By Merlyn Mwanza
Imperialists are planting puppets all over in Zambia, Socialist Party (SP) leader Dr Fred M’membe has charged.
And Dr M’membe charged that there are leaders today who are satisfied for just getting commissions from the deals they strike with the descendants of resource bandit Cecil Rhodes, the Oppenheimer’s, saying these are no different from the slave hunters (the blacks who were used by the white slave traders to hunt for their own black people to be sold as slaves).
Featuring on a Live talk show with Mwebantu media, Dr M’membe said the dream of the continent’s forefathers was to unite the continent as one, but that those who were spearheading that were mostly killed by the imperialists, who were more interested in perpetuating the bantustans they created in Africa through the Berlin conference.
He said the imperialist white men from Europe shared Africa among themselves, with the exclusion of a single African, and not even white women, saying before they came, Africa was one country and that there was no alternative but to seek that right now. But he said the task was being made difficult because the imperialists still have puppets to perpetuate their desires in Africa.
Dr M’membe said those from the western world were choosing strategically which bantustan leaders to befriend and make them feel important than the others, and that leaders were now priding themselves with how close they were Washington and boasting that “I am the only one invited to the White House.”
He said some were priding themselves in being married to a white man or woman and boasting that their children shared the same classrooms with white people.
“Is that really an achievement?” Dr M’membe asked during an online programme monitored by Daily Revelation.
He said those exploiting the continent did not want Africa to unite, citing the resource rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which he said has been decimated and never allowed to settle since colonialist Leopald set foot in that country from Belgium.
He said that country has never known peace, but the imperialists have continued reaping that country’s rich resource amidst the instability, but that the continent could use the resources more meaningfully. Dr M’membe said they killed progressive leaders like Patrice Lumumba in Congo, but people like Mobutu Seseseko “was their darling. That idiot.”
Dr M’membe said the imperialists dominance was very much alive in Zambia today.
“Look at what they are doing to Zambia. Planting puppets all over…these are not leaders. They are simply puppets…true leaders were killed,” Dr M’membe said. “We are under imperialist onslaught.”
Dr M’membe said Zambia would not be allowed to use its resources meaningfully as outsiders were here for the country’s resources and even the human capital, which he said will play a vital role in the future as the western populations grow more older.
He said the country had been on this path since Cecil Rhodes, whom he said colonized the country, set foot here, but that some were still looking for more Rhodes “in the Oppenheimers and others”, wondering when the country would learn.
Dr M’membe said there were leaders today who were more satisfied with just getting commissions and a few shares in the deals they strike with the Oppenheimers, “thinking they are leaders when they are nothing but puppets”, and that they were not even good for their own bantustans and the black people.
He said they were given a few shares and managed to build some houses which looked better than those of their own people, meanwhile they were selling their peoples destiny.
“These are no different from those slave hunters,” said Dr M’membe, referring to Africans who were used by the west to hunt for African slaves.
He called on the people on the continent to emancipate themselves mentally, saying it took long for the country to get independence from the same people the leaders are kneeling before today.
Dr M’membe said the relationship which existed between Africa and the west was that of subjugation and not solidarity, saying “to say this relationship is abusive to them is not hatred.”
