I still question the ultimate motive behind this because, if indeed it was a genuine effort to empower you and me, there would be no need to be an “approved” empowerment partner. I shall certainly try my luck to be “approved” but will not be surprised if, for some reason, I am deemed unsuitable to pursue my ambitions and create wealth in my country of birth.
There is also a lot happening in the spiritual realm as Zimbabweans, desperate for money, are flooding the new prosperity-preaching evangelical churches that have sprouted all over. It is a sad spectacle as you see huge numbers of hopeful people stampeding to be blessed, so that they too can get their hands on that mountain of dollars in the shortest possible time. It is “reported” that gold now falls from the heavens at some of the gatherings. With all that who needs indigenisation? The Reserve Bank has now entered the fray, and endorsed the so called miracle money preachers as genuine and therefore they pose no threat to Zimbabwe’s money supply. How preposterous! Doesn’t this man have more serious work to do?
I encourage those in the Diaspora to begin investing in property or land at home. I expect a scramble for Zimbabwe to start this year and you will be well advised to get in before it gets crowded. Your country is poised for greatness. We only have a few who continue to hold it back and wish that things would not change. These of course, can be found in the army, police or within the structures of our liberation party Zanu (PF). I am really not worried about them because, the fresh winds of change will soon sweep them aside.
There have been a few articles talking about how Zimbabweans are so well educated and how, if those in the Diaspora return, the country will boom. I think this will only be the case once we have democracy and free enterprise without the government telling us what we can become. In addition, I think the country has just too many MBA’s and PhD’s as opposed to technicians and entrepreneurs. For once, I agree with Ignatius Chombo, the infamous property mogul who happens to be the Minister of Local Government, who talked about how the country needs to tailor its academic endeavors to fall in line with what the country really needs.
Even the not so bright bulbs on the chandelier are now being called doctors here, without them even setting a foot at any university. Money talks I guess. We desperately need people who make things here in Zimbabwe – as the country is now full of traders and Chinese products. Basically, every second person is selling some imported trinkets. It’s a rat race. (“Mujawe we makonzo” as a friend of mine said to me the other day).
I was surprise to learn that Zimbabwe’s gigantic volumes of minerals are estimated to be the highest per capita mineral reserves in the world. That means if you divide the total quantity of minerals by our total population, each Zimbabwean would own the highest tons of gold, diamonds, chrome and platinum and 1,000 other minerals in the world. This means there is enough to go around for every one of us alive today and more. Yet we still have unprecedented selfishness and greed by some. For me, a better approach to this indigenisation fiasco would be where every Zimbabwean over 18 receives a once off endowment of say 100,000 hectares of arable land and 100,000 tons of minerals. There would be plenty more left for other investors and we would turn out to be the wealthiest indigenised country in the world. Simple isn’t it. Who needs the nefarious community share ownership schemes that we are seeing?
One thing we cannot afford is to sit back as we did in the past, and hope for the best. We all must participate in creating a new participative democracy and must be vigilant and astute. I continue to pray, that all of you, black and white, will come back home so that we can build a new Zimbabwe beyond our dreams and expectations.
I shall invite the President of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, to begin to share with us what he intends to do in the first 100 days of independence. Yes, I am calling it independence because the first one we had in 1980 has turned out to be a complete disaster, so we can have another can’t we?
I heard the late Paul Matavire’s song the other day and I laughed out loud. It said: “manomano emuroyi, kunyebera kutya dzvinyu iye akasunga nyoka muchuuno”. (The wizard pretends to be afraid of the lizard while he has a snake around his waist). While listening to the song, I had a picture in my mind of some prominent Zanu (PF) politicians here, but I shall leave their names to your imagination. – Please send your comments to: vtmusewe@gmail.com
Post published in: Analysis