All-African People’s Revolutionary Party Position on Decision to Compensate European Settlers

With the decision (July 2020) by the government of Zimbabwe to compensate European settlers for “improvements to the land in Zimbabwe” came a firestorm of criticism by Africans and others all over the world. The 3.5 billion U.S.D. agreement between the ZANU-PF-led government and European settler farmers is unsettling for many.

Zimbabwe was viewed as one of the most revolutionary nation-states in Africa because of its history of standing up to the western imperialists. After waging a fierce armed struggle for over thirty years, ZANU-PF (a party formed by the merger of  the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) brought Zimbabwe into existence as an independent state in 1980. The Zanu-PF government fostered many achievements including a 98% literacy rate in a short period. In 2000, under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe launched the Fast Track Land Reform Program, designed to return the land to the landless majority. The government took control over 11 million hectares of farmland for redistribution, benefiting thousands of African households in Zimbabwe.

The imperialist backlash was swift. Led by Britain and the U.S., Zimbabwe was hit with the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, imposing severe economic sanctions. These sanctions have crippled the economy of Zimbabwe and have caused many of its skilled workers to leave the country.

The All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) considers ZANU-PF a Brother/Sister Organization. We stand in solidarity with ZANU-PF, one of the most progressive political parties in Africa despite the decision by their leadership to compensate European settlers.  We view this decision as a far-reaching attempt to reverse the crippling sanctions that have caused instability and suffering of the masses of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe provides yet another example of the critical need for Africa’s unification. As Kwame Nkrumah warned, “if we do not unite, the imperialists will pick us off one by one.” Imperialism, especially in its final stage of neo-colonialism, will work hard to prevent continental unity and especially the Total Liberation and Unification of Africa Under Scientific Socialism, the correct definition of Pan-Africanism. In Zimbabwe, as in any other place that seeks to break away from its yoke, imperialism attacks through sanctions, blockades, isolation, negative propaganda, sabotage, assassination, collusion and countless other methods.

The A-APRP is calling for the building of the All-African Committee for Political Coordination (A-ACPC) as called for by Kwame Nkrumah in his book, Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare to counter the material and immaterial impact of the capitalist/imperialist system in Zimbabwe, the southern Africa region and the entire continent. Only One Unified Socialist Africa can defeat imperialism!