BY KOBBY GOMEZ-MENSAH DEATH, THE inevitable, finally visited the man who over the last couple of decades dominated headlines not just in Africa but also in the West, China, India and even Russia for very many reasons. Little has been heard from the courageous, fearless, sharp and straight shooting tongue of Uncle Bob since the coup of November 2017. Africa lost its last voice in the liberation and emancipation struggle. The mutiny by the enemy within that took control of the nation to rapturous celebrations not only across the country but also within western corridors of power as well as human frailty took its toll. The expeditious congratulatory messages from many western leaders were not in the least shocking. Alas, the only African leader who said it as it is and told them to the face has been shamefully removed. Within a matter of hours, promises of supporting former Rhodesia to restore its lost glory were dangled in the atmosphere to give Zimbabweans an impression that his exit marked the beginning of their socio-economic liberation. Robert Mugabe, the sole reason for watching the country’s economy to disintegrate under sanctions for nearly two decades, had been hung to dry. Therefore all celebrated. Zimbabweans In that euphoria following his overthrow, many Zimbabweans cursed their former leader for sitting on their individual and collective progress. Months before his toppling, his wife Grace, who had assumed godly status, schemed with the longest-lasting icon of the continent’s liberation struggle to inflict pain on many citizens. Mugabe had been completely blinded by the power he had held on to for nearly four decades. Dissenting voices were crushed with the heaviest of punishments; opponents were brutally tamed and members of his government who opposed his wife’s meteoric rise to political prominence simply risked being exterminated. In fact, that would become the final straw. Finally, Mugabe was removed by a junta he created, nurtured, resourced and unleashed to visit cruelty on his people, people he vowed to protect and defend. He had become the proverbial cannibal, eating his own kin. But as the famous Ghanaian saying goes, “there is no gain in severing one’s tongue and roasting it for meat.” The more voices as he clamped down on to protect Grace, the more fearlessly others spoke up knowing what could befall them. The raw terror visited on his people is believed to have eroded all the gains made for the nearly two generations of leadership that even his fiercest critics admit started pretty well and is credited with the high rate of education that make Zimbabweans the most educated African population. Uncle Bob’s determination to bequeath to all generations of Zimbabweans a quality education is what I choose to celebrate. Zimbabweans, whether in Africa or diaspora, demonstrate the essence of education. No wonder many are quick to mention the number of academic laurels awarded the fallen hero. As a Ghanaian, I see his stint with my country’s education that influenced his interest in same makes him an icon worth celebrating. At the time of his surrender, even citizens who celebrated his removal praised the education he gave them. Educating his people Mugabe knew that by educating his people, he was arming them with gifts he himself could not deprive them of in future. But he did not quibble with it. He rolled out educational opportunities and ensured that majority of his population was enrolled. No wonder when he became a tyrant, the educated in the country took him on, courting his displeasure and sometimes leading to their incarceration. The question is if Mugabe were a monster, would he invest heavily and deliberately to ensure his people’s education? My guess is something hard to give! Mugabe, like any leader, was intoxicated by the absoluteness of the power he wielded with the backing of the military. His army of comrades was willing to keep him in power to oil their own wheels. I remember a BBC ‘Focus on Africa’ interview before the election that culminated in power sharing with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. An information minister said: “There was no one capable of replacing Robert Mugabe in the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu- PF)”. I was dumbfounded but in these parts, where many are willing to sell their mothers in pursuit of political power, maybe one shouldn’t be shocked after all. Since his death was announced two weeks ago, many westerners are quick to point to the economic decay of Zimbabwe at the time of Mugabe’s overthrow. Land seizures The land seizures often find space in their criticisms but hardly any mention of the history of how unfair the original Land Act of 1970 was to the indigenes. Again, the impact of economic sanctions on the deterioration of the southern African country’s economy seems lost on these analysts. The truth is no economy under sanctions thrives. Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Libya and Sudan are enough to confirm this theory. Countries placed under sanctions become distressed with their economies the hardest hit. Those able to contain the shocks are oil-rich nations but that is only for a while. Oil-rich Venezuela caved in after a while under US (Western) sanctions. In simple terms, nations under this spell are subjected to the sort of scrutiny that prevents foreign direct investment which is critical for economies the world over; therefore discussing the Zimbabwean crisis without regard for these obvious setbacks is plainly disingenuous. Mugabe had been completely blinded by the power he had held on to for nearly four decades. Dissenting voices were crushed with the heaviest of punishments; opponents were brutally tamed and members of his government who opposed his wife’s meteoric rise to political prominence simply risked being exterminated. In fact, that would become the final straw. Liberation struggle Suggestions that Mugabe was violent during the liberation struggle, coming from white commentators who sought to protect their interest, looked the other way or were just from unconcerned observers of the blood spill and these are ludicrous. They deliberately ignore Ian Smith’s ruthlessness towards black Rhodesians which resulted in the killing of scores of black Zimbabweans. Not only did Smith unilaterally declare independence from Britain but he also rigged the election that put him in charge of Southern Rhodesia with white minority votes over seven times the majority’s share of votes. White votes totalled 89,594 against 12,664 black votes, while the rest of the black population was consulted through tribal and village chiefs who depended on the government for their salaries. His Land Tenure Act of 1970 also split the country’s land almost equally between 240,000 whites and about 5 million blacks, allocating 44 million acres to whites and 45.2 million acres to blacks. But talk of Mugabe’s land reform has overshadowed this grave injustice to humanity done to the indigenous population before real independence in 1980. Smith’s cruelty was likened to Hitler’s Nazism by former Prime Minister Garfield Todd (1953 to 1958), who was later detained by Smith under house arrest during the latter’s premiership. His only crime was supporting black rights and involving them in running their heritage. In fact, Smith, then his deputy, ousted PM Winston Field on the accusation that he was unable to secure independence in 1962. His rise to power His rise to power is similar to Mnangagwa’s rise to power, except that this time the blacks were running their own affairs. Smith’s viciousness as Zimbabweans relentlessly pursued self-governance took over 27,000 innocent lives. But many white commentators are quick to conveniently blame them on the split between Robert Mugabe and fellow black Zimbabwean in the independence struggle, Joshua Nkomo, who, despite their differences, was invited to the post-independence government. As was evident in many independence struggles, the opposition is never offered an olive branch at the point of freedom, but Mugabe shied away from that before the subsequent fallout. Not only did he run an inclusive regime of blacks, but he also invited whites in the country to help rebuild it at independence after the Lancaster House agreement in London paved the way for his triumphant return to his motherland to lead the country. Of course the death of 10,000 to 30,000 Ndebeles in Matabeleland, mainly supporters of Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) is regrettable and must be condemned. Even though we are told that the USbased Genocide Watch classified the Matabeleland bloodbath as genocide, they turned a blind eye due to economic progress at the time. If they meant well, Mugabe should have faced the law for genocide, but it was convenient because he was a trusted ally. Queen of England The irony is that the Queen of England, after a decade of such gross human rights violations, appointed Mugabe as an honorary Knight Grand Crossing the Order of Bath when the latter visited the UK in 1994. This honour was bestowed on Mugabe, knowing fully well that Gukurahundi – the rain that washes away the chaff, before the spring rains – was a government policy against Nkomo’s ethnic group. Cables from Harare to London and other western capitals indicated their government’s deep knowledge of the atrocities. But as usual, they only sought to protect their interests. One such cable reported noted: Zimbabwe is important to us primarily because of major British and western economic and strategic interests in southern Africa, and Zimbabwe’s pivotal position there. Other important interests are investment (800 million pounds) and trade (120 million pound export in 1982), Lancaster House prestige, and the need to avoid a mass white exodus. Zimbabwe offers scope to influence the outcome of the agonising South Africa problem; and is a bulwark against Soviet inroads… Zimbabwe’s scale facilitates effective external influence on the outcome of Zimbabwe experiment, despite occasional Zimbabwean perversity. Attitude towards human rights The content of the cables explains Great Britain’s ‘see no evil’ attitude towards human rights violations in their African colonies. If it does not touch its nerves, it is willing to turn a blind eye regardless of the scale of abuse. No wonder the land reform policy, one that bruised a raw nerve, elicited those rapid responses from western governments. The fear that British and western interests in Zimbabwe were threatened could not be fathomed. Taking land from white farmers as Mugabe did led to massive exodus of whites. The so-called strategic economic interest was threatened, so Zimbabwe could be in ruins for all they cared. Yes, Mugabe became a tyrant long before the land reforms but for as long as he did not tinker with western stakes, he could do as he pleased. One can conveniently say they helped create the monstrosity of Mugabe’s leadership. As they admit that even though they observed this monster hatching, they saw no malice in the brutalities. Zimbabwean economy Another song parroted by the western allies and their agents is that the Zimbabwean economy was in tatters. Of course it was! How was the economy supposed to survive when the US and the EU were plainly strangling it to death? Though the US sanctions were targeted at 141 individuals and organisations, they were far-reaching and stripped the economy to its marrow. Kobby Gomez-Mensah is a Ghanaian jour nalist with research interest in African democracy, good governance and human rights.
Inside SEPT 18 , 2019.qxp_Layout 1 17/09/2019 9:16 PM Page 6 How to prevent low sperm count • Exercise regularly Research has shown exercise helps balance one’s hormones and help improve the sperm count. • Quit smoking Smoking increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and a multiple of other diseases. In addition to the wellknown health risks, smoking can also cause a decreased sperm count and overall sperm health. Low count and low sperm quality make it more difficult for your sperm to fertilize your partner’s egg. • Check your medications Anabolic steroids (not good news body builders out there), antibiotics and certain medications used to control conditions like high blood pressure, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and antidepressants can reduce your fertility. • De-stress Extreme and long-term stress can cause the hormones required for healthy sperm production to become unbalanced. Balance your mind and your body will go in the direction of balance as well. • Keep trying Many couples conceive within the second year of trying. You can help maximize your chances of conceiving by having sex every two or three days, moderating and stopping smoking, staying in good shape, exercising regularly and having a healthy and balanced diet. WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY , SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 &Env. Greenhills Stroke Rehab Centre partnersDaily Heritage to fight stroke BY NEWSDESK REPORT GREENHILLS STROKE Rehabilitation Centre, a professional stroke treatment centre licensed by the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), is embarking on free treatment of stroke patients. The exercise, also aimed at educating the general public on stroke rehabilitation and treatments, comes off on Saturday, September 28, 2019, from 7:30a.m.to 4:30p.m.on the centre’s premises at Sakaman. A partnership proposal to the DAILY HERITAGE signed by Mr Isaac Eshun, Event Coordinator, says established some five years ago, “the centre adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to stroke treatment, making use of professionally trained health personnel, including doctors, physiotherapist, dieticians, nurses, and occupational therapists in offering total and comprehensive care to our patients.” “The centre is located in the Ga South Municipality, precisely at Sakaman, near Blue Lagoon. Greenhills Stroke Rehabilitation Centre is by this letter seeking to partner with your media house to create more awareness of stroke treatment. “We are embarking on free treatment of stroke patients and to educate the general public on stroke rehabilitation and treatments. The main purpose of this partnership is to create more awareness on stroke prevention, which is one of the leading causes of death in Ghana. “Under the partnership, we would like your assistance in (airing/ publishing) news stories, announcements, and live event interviews that will help promote the stroke treatment. Greenhills stroke rehabilitation centre, in return, will include your name and a logo on all our promotional materials for the programme.” Teenage pregnancy drops in Adaklu District TEENAGE PREGNANCY in the Adaklu District has dropped significantly from 23.3% in 2015 to 12.3% in 2018. This is as a result of the formation of 82 community-based adolescent health clubs and making adolescent health and family planning services accessible to the youth. TheAdaklu District Director of Health Services, Mr Charles Azagba, made this known in an interview on the sidelines of the launch of the Adaklu District Safe Motherhood Day Celebration at Adaklu Kodzobi on the theme, ‘Midwives for mothers.’ He said the district recorded 120 teenage pregnancy cases in 2015, which was the highest in the country. He said Adaklu Kpodzi, which recorded the highest number of cases of teenage pregnancy in 2015, had 15 cases this year but did not record any case in 2018. The District Director of Health said the clubs met monthly to discuss adolescent nutrition, sexual and reproductive health issues and dangers of teenage pregnancy. Mr Azagba said a programme known as ‘time with the district health directorate’ carved by the District Directorate sensitised and followed up on communities to answer pertinent questions relating to reproductive health and also addressed some of the challenges confronting teenage girls. He commended health workers, traditional authorities and religious leaders for the efforts towards reducing what was described in 2015 as a ‘catastrophe’ and appealed for more support from them. GNA • Flashback; Teenage pregnancy truncates the education of the girl child Let’s support blood donation exercise BY PRINCE ESSIEN THE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOP- MENT at the Manna Mission Hospital, Madam Linda A Ablorh, has made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians to participate in blood donation exercises in the country. According to her, the shortage of blood is a major concern to the various health institutions as blood is one of the lifesaving things in health care. Madam Ablorh made this call during the hospital’s maiden fun games held as a warm-up exercise towards the official launch of its 30th anniversary. •Madam Linda A. Ablorh (2nd) L), Director of Development at the Manna Mission Hospital, and colleagues at the fun games “There is a shortage of active blood donors to meet the need of increased blood interactive awareness on blood donation should be organized to create awareness and opportunities for blood donation,” she told the DAILY HERITAGE. She said the anniversary would host people from the Diaspora and health institutions in the country • Mrs Ablorh to Ghanaians which would be in to lend support. It also features activity where people from different cultural background will come and exhibit their cultures. The anniversary, on the theme, “Ebenezer and Beyond,” celebrates “how far God has brought Manna Mission, a seed that was sown in Teshie many years ago” in becoming a medium through which many lives have been touched with the word of God and medical services. The Deputy Director of nursing services at the Manna Mission Hospital, Madam Joyce Bulla On her part said the anniversary will take place between October 12 to November 3, 2019 She said the fun game was aimed at strengthening the bond and unity of “our staff.” The fun games involving activities such as football, oware, ludo, aerobics, lime in spoon, and sack race were held between staff of Manna Mission Hospital and staff of Manna Mission Church and the hospital staff emerged the overall winners. Some members from the Manna Mission Church at the fun games also said, they are ready to support the activities of the hospital as it’s about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. “We will support the Manna Mission Hospital to have a successful anniversary”.
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SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

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