Greetings Ras Marcus.

It is a historical fact that Zimbabwe was not part of the Slave Trade. This is due to history; when the Slave Trade started, the country was strong enough to fend off invasions. At that time, it was the Portuguese who took a keen interest in the land, and they had to satisfy themselves with Mozambique.

When it weakened, the Slave Trade had stopped. Having weakened, actually degenerated in to a number of small states, it could not prevent the Scramble for Africa, and so became the British Crown Colony of Rhodesia. It was the Scramble that precipitated the colonisation, because each European power feared that if they did not move in first, then another would.

The official was not a "politician", but a civil servant. What he was simply saying was that while Blacks from the West were welcome, because they had no ancestral ties to Zimbabwe, the Government had no special programme for them, and they could seek to settle in Zimbabwe under the existing provisions, same as anyone else who wished to become a Zimbabwean resident. There are many Black people who have done this, so really there was no need to rebuke the official.

If I remember correctly, those Blacks who had settled in Zimbabwe also addressed the workshop. However, the Americans who were vocal with the slogans about repatriation and comments about interracial relations ( quite funny, because they were all light-skinned) flew back to the States.