THE Matabeleland Liberation Organisation (MLO) has accused President Robert Mugabe of deceit and double standards after he advocated for a two states solution for Saharawi and Palestine “while denying the same to Matabeleland”.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
The MLO that is advocating for a separate Matabeleland state said Mugabe “astonishingly” projected himself as a Pan-Africanist and human rights defender in his speech at the recent United Nations (UN) General Assembly when he called for a two-states solution in Saharawi and Palestine.
MLO spokesperson Israel Dube urged Mugabe to also advocate for the same in Zimbabwe, and allow secession to take place in the country.
“Charity begins at home. Before he demands a two states solution for the deserving people of Palestine and Saharawi, he must start by allowing a two states solution in Zimbabwe where people of Matabeleland are calling for the reinstatement of their statehood which was lost in 1893,” Dube said in a statement.
The MLO says a separate Matabeleland state is necessary to put an end to the years of being sidelined from national development programmes. Dube added: “Article (3) of UN Human Rights Declaration says everyone has right to life, liberty and security of person. Article (2) says subjection of peoples to alien subjugation; domination and exploitation constitute a denial of fundamental human rights. And article (3) says all people have a right to self-determination by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
“The UN human Rights Declaration knows no sex, ethnicity, nationality, colour or boundary. As MLO we know that the people of Matabeleland have full rights to independence and self-determination and we believe our cause is more than just and noble. We shall continue to lead the march to an independent and sovereign Republic of Matabeleland.”
Journalist, Jonathan Maphenduka, in his recently published book, The Rule by Conquest: The Struggle in Mthwakazi, expresses similar sentiments calling for a separate State.
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Zanu PF has, however, hit out at calls for a separate State, describing them as tantamount to a declaration of civil war.
