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We had the highest standard of health and education and housing for our black people than any other country on the African continent. That was what R… - Ian Douglas Smith
" "We had the highest standard of health and education and housing for our black people than any other country on the African continent. That was what Rhodesians did. I wonder if we shouldn't be given credit for doing that.
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About Ian Douglas Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (April 8, 1919 – November 20, 2007) was a farmer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. Smith took the decision to issue a 'Unilateral Declaration of Independence' from the United Kingdom in 1965 and led the rebel unrecognised government for the next fourteen years. He strongly believed that Rhodesia should continue to be ruled by its European-descended minority while the African descended majority became more experienced in politics, but was forced to concede a power-sharing government when support from South Africa and Portugal ended.
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Ian Smith
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Additional quotes by Ian Douglas Smith
To begin with, things [after Independence in 1980] went well because [Robert] Mugabe was no fool. He realised [that] it was important to maintain the economy and keep the country expanding. And in any case he was committed to do that by the Lancaster House Agreement which said that there could be no change in [the existing status] for at least seven years unless [he] could get 100% support [from] all the people. In no ways would he have been able to get the support of the white members of Parliament, and also the Matabeles. So we were satisfied that what we were doing was in keeping with the traditions and culture and what was expected of us, and Mugabe used to thank me for coming to see him, [giving] him the benefit of my advice and [telling] him what the white people were thinking. But he only did this for a while because he inherited the best economy in Africa. It was viable. And after two years he quickly changed his mind because he had a lot of money available. He had his [own] commanders in control because he had removed the white commanders who would have taken action against him if he had defied the Lancaster House Agreement before the seven-year [period]. He removed our commanders and put his commanders in so that he knew that he could defy this. And so he breached the Lancaster House Agreement.
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Smith was misunderstood in a lot of ways. He is an African [and] understands the African mentality. It wasn't his problem what happened in Rhodesia. He came in [to power] in 1965 after Winston Field, so he was along the system that had been created. If you look at the development of Rhodesia, Smith contributed enormously [to] that. It didn't only benefit the whites, it benefited the blacks.
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