My vision of a viable Zimbabwe

Below are my positions on various major issues concerning our country. I believe these issues would go very far in creating a peaceful, inclusive and prosperous Zimbabwe. These views form a broad parameter within which other interesting issues could be explored.

Individual Responsibility

As individuals and members of the collective (nation) we have an obligation to each other to do what promotes our interests for both ourselves as individuals and as a collective. Unfortunately, as Zimbabweans we have neglected our responsibilities which come as part of belonging to a society. Zimbabwe is just as good as our respective family homes. It is the only country we have and therefore must discharge our responsibilities with the utmost vigour if we long to remain with a vibrant country. We cannot leave it to the next person because that very next person might leave it for the next as well and this sort of dereliction of our responsibilities is partly the reason we are in the situation we find ourselves. Individually, we have to stop corruption, we have to go out and vote for the party of our choice, we have to participate vigorously in public policy discussions, we have to stop the Black Market, etc. If we do not do it, then who is going to do it for us? The destiny of Zimbabwe is in the hands of each individual. If we do perform our individual responsibilities, they will combine to bring out the good and similarly if we disregard these individual efforts we will surely produce bad results.

Constructive Engagement

The people of Zimbabwe should understand and learn from the experiences of other nations on how they build their respective nations. We cannot build a nation by alienating each other, destroying the country or appealing to foreign interests. We have the ability to discuss among ourselves about our needs and direction we want to take. If we indicate that we are failing in this endeavour then we do not have anyone but ourselves to blame. It demonstrates our inability to deal with contemporary complex problems. For the government and opposition, to be in those roles is no small task and these respective players should understand their national responsibilities at all times. Things just do not happen: in many instances they happen because of a sustained patriotic effort that is deliberate and systematic.

Western Countries interference

This is an international scourge that is not unique to Zimbabwe. Granted, the Western countries are pursuing their interests but they need to do so in a legal, restrained and civilised manner. We could all justify the pursuance of our interests and even justify all the evil deeds we deploy to achieve our objectives. Western interference is causing deaths through instigated conflicts and unprovoked wars worldwide and are not flinching to do the same in Zimbabwe. Poverty is entrenched worldwide because of a rampant capitalist system that is driven by the West. Without interference, the Western countries would lose the basis of their significant part of wealth. However, non-interference would not automatically plunge Western countries into poverty rather, they would have to live a realistic life of average consumption and accept, for the first time in life, to view other people as equals and the need to conduct symmetrical relations. Nothing has been proven to suggest that if Western countries stop interfering with developing countries they would fall into catastrophe. On the contrary, it has been proven beyond doubt that the interference of the West has and continues to cause massive deaths and suffering to the people in the developing world.
As competition for resources intensify going into the future, Western interests and indeed those of such economic giants as India and China would escalate. The interference into our political and economic systems by foreign forces is set to grow relative to this desire for resources. If we are not able to manage these relations now and going into the future then worse things are still to come because these foreign interests would use all means possible to secure their economic interests. We must guard against that as a nation. We must appreciate that we have and will continue to have a lot of issues that we disagree on internally but that does not justify us accepting being used by external forces to pursue their agendas. Currently, many Zimbabweans have fallen into this trap of being used by the Western countries.

Constitution

Zimbabwe needs a new constitution written by Zimbabweans and one not manipulated by certain interests both foreign and local. A new constitution would give legitimacy to activities undertaken in its name. However, the mere production of a constitution is not the automatic answer to our problems. Zimbabweans need to understand that democracy also comes with responsibilities. A document like the constitution cannot just guarantee a well-functioning society. As citizens, we need to acknowledge our responsibilities towards creating and fostering democracy through the guidelines set in the constitution. Ultimately, I argue that the legitimacy of the constitution and conduct of the elected representatives have a great impact on the level people respect the constitution and the extent to which they perform their expected civic duties.

Politics

I believe Zimbabweans should clearly define Zimbabwean politics at basically two levels: the international and national. This helps us guard against exploitation by foreign interests. If we have genuine national differences amongst ourselves as Zimbabweans these differences should be solved in the true national spirit. Our differences should not be hijacked, sidetracked or exploited by some foreign forces under the guise of extending solidarity to one or the other of the disagreeing parties. Granted, solidarity or assistance could, as a principle, be offered, but it should be transparent and occur within the parameters prescribed by regulations governing international relations, for instance, the Vienna Convention and national laws such as the Political Parties (Finance) Act, 2002. On the other hand, we should, despite our national differences, unite against unwarranted Western interference. Opposing international forces against Zimbabwe does not mean total support for everything that happens in Zimbabwe. Even if the foreign forces seem to speak the same language as some dissenting Zimbabweans for instance, their interests are not necessarily similar. But the foreign forces are using their copied language to further their interests. In such situations, these dissenting Zimbabweans should be skilful enough to engage in progressive national dissent on the one hand while on the other reject and even fight the regressive and undue meddling in our politics by these foreign interests who are mainly from the Western countries.

Economy

Although neoliberal economics surrounds us, we cannot avoid it, yet we can manage it. How? I believe the first step is to rid ourselves of the current economic structure where few powerful economic and political elites control most of the wealth and access to opportunities. We must disentangle the economy from the neoliberal system completely and consolidate it within the Zimbabwean masses through small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). There are many benefits in this arrangement. One of them is that we would have achieved putting money in the hands of our own nationals and thereby integrate them into a monetarised economy from which the majority had been marginalised. Also, I believe we could create businesses with personal contact and relations with both their customers and workers, something that the neoliberal system lacks. Such relations create better and rewarding economic relations with a humane face that balance profits with social responsibilities. Large corporations, in contrast, are driven mainly by profits at the exclusion of all else and they have impersonal relations with customers. Mass communication apparatus such as televisions and still giant posters mediates their relations with customers. These big businesses seek to dominate economic activities through schemes such as mergers and in the process destroy livelihoods of SMEs entrepreneurs.
The socially responsible SMEs could be nurtured to the extent of effectively participating in international trade with the strategic advice from institutions such as ZimTrade that provide market information, and other similar institutions that provide technology and financial assistance. These would be companies owned by Zimbabweans and carrying the flag of the country to the international markets on a competitive platform and commanding significant leverage as opposed to being bullied, to exploitation and systematic extinguishing.
A strong and yet transparent role for government in this process is critical in terms of promoting business activities and regulating unethical business behaviour such as maintaining a system that would ensure the continued presence of a participation avenue for many Zimbabweans in the economy and business enterprises.
I need to mention the cancer of CORRUPTION that is working against the realisation of national goals in all sectors of the economy. Radical action needs to be taken to eliminate it. As Zimbabweans we must face reality that we cannot build a viable society if we do not eliminate corruption. It is not government alone that should tackle corruption, but the public as well. The government has so far failed to eliminate it. Highly developed institutions would assist in eliminating corruption but still it is incumbent upon every Zimbabwean to enforce anti-corruption practices, even if it means confronting the perpetrators head-on.

Land Reform

Land reform is another avenue through which we could integrate a majority of Zimbabweans into the economic activities just like the creation and promotion of SMEs. Land is the basis of livelihoods for the majority of Zimbabweans and it is a major reason we went to war of liberation. Independence had to come with the land, yet it occurred 20 years after, as a result of stalling tactics by some stakeholders and the inefficiency of the market to drive this process. Considering that most of Zimbabweans live in the rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, it is imperative that these people be given productive land from which they could sustain themselves. The redistribution of land has the effect of giving people a productive resource with which to generate a source of livelihood. And since our economy is agro-based, the act of allocating the rural people with productive land results in them integrating into the mainstream economy. With good harvests, they stand to feed themselves (as opposed to relying on public resources, which can then be diverted to other needs), sell their extra crop and get money, which would enable them to participate in mainstream economic activities. Also, the land reform ensures decongestion, which is critical for many reasons. One such reason is to relieve the land of the burden of overutilisation, which could result in degradation and infertility.
But as we have seen over the years, this is no small task, but these challenges should not deter us from backing off the land reforms. Now that we have managed to seize control of the land, we need to rationalise the allocation system and make sure that those with adequate resources and commitment are allocated the currently unproductive farms in order to produce adequate food for the nation and for exports. Donors should appreciate the necessity of the land reform and assist the government in providing non-commercial farmers with required expertise and other resources and infrastructure.
At the same time, let us not imagine that agricultural practice is piece of cake. There are long standing global agricultural problems that are fuelled by neoliberalism, specifically the liberalisation of agriculture. As a result of liberalisation, a few corporations worldwide are controlling agriculture and determining the rules that regulate its operations and trading. It is these corporations that are pushing away small farmers from their lands, in secret deals with corrupt governments or through threats of economic violence. Sadly, these corporations are the ones getting the most subsidies from their governments. To protect their dominance over agriculture, they have established operations around the world with the help of information and communication technologies. The subsidies that these corporations get from their governments (most of them from the West) have caused overproduction and dumping of the excess crops into some countries and subsequently causing a fall in the prices of crops. In 1986, the United States dumped its maize in Zimbabwe and forced the Grain Marketing Board to lower the producer price of maize and reduce its quota of purchase from our local farmers. This hurts local farmers who do not enjoy such subsidies because they are undercut by the price of the dumped crop. Eventually, these local farmers find it hard to remain afloat in an unprofitable venture. But that should not deter us from consolidating our land reform programme. The challenge is for civil society and governments to keep pushing for fair agricultural trade rules at the World Trade Organisation, which is the organisation through which these disastrous trade rules are enforced.