It may look successful and even attractive for a while, but in the end, it invariably atrophies for lack of momentum, collapses and accelerates into nothingness.
Colonialism was successful in extracting wealth out of Africa. It collapsed as Africans fought exclusion. After that came dictatorships of big men in Africa. They claimed to represent a better alternative in the interest of the majority – but many have since fallen. This is not by accident but mainly because they too, in their greed and selfishness, created social systems of exclusion and plunder.
Despite this, man never seems to learn, but continues to aspire to dominate and control others and pursue self-interest that catapults him into a self-destructive spiral of naked greed and lies. The thick layer of lies soon becomes a heavy burden to bear. In that process, he degenerates and despite all the material gain and the façade of happiness and success that he may show, he remains in fact terribly unhappy, unfulfilled and lonely. The end becomes inevitable as the foundation upon which his empire has been built, soon crumbles under the sheer weight of deceit and corruption.
There is no clearer evidence of this than in Zimbabwe as things fall apart and the centre cannot hold. The politics of exclusion can never create sustainable societies. We are now faced with an economic meltdown that is characterised by joblessness, hopelessness and poverty that is soon to spread as food shortages take their toll.
We shall soon write an obituary of a post-independent period of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2015. In it we shall say “It all came to a sudden end after the collapse of an economy that had much potential but was not unlocked by the policies of Zanu (PF), which came into power oblivious to the massive responsibilities with no agenda for transformation or sustainable economic development. It was a period of false hope and plunder.”
This was because the liberation struggle elite merely took over a colonial architecture and abused it to oppress the majority. The values of the liberation struggle – social justice and equity for which so many sacrificed their lives – became an inconvenience.
We shall write that the end came through massive dissatisfaction and anger from Zimbabweans who had had enough of 35 years of suffering. As living standards had regressed to pre-colonial levels, they finally accepted that it was only themselves that could change their circumstances after failed attempts by the region to rescue them.
Zimbabwe needs a fresh start where we shall have to rebuild not only our public institutions and business entities, but our value systems as a people. If there is anything we have learnt, it has to be that the principles of economics and free enterprise are not negotiable. The impact of private property and its protection by our laws is not a luxury. It is critical for us to unlock our potential.
Added to this is the necessity for the protection of human rights at all costs. Our record on human rights is atrocious and we can never become a developed state until we cherish and protect the most precious asset we have – our human capital.
I also think that those in the Diaspora who wish to come back will play a decisive role. We have already seen some professionals heading back to Zimbabwe as leaders in their fields.
On the business front we will need to see a very strong private sector that is left alone by government to do what they do best. Patronage may work for a while, but we have seen how this has devastated our indigenous banks. Businesses built on political patronage tend to be inefficient and are generally run badly. They only get their advantage from political protection. Take that away they soon crumble.
The dawning of a new political era is not far away. In fact I predict that something will give in soon. By this time next year we shall indeed be in a new Zimbabwe. I also do not think it will necessarily be violent – because we all have too much to lose.
From my conversations with those inside Zanu (PF), they know that the end is near. They appreciate that we must do things differently if Zimbabwe is ever going to recover. They have vested interests to ensure our economy does not collapse but are scared to come out in the open.
We may therefore see an unlikely political settlement that appreciates that there is no way out. We have the solutions ready and are anxiously waiting with bated breath to rebuild our nation. But we cannot leave the responsibility of economic revival to our politicians. Most of them don’t understand economics anyway.
Pray that I am right. – Vince Musewe is an economist, author and President of Zimbabwe First! You can contact him directly on vtmusewe@gnail.com
Post published in: Opinions