January 30th,2016 Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe received a standing ovation from his peers at the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday as he handed over the chair of the body with a rousing speech, filled with more than his usual invective against former colonisers, imperialists, westerners, US President Barack Obama, the United Nations and whites.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon squirmed in his seat on the podium when the 91-year-old Mugabe – still feisty despite the annual eruption of rumours about his death this month – threatened that Africa would walk out of the UN unless it was given permanent representation on the UN Security Council.
“We have asked and asked and asked for Security Council reform,” he said, adding that Africans were tired of making “hollow speeches” at the UN with no results.
He said Africans were not real members of the UN — only those with white skins were members — and if they decided one day “down with the UN” they would walk out of it.
“If the UN is to survive, we [Africa] must be equal members of it,” he said to loud applause.
“You’re a good man, Mr Ban Ki-moon, but we can’t make you a fighter. That’s not what your mission was. But we shall fight for our own identity and personality as Africans.”
He told Ban to tell the UN that Africans “are also human, not ghosts. Tell them, that we also belong to the world.”
The UN’s headquarters should not be in New York but in a more populous country, such as China or India, or in Africa, Mugabe said.
Yet Africans and others were placed there [New York] with the “white faces and pink noses next to us – yet how many are they compared with us?”
But Mugabe also thanked Ban for working with Africa in fighting Ebola and helping to fight terrorism and in other crises.
He suggested Obama was a puppet of whites. After berating whites for “dragging Africans across the ocean” as slaves, he said those blacks might now seem free – particularly Obama.
“But what is he? A voice made to speak their language, to act their act and not our act. They are still superior.”
Mugabe said that in America black people were still inferior, living in places such as Harlem in New York where education and healthcare were inferior.
Black people were shot in the streets “and nobody seems to talk about it, but today instead they still want to talk about us”.
Even after colonialism, the former colonisers were still everywhere in Africa, “if not physically then through NGOs”, a comment that drew much applause.
He said colonisers were also on the continent as “spies, pretenders, some say they are here in Africa to assist us, even in armed groups in our territories” effecting regime change.
At the end of his speech, which was scheduled to last 10 minutes but continued for close to an hour Mugabe handed over the AU chairmanship to Chad’s President Idriss Deby, giving him a mock bang on the head with the chairperson’s gavel as he did so.
He assured Deby that he would still be around if he wanted to call on him. “I will still be there – until God says, ‘Come to join the other angels’,” he said to loud laughter.
Mugabe raised his fist twice in a black power salute when he returned to his seat.
South African President Jacob Zuma seemed uneasy about the standing ovation, rising to his feet slowly and only after nearly everyone else had.
Reuters
Obama still POTUS? Tired old man, your tricks of admonishing the west and keeping your power do not work anymore. Please do not continue to embarrass us …
They should just disband the AU it serves no purpose other than election thieves consoling each other,what new thing did the ***** say,if he was a good leader why are his citizens running away to go to countries of so called oppressors.The other thugs even gave that thing a standing ovation for what,a bunch of failures.
But Ban Ki Moon is no longer UN Secretary General … whats this article going on all about ???? There is a new Portuguese guy now
Ah! Its Flashback useless article then report on the goings on at the current AU …. PLEASE !
South African President Jacob Zuma seemed uneasy about the standing ovation, rising to his feet slowly and only after nearly everyone else had.
EVEN MUGABE RECEIVED A STANDING OVATION, MAYBE MORE THAN ECL DID, AND YET IT WAS REPORTED AS THOUGH ECL STANDING OVATION WAS THE ONLY ONE. AND WAS BIG HIT….ki..ki..ki
Nsimnbi, which part of FLASHBACK do you not understand? This is from January last year.
Nsimbi.
Read the date of the speech. It was in 2016!!!!
This seem to be an old story what is happening you LT or Mugabe gave an old speech. i will always honor Mugabe he is the African icon real AFRICAN symbol remaining,,defending the black power
Mugabe has read the same speech twice to two different audiences within the space of two weeks last year. I would not be surprised if this is a repeat. #SenileDementia
u r too far away to understand what he has done to the people of Zimbabwe, not the whites ,as you would obviously be pleased about that, but his bretheren, his country men, he has maimed and murdered ,stolen and killed, changed the rules to suit himself as a dictator and taken advantage of a soft easy going peoples, he has created a dynasty not democracy, he has chosen himself as the messiah and chief ,he has feathered the nest of few who act like white men of the past and treat everyone else as worthless poor useless slaves.Take off your racist glasses and look for the real truth in this murderer
Monk square!
“You’re a good man, Mr Ban Ki-moon, but we can’t make you a fighter. That’s not what your mission was. But we shall fight for our own identity and personality as Africans.”
He told Ban to tell the UN that Africans “are also human, not ghosts. Tell them, that we also belong to the world.”
The UN’s headquarters should not be in New York but in a more populous country, such as China or India, or in Africa, Mugabe said.
Yet Africans and others were placed there [New York] with the “white faces and pink noses next to us – yet how many are they compared with us?”
Mugabe is the typical African who won’t accept responsibility for messing up Africa. Africans connived in selling fellow Africans into slavery. Mugabe himself killed thousands of Ndebeles under Gukurahundi campaign in the early 1980s. He ruined the Zim economy by fighting a war in DRC and then enriching a few Zim leaders with the spoils from DRC mines. African citizens should now be worried that Trump will let African dictators to continue to kill their fellow citizens because Americans will now concentrate on America First instead of fighting for human rights in Africa.
Mugabe is a king and not a president because he does not believe in democracy. He has ruled Zimbabwe indirectly as a monarchy and not a state. This is what some people wish to turn Zambia if we are not careful, they will enrich themselves and their families where as common man will remain suffering. Look at the scandals that are going on and clinging to powers when the constitution clearly tells them what they are suppose to do and the Judges are watching them so that they can get something out of that.
Senile old witch. Same speeches which do not take us as a people anywhere. We need a different kind of leadership in Africa which can make us realise our collective potential and reduce the technological gap like the Asian countries. We need to have our own manufacturing industries and stop depending on the west. Only then are we Africans going to receive the respect from the whites. Calling them white faces and pink noses won’t change our deplorable living conditions. But who is going to bring about this change? It’s time we all stopped being petty and looked at the bigger picture. Political parties and NGOs should spearhead the education of the masses.
Mugabe my old grandpa being in power for so long is the thing that has proved your greediness but you speak sense. Fools cant get sense from your speeches which is not your problem
Mugabe must deal with Gukurahundi massacre.
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe must come clean on the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres and apologise unreservedly to the victims.
In 1983, Zimbabwe’s notorious Fifth Brigade army unit massacred over 20 000 civilians – members of the country’s ethnic minorities living in the opposition strongholds of Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands provinces. We shall not forget those who perished at the hands of the Fifth Brigade up to the day Mugabe enters the HAGUE.
Who hears what this old *****says?
Mugabe you are a traitor to the revolution! May God Judge you harshly for the thousands of my Ndebele brothers you killed! Joshua Nkomo erred in merging Zapu with Zanu! This year or next I see a change in Zim!
Yes Bert, said enough fundamental truths.
Now Bert, say enough development and progress you have brought to Zimbabwe.
Bakomana be Africa you who support Mugabe you must be very stupid and very dull.
Is Zimbabwe under white colonialists or black colonialists?
Is it the whites oppressing Zimbabweans or Mugabe?
Gone are the days of colonialists.
Now we have to deal with black dictators oppressing their people in Africa. Mugabe was trying to divert the attention of the foolish African presidents from discussing real issues to deal with dictators like himself and the former Gambian Jameh.
Mugabe is the cleverest fool in Africa among the black presidents.
Mugabe must go with his colonial mentality.
Let African presidents at AU discuss real issues of economic and democratic developments.
We equally reject the Mugabe type of leadership and its outdated ideas.
The *****s on this site supporting…
Mugabe has done more harm than Ian Smith. And we are still with the man at 93 years knowing that his mother died at 108 years. If he outlives the mother which appears to be the case, the man will continue ruling
It blows my mind for the most educated president in Africa who does not understand why Africa is not given permanent representation on the UN Security Council