War veterans in Zimbabwe warn about a film on president Mugabe
By Godfrey Olukya 8-10-2012
War veterans in Zimbabwe have vowed to cause chaos if the film on president Robert Mugabe, which is soon to be released, proves to be abusive or provocative.
This follows reports that a local film maker, Collins Mukosi, has produced a film entitled Mugabe and Black Empowerment. The film is reportedly about president Robert Mugabe’s land reform programme, mistreatment of white farmers and the black people empowerment drive.
It accuses Mugabe for unfairly distributing land grabbed from white settlers. It also attacks mistreatment of white farmers.
One of the veterans’ leaders, Denis Sikolo said, ‘We have not yet watched the film yet. But if we watch it and observe that it has negative publicity on president Mugabe we will do what Muslims allover the world have done over the film produced in USA under looking their prophet.’
However, some analysts who have so far watched the film say that the film captures some of the interesting incidents in the run up to the haphazard land redistribution process that left the country on its knees. Most beneficiaries of the exercise were not equipped, whether academically or materially, to service the farms that they now occupy.
The film is said to be showing the imbalances that were evident in the pre-land reform era. The white farm owners are projected as imperial beings that reigned over the black majority. It manages to capture the chaos that was evident during the land invasions, lacking a systematic distribution.
The film also attacks some Zimbabwean leaders for being corrupt and misappropriating public funds.It does not spare former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair’s termination of land compensation to Zimbabweans in 1997 when he wrote to Zimbabwe saying that Britain had no links to former colonial interests and no longer had special responsibility to meet the cost of land purchases.
The film condemns both Blair and Mugabe for the confusion in land management which hit Zimbabwe leading to underproduction of food. Mugabe is further blamed for the unsystematic distribution of land.
Mukosi, the film maker has however said that he tried to be as balanced as possible in the film, while at the same time being equally objective and does not expect to get the wrath of the veterans.
He said, ‘We have gone through various experiences. There is a lot that has happened for Zimbabwe to be where it is now. Blacks suffered while whites enjoyed, but we did not react in the proper manner and that threw our political relationships into disarray.’
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