December 9, 2002 - December 26, 2002
Not-So-Little White Lies
Posted: Thursday, December 26, 2002
By Tim Wise
Education and the Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism
Cherished myths die hard, especially when those myths serve the interests of the more powerful members of a society at the expense of the less powerful. For generations, slaveowners ignored their chattels' humanity, to say nothing of their desire for freedom, even coming up with a name for the presumed mental illness that "explained" the urge on the part of their property to run away. Drapetomania, it was called: a powerful disorder that afflicted the brains of slaves, rendering them incapable of recognizing how good they had it.
The subordination of persons of color has regularly been rationalized with absurd racist stereotypes, even when evidence flatly contradicted the illogic of those assumptions. So, for example, segregation was needed to allow blacks to develop to the "limit of their capacities," and to hear some tell it, blacks actually preferred separate schools, housing, water fountains, and lunch counters. Japanese Americans had to be interned for "national security" purposes because they were disloyal to America. Filipinos were incapable of self-government; Hawaiians were heathens in need of Christian discipline, and so on and so forth.
It mattered little, of course, that persons of color were actually quite loyal to the U.S. (indeed, more so than probably justified); or that non-white nations had long exercised self-government before being "discovered" by Europeans. And the myths would linger even after social movements forced changes in the society that had nurtured them. Although the more extreme versions of these beliefs are less often heard than in years past, newer variations are common: so instead of claims that blacks are a separate species or genetically inferior (which of course are still articulated, as with best-selling books like The Bell Curve), new and more palatable claims of cultural inferiority have come to predominate.
According to those pushing this type of analysis, it is not that blacks and other people of color have defective DNA, but rather, that their families are dysfunctional, their values counterproductive and their behaviors pathological.
Starting with Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1965 treatise on the "crisis" of the black family—which he characterized as a metastasizing matriarchal mass of antisocial tendencies—and extending through Dinesh D'Souza's argument that blacks suffer a "civilizational deficit" relative to whites and Asians, dissing black culture and families has become a favorite political pastime. And as with genetic theories of racial superiority, the cultural theories hang on, impervious to logic or hard data.
Take, for instance, the oft-repeated claim by conservatives that lower black achievement in schools reflects the lower value placed on education by the black community, compared to whites or Asians.
Denying that racial discrimination might be implicated in different educational outcomes between African Americans and others, such commentators insist that different cultural attachments to education explain why whites and Asians score higher on achievement tests, tend to get higher grades, and are more likely to go on to college than their black counterparts. Some claim that blacks have adopted the attitude that doing well in school is "acting white," and have sabotaged their own futures by way of downgrading intellectual pursuits.
Black families come in for special condemnation under such an analysis, criticized for not reinforcing the educational work done in the classroom, and thereby undercutting whatever success teachers might otherwise have in educating their children.
But although the right would have us believe that black underperformance in school is due to cultural value differences, the evidence suggests that such an excuse is flimsy at best. While D'Souza insists that black students do worse in school because they do less homework on average than whites and Asians, existing data points to a different conclusion.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 43% of black fourth-graders do one hour or more of homework per night, as do 45% of whites and 47% of Hispanics. Although Asian fourth-graders are more likely than any other group to study one or more hours per night (56% do so), the differences between whites, blacks and Hispanics are too small to explain performance differences, and certainly contradict the notion that blacks or Latinos devalue education relative to whites.
In fact, black and Hispanic fourth-graders are both more likely than whites that age to do more than one hour of homework, with 18% of Hispanics, 17% of blacks, but only 15% of whites putting in this amount of study time daily. Although Asians demonstrate more study time at this level, the differences between them and other students of color are not substantial: about 21% of Asian students in fourth grade study more than one hour.
There is also no evidence that black parents take less interest in their children's education, or fail to reinforce the learning that takes place in the classroom once their children are home. Once again, NCES statistics indicate that black children are more likely than whites to often spend time with their parents on homework.
Black students are twice as likely as white students to get help from their parents on homework every day of the school week (twenty percent compared to ten percent), and while roughly half of black students get help from parents on homework at least three times each week, approximately two-thirds of whites get such help two times or less, with whites a third more likely than blacks to work with parents rarely if ever on their homework.
Likewise, and counteringcommonly held class biases, the poorest students (those from families with less than $5,000 in annual income) are actually the most likely to get substantial homework help from their parents, while those from families with incomes of $75,000 or more annually are the least likely to do so. Half of the poorest students work with their parents on lessons three or more times weekly, while only a third of the wealthiest students do.
Likewise, evidence indicates there is no substantial difference between white and black students in terms of whether their parents attend parent-teacher conferences or school meetings. Black parents and their children are also equally likely as their white counterparts to visit a library, art gallery, zoo, aquarium, museum or historic site, as well as a community or religious event—further countering the notion that black parents take less interest in providing educational opportunities for their kids.
Furthermore, and contrary to popular belief, three of four black children are read to by their parents when they are young, and black youth are equally or more likely than whites to be taught letters, numbers and words by their parents between the ages of three and five.
Of all the evidence rebutting the notion that blacks place less value on education than whites, nothing makes the point more clearly than attendance information. Black twelfth graders are more than twice as likely as whites to have perfect attendance (16% versus 7.4%), and are even more likely than Asians to have perfect attendance.
Whites are more likely than blacks to have missed seven or more days during the last semester, while blacks are less likely than members of any racial group to have missed that many days of school. There is also no significant difference between whites, Asians and blacks in terms of their likelihood to skip classes.
Of course, it shouldn't be necessary to recite any of these statistics to make the point that blacks value education as much as anyone else. The entire history of African Americans has been one of constant struggle to obtain scholarly credentials: from learning to read English even when it was illegal to do so, to establishing their own colleges and universities when white schools blocked their access, to setting up freedom schools in places like Mississippi, with the intention of providing the comprehensive learning opportunities that the state routinely denied to blacks.
Since that time, there have been any number of studies on black youth attitudes towards education, and while there are surely some such youth who sadly de-emphasize scholarly pursuits, there is little or no evidence that this phenomenon is unique to the black community. A recent opinion poll of black youth, ages 11-17, found that the biggest hope for these youth was to go to college, and additional studies have found that black youth value academic success every bit as much as white students and often place an even higher priority on educational achievement than whites.
Despite claims by many on the right that blacks—especially youth—lack a connection to "mainstream values," evidence contradicts this notion. One mid-1990's questionnaire of black high school seniors found that black seniors were just as likely as white seniors to say that a good marriage and family life were "extremely important" life goals; 32% more likely than whites to say that professional success and accomplishment were "extremely important" life goals; 26% more likely than whites to say "making a contribution to society" was extremely important; and 75% more likely than whites to say "being a leader in their community" was an extremely important life goal.
Black seniors were also 21% more likely than whites to attend weekly religious services and almost twice as likely as whites to say that religion played a "very important role in their lives." Considering the right's call for more religiosity in American life, such figures seem to indicate that blacks are well ahead of others in this regard, and by the standards of conservative moralists, should be considered paragons of virtue.
But in spite of having a comparable base of values, blacks continue to lag behind whites in terms of income, educational accomplishment, and professional success. Even black students from families with $70,000 or more in annual income score lower, on average, on the SAT, than whites from families earning less than $20,000 annually; and blacks from families with $50,000 or more in annual income score lower than whites from families with $6,000 or less in annual earnings.
Since the families from which these black students come are successful under the typical standards of evaluation, they cannot be scoring lower than whites for either genetic or cultural reasons: after all, their parents are "making it," and are not likely to be the kind of folks claimed to exhibit "pathological underclass" values.
So what is left? Unfortunately for those who would prefer not to admit the salience of institutionalized racism in the U.S., the answer is clear: substantially unequal outcomes are the result of substantially unequal opportunities.
Black students are only half as likely as whites to be placed in high-tracked English or math classes, and 2.4 times more likely than whites to be placed in remedial classes. Even when blacks demonstrate equal ability with their white counterparts, they are less likely to be placed in accelerated classes.
When kids from lower-income families—who are disproportionately of color—correctly answer all math questions on a standardized test, they are no more likely to be placed in advanced or college tracks than children from upper-income families who missed a fourth of the questions, and they are 26% less likely to be placed in advanced tracks than upper-income persons with comparably perfect scores. Even the President of the College Board has acknowledged that black 8th graders with test scores comparable to whites are disproportionately placed in remedial high school classes.
The impact of being tracked low in school has been shown to be profound. One of the nation's leading experts on tracking, Jeannie Oakes, reports that according to her own studies and those of others, being tracked low fosters reductions in student feelings of their own abilities and helps depress aspirations for the future among low-tracked students.
It is this context that must be considered when evaluating the tendency for some blacks to claim that getting good grades is "acting white." If one's schools have repeatedly given the impression that indeed education is a white thing; that the white kids are the bright kids; that everything worth knowing about sprang out of the forehead of white Europe, and that one's own aspirations are unrealistic, it ought not be surprising that some children exposed to such racist mentalities—and teachers who assume from the outset that not all groups are equally capable of learning—might develop a bad attitude about school. But as with most things, blaming the victims of this process will neither improve their opportunities nor alter the mechanisms by which their disempowerment is perpetuated.
It will, however, continue to offer a pseudo-intellectual lifeline to right-wing pundits whose careers have been built on bashing society's have-nots.
Tim Wise is an antiracist essayist, activist and lecturer. He can be reached at (and footnotes procured from) timjwise@msn.com
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An Ancient Link to Africa Lives on in Bay of Bengal
Posted: Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Author: Nicholas Wade
Filed: 12/11/2002
Source: The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/science/10ISLA.html
Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago east of India, are direct descendants of the first modern humans to have inhabited Asia, geneticists conclude in a new study.
But the islanders lack a distinctive genetic feature found among Australian aborigines, another early group to leave Africa, suggesting they were part of a separate exodus.
The Andaman Islanders are "arguably the most enigmatic people on our planet," a team of geneticists led by Dr. Erika Hagelberg of the University of Oslo write in the journal Current Biology.
Their physical features — short stature, dark skin, peppercorn hair and large buttocks — are characteristic of African Pygmies. "They look like they belong in Africa, but here they are sitting in this island chain in the middle of the Indian Ocean," said Dr. Peter Underhill of Stanford University, a co-author of the new report.
Adding to the puzzle is that their language, according to Joseph Greenberg, who, before his death in 2001, classified the world's languages, belongs to a family that includes those of Tasmania, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia.
Dr. Hagelberg has undertaken the first genetic analysis of the Andamanese with the help of two Indian colleagues who took blood samples — the islands belong to India — and by analyzing hair gathered almost a century ago by a British anthropologist, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown. The islands were isolated from the outside world until the British set up a penal colony there after the Indian mutiny of 1857.
Only four of the dozen tribes that once inhabited the island survive, with a total population of about 500 people. These include the Jarawa, who still live in the forest, and the Onge, who have been settled by the Indian government.
Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA, a genetic element passed down only through women, shows that the Onge and Jarawa people belong to a lineage, known as M, that is common throughout Asia, the geneticists say. This establishes them as Asians, not Africans, among whom a different mitochondrial lineage, called L, is dominant.
The geneticists then looked at the Y chromosome, which is passed down only through men and often gives a more detailed picture of genetic history than the mitochondrial DNA. The Onge and Jarawa men turned out to carry a special change or mutation in the DNA of their Y chromosome that is thought to be indicative of the Paleolithic population of Asia, the hunters and gatherers who preceded the first human settlements.
The mutation, known as Marker 174, occurs among ethnic groups at the periphery of Asia who avoided being swamped by the populations that spread after the agricultural revolution that occurred about 8,000 years ago. It is found in many Japanese, in the Tibetans of the Himalayas and among isolated people of Southeast Asia, like the Hmong.
The discovery of Marker 174 among the Andamanese suggests that they too are part of this relict Paleolithic population, descended from the first modern humans to leave Africa.
Dr. Underhill, an expert on the genetic history of the Y chromosome, said the Paleolithic population of Asia might well have looked as African as the Onge and Jarawa do now, and that people with the appearance of present-day Asians might have emerged only later. It is also possible, he said, that their resemblance to African Pygmies is a human adaptation to living in forests that the two populations developed independently.
A finding of particular interest is that the Andamanese do not carry another Y chromosome signature, known as Marker RPS4Y, that is common among Australian aborigines.
This suggests that there were at least two separate emigrations of modern humans from Africa, Dr. Underhill said. Both probably left northeast Africa by boat 40,000 or 50,000 years ago and pushed slowly along the coastlines of the Arabian Peninsula and India. No archaeological record of these epic journeys has been found, perhaps because the world's oceans were 120 meters lower during the last ice age and the evidence of early human passage is under water.
One group of emigrants that acquired the Marker 174 mutation reached Southeast Asia, including the Andaman islands, and then moved inland and north to Japan, in Dr. Underhill's reconstruction. A second group, carrying the Marker RPS4Y, took a different fork in Southeast Asia, continuing south toward Australia.
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Putting Afro In Cuba Tours
Posted: Tuesday, December 24, 2002
by Willie Thompson
On the "Afro-Cuban Connections" tour, nine African North Americans who traveled to Havana, Regla and Santiago de Cuba with the Carlton Goodlett Institute and Marcus Books Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, reluctantly understood and accepted the reality that the alienation and compromised patriotism felt by many African North Americans are not shared by African Cubans, who, except for a few scary traitors who would welcome a U.S. invasion, are super patriots. Understanding, accepting and acting on these realities is a challenge, though not insurmountable, for connecting with the people of African descent in Cuba and elsewhere in the Americas, ending the United States travel ban and blockade against Cuba, ending racism and improving the social and economic conditions of people of African descent in the United States, Cuba and all the Americas.
How is it that these two westernized people, African North Americans and Cubans, differ so strongly on the national component of their identity? C.L.R. James, the Trinidadian intellectual and author of the best book on the Haitian revolution, "The Black Jacobins," said in an interview in the Black World that "it has to be realized that we in the United States, and in the Caribbean, are people who are to a substantial degree westernized."
Cubans agree strongly with their intellectual founding father, Jose Marti, who said, "More than Black, more than White, we are Cubans." The Cubans further believe that they have destroyed the pre-Castro governments that were dominated by the United States and are now free to reclaim what they want from Africa in the "new" Cuba.
On the other hand, Africans in the United States are deeply alienated and conflicted in a racist, materialistic, supra-rational, hegemonic white supremacist nation that was built, during its agricultural era, by our enslaved African ancestors and their descendants - work for which we have never been paid. This African North American alienation and compromised nationalism and patriotism can be partly understood by a brief review of the racist legacy of some of the icons of the U.S. indelibly instilled in its scientific, religious, symbolic, economic and political institutions.
Thomas Jefferson, the very personification of the United States, wrote: "I advance it … that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowment both of body and mind" (quoted by Elaine Brown in "The Condemnation of Little B," page 128, from "The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson," edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden, p. 243).
This sentiment is expressed by another "great American," Abraham Lincoln, who said, "There is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality … and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race" (Howard Zinn, "A People's History of the United States," page 184).
The fact that Jefferson and Lincoln are not repudiated by North Americans has prompted many Black leaders to lead their Black audiences in the chant, "We are an African people," and to the spelling of Amerika with a K as in the Ku Klux Klan. The latter is the notorious vigilante group organized with state and federal sanctions following emancipation. The KKK numbered 2 million strong in the 1920s and carried out 100 years of lynchings of African North Americans.
African North Americans still confront a formidable European secular, scientific, economic and military dominance in the United States. Much of this dominance was made possible by an agricultural economy built with the unpaid labor of enslaved Africans and descendants of Africans for which we are now demanding reparations. Although we have always resisted this dominance, destruction and subjugation and participated at high levels in all U.S. institutions and served with valor and honor in its just and unjust wars, many African North Americans feel a profound alienation and compromised or debilitated patriotism. Our Cuban contacts boast of a strong identification with mestizo Cuba and feel assured that the African presence in the mestizo Cuban economic, political, religious, educational and scientific life is strong and will naturally grow stronger.
The members of the Afro-Cuban Connections tour often went our separate ways. Four of us spent our second evening and early morning with James Early, director of cultural heritage at the Smithsonian Institution. Early is highly regarded by the Cubans, but we learned from him that both the Cuban Communist Party and the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba have failed to heed his appeal to them to deal with the volatile issue of race in Cuba. These groups maintain this stupidity even though President Fidel Castro, son of a mulatta servant, openly admitted in 1985 that racial discrimination still exists in his country and that measures need to be taken against it, according to Eugene Godfried in an article on AfroCubaWeb.
In September 2000, Dr. Castro told the Pedagogia 99 Congress in Havana: "It was some time before we discovered that marginality and social discrimination with it are not something that one gets rid of with a law or even with 10 laws, and we have not managed to eliminate them completely in 40 years."
Most of us met the anthropological research team called Project Orunmila in Regla, Cuba, 10 minutes from Havana. I spent the last day alone with this family-run document recovery, transcription and dissemination project that also operates a farm to provide financial support. I had earlier misunderstood the extremely important work of this group and unjustly accused them of insufficient rage at the historical and contemporary color prejudice still extant in Cuba, as though rage and alienation are the only appropriate responses. I clearly undervalued the depth and significance of their work and the African originated materials they are diffusing in Cuba and beyond.
I quote from an annotation on one of their volumes, called "Awo Orunla Dice Ifa":
"This book is the widest and most complete compilation of the complex panorama of legends that once belonged to the Yoruba people of Nigeria and that are still standing in Cuba and in different areas of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, etc.), the USA and several Latin American countries (Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil). The work is organized according to the Oduns of Ifa. All writings are therefore placed in corresponding order. This leads the user to a better comprehension and understanding of the panoramic vision of the mythological world of Ifa. It relates an organized knowledge about the men's event as individuals, the way of thinking of those men, and about the society in which they live."
Sponsorship is needed for Project Orunmila to continue publication. The project may be reached by email at proyecto@orunmila.net or adeyeri@orunmila.net; by phone at 97-0677 (the home of Elsa, a neighbor) or by writing to Camilo Cienfuegos #109 e/c Oscar Lunar Y Nico Lopez, Regla 12 C.P. 11200, Ciuidad de la Habana Cuba.
The members of our group who visited the Agricultural Cooperative in Santiago rated it the best for its achievements, its holistic focus, the presence of Black Cubans in leadership positions and its warmth and receptivity. Some of our members said that they could have spent the entire day there. However, then we would not have been able to visit the Cuban Women's Federation or spend time with Eugene Godfried of the Radio Habana Caribbean Desk, who traveled by taxi from Guantanamo, Cuba, with the minister of culture for a frank and open discussion of African Cuban and African North American connections. We would also have missed Dr. Manuel Fernandez Carcasses, director of the Ateneo Cultural Center, who is an important link to the Oakland-Santiago de Cuba Sister City Committee.
The Casa de Africa at Humboldt's House in Havana was a superlative religious lecture-tour, music and dance experience by Los Ibeyis, directed by Daniel Rodriguez Morales (phone 99-2022). This foot-stomping, hand-clapping audience participation experience was superior to our visit to the Cuban International Ballet, which was enjoyable and included an orchestra directed by an African Cuban with several African Cuban musicians.
Afro-Cuban Connections may be the beginning of a more intense African North American tour that deepens fun, analysis, learning and action around the different realities of race, nationalism and patriotism and the alienation and resistance to violations by the United States of the constitutional rights of its own citizens and the sovereign rights of other countries who disagree with it.
We are deeply indebted to Dr. Raye Richardson, owner of Marcus Books in San Francisco and Oakland, for making this trip possible, with the cooperation of the Carlton Goodlett Institute and Global Exchange and a great deal of individual ingenuity and flexibility.
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Blacks and the Anti-War Movement
Posted: Monday, December 23, 2002
Anti-War Hardcore v. Anti-War Lite
by The Black Commentator
http://www.blackcommentator.com/
As Blacks take leadership roles in the growing anti-war movement, the more comfortable corners of the Left are busy generating schisms, for no reason other than to assure the War Party of their patriotism. Privileged people are like that. They insist on having their way and deciding who is and who is not good company, even when the stakes are life and death --possibly for the whole planet.
We could take the safe, diplomatic course and pronounce that the emergence of rival umbrellas among those who claim to lead the opposition to Bush's war agenda is actually a positive development, signaling maturity and the prospect of a healthy division of labor. But that's nonsense. The truth is, there is Anti-war Hardcore and Anti-War Lite. African Americans are involved in both camps.
We are glad that there is resistance of any serious variety, since it is clear to the clear-headed that George Bush and his pirates are preparing to jail the opposition, or worse, as soon as a domestic emergency can be justified as part of the War on Terror. When and if that time comes, safety will be found only in huge numbers. Hardcore and Lite alike, all on the same roundup list. What a country!
Having made the proper, nonsectarian noises, we will come clean to express the most extreme irritation at the nasty little people who, not content to simply do something useful by organizing as many folks as they can against Bush, feel it necessary to badmouth the organizers of October 26's demonstrations. At minimum, 100,000 and 50,000 people protested in Washington and San Francisco, respectively, against the wishes of the corporate media, which virtually boycotted the events. By proving that the opposition was capable of mounting an effective popular response to the Bush administration's war hysteria, the organizers may well have changed the course of history and saved countless lives.
At the center of the October mobilization and the follow-up demonstrations set for January 18 is A.N.S.W.E.R., Act Now to Stop War & End Racism. Had it not been for the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition's efforts, Bush and his media would have announced to the world that the American people were solidly behind his war plans. A.N.S.W.E.R. achieved what no one on the "comfortable" Left would or could: they made Bush think about the domestic consequences of his military actions, by mounting demonstrations before the onset of war on a scale that the Sixties movement did not equal until at least 30,000 Americans and several million Vietnamese were already dead.
A.N.S.W.E.R. brings the crowd
True to its acronym, A.N.S.W.E.R. has had some success in darkening their coalition. One thousand people turned out at Rev. Herbert Daughtry's Brooklyn church for a November 21 rally. Daughtry's partner in the National Action Network, Rev. Al Sharpton, spoke at the October demonstration in Washington, as did Rev. Jesse Jackson. The movement is still disproportionately white, drawn largely from already existing anti-corporate globalism groups, but A.N.S.W.E.R.'s tireless efforts have been anything but "narrow" or "sectarian." Heroic is a better word.
Now comes the nattering from places such as The Nation magazine --people like columnist David Corn who wouldn't lift a finger to stop the entire world from going up in smoke if it meant associating with the Workers World Party, the grouplet at the heart of A.N.S.W.E.R. For a tiny outfit, the WWP has accomplished a great deal, apparently having learned well the lesson that you can't mobilize hundreds of thousands of people simply by waving the Little Red Book of Chairman Mao's quotations. Corn and other sideliners complain that the WWP uses control of the microphones to make "outrageous" demands (like freedom for the man formerly known as H. Rap Brown).
Corn and his crowd are the "sectarian" brats. We at judge activists by their abilities to set people in motion. We are most concerned that a bunch of middle-aged white children are injecting their petty disputes, which originate in political turf too small for anybody else to care about, into a struggle to save what's left of American democracy --a commodity that is worth more to us because we have less of it. Human existence, itself, is in jeopardy. Yet the destructive little brats want to throw out the people who set the resistance in motion.
Blacks have enough sectarian problems of our own, which we somehow manage to keep in check, if barely. If the white Left finds that its ranks remain racially anemic, they will have only themselves to blame. African Americans will not be part of any tantrum-throwing spectacles among the privileged.
"Assurances of "patriotism"
There are real differences between what we will call Anti-War Hardcore and Anti-War Lite, although not necessarily irreconcilable ones. The upstart, Lite camp is gathered under the banner of the Win Without War coalition. The core of the coalition employed the slogan, "Keep America Safe: Win Without War." Essentially, these groups are concerned that everyone know how much they, like Bush, hate Saddam Hussein, but feel that war is not the best way to deal with him. Members include the National Council of Churches, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Move On, the National Organization for Women, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Rainbow Push Coalition, Sojourners, Women's Action for New Directions, Working Assets, the NAACP, and Artists Against War.
In order to disassociate themselves from A.N.S.W.E.R., the Win Without War umbrella feels it is necessary to declare, "We are patriotic Americans who share the belief that Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction." The implication is that some people in the other camp are not sufficiently patriotic. "We support rigorous UN weapons inspections to assure Iraq's effective disarmament," said the Anti-War Lite statement. It continued, less defensively:
"We believe that a preemptive military invasion of Iraq will harm American national interests. Unprovoked war will increase human suffering, arouse animosity toward our country, increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world. It will make us less, not more, secure."
If that will get them to the protests on time and in large numbers, fine. The problem is, Win Without War has not endorsed the January 18 A.N.S.W.E.R. demonstrations, although some affiliated groups and individuals will doubtless take part. Since most of the coalition didn't have anything to do with the October protests, their absence in January shouldn't be of much concern. If they would be satisfied with staging actions on their own schedules, such as the small, scattered demonstrations that took place on December 10, that too would be useful. But the brats and dilettantes in their ranks are certain to grab corporate media microphones to smear A.N.S.W.E.R., rather than tend to their own business.
believes that, in the end, it's going to require that serious Black activists smack the spoilers upside the head, so to speak, and teach them how to be adult. Bush is deadly serious. The resistance must be even more disciplined.
Peace, justice and good wages
Organized labor, at their best moments, understands the value of solidarity, and dare anyone to challenge their patriotism. The following resolution by the San Francisco Labor Council is definitely not Anti-War Lite:
Whereas, since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we have seen the beginning of a relentless new assault on labor --from the employers, and from the government acting on their behalf; and
Whereas, using the so-called "war on terrorism" and "national security" as a pretext, the Bush Administration has spearheaded a renewed assault on organized labor, starting with the use of Taft-Hartley (and threats to militarize the ports) against West Coast dockworkers...wholesale threats to the job security and union rights of 170,000 federal workers...the racist firings of experienced airport screeners...threats to curtail the right to strike and organize; and the impending contracting out of hundreds of thousands of federal jobs. On more than one occasion, government spokespersons have referred to union actions defending our jobs, working conditions and living standards as akin to terrorism, or as "aiding and abetting terrorists", or as a "threat to national security"; and
Whereas, Bush's war (on Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, the Philippines, where next?) has become the main engine for the repression of labor. "National security", in the hands of a thoroughly anti-labor Bush Administration, is being used as a bludgeon against labor, with the intent of rolling back all the gains workers have won since the 1930s, including collective bargaining itself, and including social programs championed by the labor movement like welfare, social security, unemployment insurance; and
Whereas, a strong fight-back requires that labor make it a priority to stake out a clear, forthright and fighting stance against Bush's war, and see the anti-war and anti-globalization movements as our strategic allies, needed if we are to defeat the assault on labor and move to the offensive. We got a glimpse of the potential power of this combination during the 1999 showdown in Seattle; and
Whereas, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. embodied the coming together of the labor, anti-war and civil rights movements during the tremendous upsurge of the mass movement in the 1960s, and we need to revive this powerful combination of the people's forces to defeat Bush's war and the racism that underlies it and that it promotes; and
Whereas, our opposition to the Bush Administration's war on the Iraqi people, and to their attacks or threats against other smaller, sovereign countries around the globe, fits hand in glove with labor's fighting defense of the interests of the working people of all races and nationalities here at home; therefore be it
RESOLVED: That the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, endorse the Martin Luther King weekend anti-war activities --the January 18, 2003 marches in San Francisco and Washington, DC in opposition to the war on Iraq, and the Grassroots Peace Congress being held in Washington, as well as the People's Anti-War Referendum ["VoteNoWar"] by which millions of Americans are casting their "votes" against this war; and be it further
RESOLVED: That this council work to ensure that organized labor and the national AFL-CIO take a clear and early stand against Bush's war.
The resolution was approved unanimously. These men and women have seen the enemy, and it is Bush. They don't waste time and resources in anguish over the presence of people carrying Little Red Books. And there is no more fitting activity during the week of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday than to march in the interest of peace.
Glover and Belafonte in Cuba
Among the Black signers of the Artists Against War petition are Diahann Carroll, Charles S. Dutton, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Guillaume, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Blair Underwood, Alfre Woodard, and Danny Glover. Glover joined Harry Belafonte, who is as hard core a veteran for peace as they come, for a press conference at Havana's Hotel Nacional, where they generally agreed on professional and political matters. It was Glover's fourth attendance at the Havana Film Festival; Belafonte has only "missed four out of 24 festivals."
Belafonte deplored the state of Hollywood cinema, saying he found the "highest movie-making standards at festivals in Havana, Cartagena [Spain] and Brazil, where cinema is an art showing more sensitivity than just aiming at the market." Glover repeated to the international press his stand against Bush's war plans: "My position on the war is very clear, above all for the impact that it will have on women and children in Iraq who are already suffering the consequences of sanctions."
Belafonte had a ready answer for those who question the propriety of criticizing the U.S. in a Cuban forum. "Many of my friends are journalists," said the singer-actor-activist, "and they tell me that there has never been as much censorship as now, and if they rebel then they will just lose their jobs."
Anti-War Lite Glover and Hard Core Harry were quite compatible. If only the white folks of the movement could just get along....
No cost, no excuse
Baltimore City Councilman Kwame Abayome got unanimous support for his anti-war resolution, part of a growing urban peace offensive. urges our influential readership to consider the language approved by Baltimore's local legislators:
FOR the purpose of reaffirming the articles of the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law on the peaceful resolution of disputes, opposing the United States' continued and threatened violation of the United Nations Charter and of international law by the unilateral, preemptive military action against the nation of Iraq, opposing the continued nonmilitary sanctions and proposed escalated military action, and urging the Bush Administration and our federal representatives to work with and through the United Nations to obtain compliance by Iraq with the United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning the development by Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and to support fully the return of international weapons inspectors to Iraq for that purpose and to actively support the United Nations' diplomatic efforts to support and encourage democracy and respect for human rights in Iraq and all nations.
The $200 billion cost of the war --for starters --will wreak immediate disaster in every city of the nation. The least that city councils can do is go on the record with their non-binding opinions.
In industrial and mostly Black and Hispanic Elizabeth, New Jersey, Councilwoman Pat Perkins Aguste convinced her colleagues to pass a "Culture of Peace" resolution that, she said, "we take to mean no aggressive war with Iraq."
"There is a role for us to play," said the Black lawmaker. "If we are asked to play a role we should step up."
The $2 trillion war
If the United States conquers Iraq and sticks around for ten years, the total cost to the economy could rise to $2 trillion dollars. That's one-fifth of the value of the nation's yearly goods and services, 40 times the annual value of all U.S. agricultural exports to the world, the whole federal budget for one year... it is unfathomable to all but the war profiteers who are even now dividing contracts.
As when confronted with an earlier, $200 billion estimated cost of several years' involvement in Iraq, the White House called the discussion "premature," since "we're hoping for a peaceful solution."
Occupation and peacekeeping could cost $500 billion, according to the report of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Most of the rest of the damage would result from economic recession, caused by disruption in oil markets.
In a best-case scenario, the benefits to the U.S. economy of Iraq's oil resources would amount to only about $40 billion.
The figures tell the tale. The pirates are in charge. Only they stand to profit.
The Anti-War Lite crowd doesn't understand who they're up against.
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Same as It Ever Was: South Carolina and It's Flag
Posted: Monday, December 23, 2002
by KEVIN ALEXANDER GRAY
On July 2, 1776, the "anti-slavery clause" was removed from the Declaration of Independence at the insistence of Edward Rutledge, delegate from South Carolina. Rutledge threatened that South Carolina would fight for King George against her sister colonies. He asserted that he had "the ardent support of proslavery elements in North Carolina and Georgia as well as of certain northern merchants reluctant to condemn a shipping trade largely in their own bloodstained hands." Fearful of postponing the American Revolution, opponents of slavery, who were in the clear majority, made a "compromise." Thus, July 4, 1776, marks for African Americans not Independence Day but the moment when their ancestors' enslavement became fixed by law as well as custom in the new nation.
If only anti-slavery foes had said "no compromise!" to South Carolina and rejected slavery and white privilege, the United States would have begun as a principled nation instead of a hypocritical one. Maybe then, today's South Carolinians would not be at the point of violence about a flag and what to do with it.
Throughout American history, South Carolinians have led the fight to preserve and defend slavery, white supremacy, racial segregation, and race fear. South Carolina is the soul of the Confederacy. It is safe to say that South Carolina gave birth to Dixie, so much so that it is a matter of pride to many South Carolinians that their state was the first to secede from the Union and that Citadel cadets fired the first shot of the Civil War.
South Carolina's singular role in United States history is as a conduit for the growth of slavery. Between 1700 and 1775, forty percent of all enslaved blacks came to America through the state. As Ellis Island in New York was the first stop for many Europeans willingly entering the New World, Sullivan's Island near Charleston, was the first stop for many Africans who were brought here against their will. South Carolina had the highest percentage of slaveholders in the nation. In 1860 almost half (45.8 percent) of all white families in South Carolina held enslaved Africans.
The Confederate flag represents the glorification of that history. The flag represents slavery, racial oppression and a deep-seated belief in the very existence and rightness of the Confederacy. The flag symbolizes a privileged, landed class, white supremacy and patriarchy. Those who fought and died under the Confederate flag were willing to die for the expansion of slavery. This, not some vision of mint juleps and ladies in ringlets and lace, is the "heritage" that modern Confederates defend when they champion this flag. For most Americans, let alone most African Americans, the men who died under the Confederate battle flag were not heroes; they were traitors to the fundamental notion of human freedom.
For the past 32 years, the Confederate flag has flown atop South Carolina's Statehouse dome. Now there is finally a movement to move the flag to the grounds around the Statehouse. Many in the white community believe this is a compromise blacks ought to jump on. Some have even offered that the flag be cast in bronze as possible compromise. A few white state legislators promise violence if the flag is not honored "appropriately" and as part of the "compromise," black legislators must agree to leave all Confederate monuments, building, school, street names and the like in place.
In spite of such threats, the local, national and international community must repudiate this compromise. It is unacceptable to have the Confederate flag flying on public property. The flag is a racist, ignoble symbol and location does not change its meaning. The flag as government-imposed speech or symbolism is a slap in the face to all Americans who believe in equality. The NAACP's demand is that the flag be removed from the dome and relegated to a museum. So, if the South Carolina legislature decides to cast the flag in bronze, the group will have accomplished its mission. That does not mean that the remaining monuments to racism ought to be left alone. All monuments that glorify slavery ought to crumble, and it is outrageous and not just symbolic that the most reactionary legislators are insisting that all other symbols of white supremacy and enslavement must stand if they give up this one.
The National Association for the Advancement for Colored People remains the spearhead of the economic boycott against South Carolina. Although the boycott sometimes lacks coherence, the group loses credibility amongst its core supporters by accepting any deal that leaves the flag flying. The boycott generally centers on tourism but, at present, it is difficult to measure the effect on white-owned businesses or activities such as concerts or sports events. Some in the movie industry such as Will Smith and Mel Gibson ignored the call to avoid the state while tennis pros Serena and Venus Williams refused to play at the all-but-segregated Hilton Head. The Neville Brothers appeared in the state while singer Gerald Levert says he won't perform until the flag comes down.
A few months ago, the New York Knicks moved their training camp from Charleston. Players said they "didn't feel welcome" with the flag flying. If the NAACP expands the boycott, it should include discouraging athletes, black and white, from playing major college sports in the state. The NCAA has indicated that it is willing to go along.
The boycott has had an immediately adverse affect on blacks. Many black families come into the state for reunions. Hotel owners whose client base is predominately black feel the immediate pain of the tourist boycott. If the boycott dramatically affects convention business, that hurts black workers disproportionately. In spite of this economic reality, moving the flag to the front door of the Statehouse ends nothing--would the civil war have ended if slavery had been moved to some more obscure corner of the nation?--and most black people in South Carolina are willing to sacrifice a bit longer. They see the flag as symbolic of the economic disparities and regressive racial attitudes that have persist in the state to this day.
The South Carolina business community, black and white, wants the flag down because the boycott and accompanying negative publicity is costing them money. Yet, many white businessmen express an inbred sympathy for flag supporters. Many in the chamber of commerce crowd think that moving the flag to the state's Main Street will change the image of the state. They are counting on the rest of the world seeing it their way. They are just as out of touch with how South Carolina appears to the rest of the world as their predecessors who put the flag up as a symbol of resistance to civil rights for African Americans in 1968.
Many white legislators have openly expressed their longing for, denial of or amnesia about South Carolina's racist history. Some have mused out loud about how good it was when all black football teams played the all-white teams. Almost all ignore past and present Ku Klux Klan activism and violence in the state. One calls the NAACP, the 'national association of retarded people.'' Others unashamedly proclaim that black slavery "is good." Confederacy defenders and those nostalgic for state-sponsored segregation, present to the world the same troubling mindset as Austria's Nazi SS defenders. The international community should respond to South Carolina as it did to Joerg Haider's Freedom Movement and his Freedom Party-led government.
The South Carolina statehouse is surrounded by Confederate monuments. Not only that. There are Confederate monuments at every county courthouse and town square in the state. The names of white, male southern patriarchs are everywhere. Towering high in Charleston is a statute of John Caldwell Calhoun who promoted the ideology of white supremacy and states' rights. General Wade Hampton who promoted and defended secession and the Confederacy sits on a horse on the capital grounds. Benjamin Ryan Tillman, a virulent white supremacist, constitutionally (and otherwise) who reinstituted white rule after Reconstruction, faces the Confederate soldier statue that guards the statehouse.
"Pitchfork" Ben drove blacks out of the state at gunpoint. He and his Sweetwater Sabre Club members wore white shirts stained in red to represent the blood of black men. Tillman's heir, Senator James Strom Thurmond, rose to prominence in 1948 with the States Rights Democratic Party, better known as the Dixiecrats. Thurmond ran as that party's presidential candidate; his party stood for segregation and against race mixing. Throughout his congressional, career Thurmond has opposed every major civil rights initiative. On the statehouse grounds, Thurmond's statute faces the Confederate Women's monument.
And long before Nazi Germany's Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death," conducted human experiments on Jews at Birkenau and Auschwitz; long before the Tuskeegee experiment that left 399 black men untreated for syphilis from 1932 to 1972, South Carolina had James Marion Sims. Sims, the "father of gynecology," established America's first women's hospital -- the Women's Hospital of the State of New York. He is also credited with founding the Cancer Hospital now known as the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Yet before Sims treated the white and wealthy, he experimented on enslaved black women. Sims performed more than forty experimental operations on an enslaved woman named Anarcha for a prolapsed uterus without anesthesia or antiseptic. Sims' memorial is tucked in a corner of the statehouse grounds next to the Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway plaque.
All these men hold a place of honor in the hearts and minds of many white South Carolinians. If they need to prove that they have not abandoned their racist heritage, there will remain plenty of evidence after the Confederate flag comes down. And ensuring that those relics of racism and white supremacy will remain in place for another generation is far too high a price to pay in order to achieve the minor feat of allowing the flag to further defile the statehouse grounds.
While the Statehouse lawn is crowded with statutes of white men the memory of the rebellious black haunts modern Confederates. The Citadel, the state-run military academy in Charleston that was recently forced to accept women, was built in 1825 after the Denmark Vesey insurrection of 1822. Construction of the Citadel arsenal was begun in order to protect whites from "an enemy in the bosom of the state."
In 1999, a majority-white committee was given the task of coming up with a memorial for the Statehouse grounds that would recognize the legacy of slavery. Vesey's name was suggested to the committee. The Vesey conspiracy was one of the most elaborate black uprisings on record. It involved thousands of blacks in and around Charleston. In the end Vesey, his five aides and thirty-seven blacks were hanged for trying to set themselves and their brethren free. Vesey didn't just shout "give me liberty or give me death," he acted on that idea, so fundamental to American concepts of liberty and values. Nevertheless, the committee refused to recommend a statute of Vesey because "he advocated killing whites." But the committee did not suggest taking down the statues of Tillman and Hampton, who advocated killing blacks.
Many white southerners refuse to believe or accept the fact that his or her ancestors fought the wrong fight. You hear the same nonsense over and over: They "fought bravely," "defended the land," their cause was "noble"-even that they fought because they were called and "it was their duty to fight" Illusions aside, the war was about "keeping the niggers in place!" Poor whites fought and died in a "rich man's war" because they wanted to remain "better than the niggers." And today, if the flag remains on the dome or even if it is placed on the grounds, the underlying sentiment that welcomes its continued presence will be "keeping the niggers from getting what they want!"
For those with an unbiased and honest view of history, that flag will always represent racial oppression, first and foremost. Flag opponents are not asking anyone to forget history or to give up their flag. Just the opposite: We must never forget! Those who put one of the many Confederate flags on their cars or fly them in their yards at least do us the favor of letting us know what they stand for. Still, at some point, there must be a repudiation of the symbols and icons that glorify the immorality of the past.
People have to get beyond that point if we expect them to recognize the debt owed African Americans for the stolen lives and labor of their ancestors. And that is the least we ought to expect.
Kevin Gray is a civil rights organizer who resides in Columbia, South Carolina.
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New moves by Britain and BBC?
Posted: Sunday, December 22, 2002
Scribes spy for BBC
Sunday Mail Reporter
THE British Foreign Office has allegedly hired some Zimbabwean journalists to work for the BBC as underground staff whose duty is to shoot television images and send them to the station's head offices in London, where voice-overs are done. Full Article
UK's military plot exposed
Political Editor
BRITAIN is recruiting Zimbabweans into its army, a move seen by the Zimbabwe Government as part of a plan to oust President Mugabe from power violently.
Security sources say the locals could be used in a military offensive against Zimbabwe should Britain execute its plan to topple the Government.
The recruitment also includes some Zimbabwean soldiers.
In a letter dated December 2 2002 to a top Zimbabwean official who had been put as a referee by one Ashley Chibaya in his application to join the British army, Mrs L. Bradbury from the Commander Recruiting Group wrote:
"Ashley Chibaya has applied for a Commission in the British Army and has given us your name as a referee.
"At this stage of Ashley’s application, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) needs to establish his identity and be assured as to his background, character and integrity.
"Whereas we are able to establish identity by other means, it would be very much appreciated if you would kindly provide a reference in respect of the latter aspects.
"Your reference need not be extensive, but should include a note as to how long you have known him and in what capacity," reads the letter by Mrs Bradbury.
Since the victory by President Mugabe in the March presidential poll in which he defeated the MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, by over 400 000 votes, Britain has been working with the MDC, some non-governmental organisations and the private media in destabilising the country.
Commenting on the letter by Mrs Bradbury, the Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Professor Jonathan Moyo, said the Government is aware that Britain is recruiting Zimbabweans into its army. Full Article
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President Mugabe's State of the Nation address
Posted: Friday, December 20, 2002
www.herald.co.zw
President Mugabe yesterday delivered the State of the Nation address in Parliament. The following is the full text of his address.
Mr Speaker,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
I address you at a time when our country is experiencing considerable difficulties related to the devastating drought that has ravaged our region. Indeed, I address you amidst warnings and fears of yet another drought. This challenging situation has been compounded by preceding seasons of devastating floods and, in sum, dramatises our increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and the need for national preparedness. The Nation remains anxious about the immediate season and the prospects it bears for all of us.
A direct outcome of these repeated adversities has been a generalised food shortage both in the country and our region as a whole. Most of our southern African countries do not have enough food and have resorted to food imports for survival. A huge food import effort is underway in the region and clearly our port, rail and road systems are stretched to the limit in order to meet the logistical demands imposed by this adverse situation. It is a regional problem; one which has imposed tremendous hardships on our peoples and a stupendous strain on our economies and infrastructure.
Here at home, household stocks have practically run out in most areas and Government has had to meet total food requirements from imports. Even parts of our country which managed some harvests in the last season or which normally enjoy good harvests in good years have exhausted their stocks and Government is having to include them on its ever growing list of areas of need. Government is stepping up grain purchases and the overall movement of food so we can sustain our people until the next harvest which we hope might mitigate the drought.
To date, Government has provided $8,67 billion in food aid. As at the 6th of this month, a total of 1 005 862 metric tonnes of grain had been contracted, with 648 231 metric tonnes having been delivered. These received quantities have gone to all our people, strictly on the basis of their numbers and survival needs across the country.
I cannot over-emphasise the importance of tackling this situation of extreme need with a common vision and unity of purpose, and of course, with the usual creative fortitude, which has seen us through similar droughts in the past.
I appeal especially to our corporate citizens to play a visible, responsible and meaningful role to complement the Government effort. The man and woman standing in need of food cannot apply himself or herself fully when he or she is concerned about where to get the next family meal. Without food, there cannot be any production, just as there will not be any food if we do not produce. The challenge should thus be that clear to all of us.
Owing to the drought, the question of the pricing of basic commodities has become an important aspect of our policy aimed at buttressing the social security of our people. It has thus become a national issue and not a prerogative of the entrepreneur. Similarly, the issue of incomes and wages would have to be looked at from the same perspective so that our collective response is broad and comprehensive enough to restore the survival threshold of our people. I, therefore, urge Government to continue consulting with business and labour for outcomes that bring sustainable relief to our people. These tripartite consultations should concretely focus on those commodities that are basic to our people and which thus should be made available and remain within the reach of the common man.
Because our economy is agriculture-led, resolving the question of drought constitutes the unavoidable basis of getting our economy to make the required turn-around.
Hence, under the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme, Government has increased the amount to be expended on inputs from an initial $1,4 billion in 2000 to $7,6 billion in 2001, $8,5 billion in 2002 and now to $12,5 billion in 2003. In addition, a total of $1,4 billion was this year allocated for the purchase of irrigation equipment and rehabilitation of schemes covering an area of 7 749 hectares throughout the country.
Major rehabilitation works carried out at schemes such as Dewure, Chibuwe and Mutema in Manicaland; Mankonkoni in Matabeleland South; Shashi and Lukosi in Matabeleland North; and Chilonga in Masvingo, should result in enhancing our food production capacity. The successful winter crop piloted in Masvingo this year should now be extended to other areas with water masses so the yields of maize and wheat are significantly increased.
Several dam projects which would meet the Nation’s growing water demands, especially for irrigation purposes, are now at different stages of implementation and four of them, namely Mundi Mataga in Mberengwa, Matezva in Bikita, Chikombedzi in Chiredzi and Sadza in Chikomba will be completed this year.
The District Development Fund is providing tillage to farmers and the exercise has thus so far covered over 63 000 hectares benefiting more than 13 000 families from the $800 million made available during the 2002 winter cropping season. In the current 2002/2003 summer cropping season, over 60 000 hectares have been tilled out of a target of 100 000.
Mr Speaker, I have had occasion to update this august House on our Land Reform Programme which is meant to address the inequitable historical land apportionment as between the majority of our people and the minority white settler community. I have also had occasion to announce the near conclusion of the A1 phase of the Land Reform Programme, while announcing progress registered to date in respect of the A2 programme which focuses on commercial agriculture. A lot still remains to be done in fulfilling the basic requirements of the A2 programme, although the land acquisition process has gone a substantial distance.
Mr Speaker, our Nation has paid dearly for embarking upon the urgent and unavoidable land reforms. We have been criticised for doing the right thing, namely, accomplishing the sovereign mission of acquiring our heritage. Now that the land has come, let this Nation be repaid by its new breed of farmers who should work the land diligently and produce abundantly for it and its neighbours.
Mr Speaker, although we are confronted as a Nation by several economic challenges, Government continues to introduce a number of measures whose aim is to restore macro-economic stability. Most of these measures were announced in the 2003 Budget, while others were announced later. Our agrarian reforms should accordingly be supported by other measures that seek to stimulate our small and medium-scale enterprises, while regenerating activity in the traditional sectors of mining, manufacturing, commerce and tourism, all with a bias towards stimulating our export sector for greater foreign exchange earnings.
Our Employment Creation Fund has reached out to rural communities and a total of $290 million was disbursed towards 2 000 projects throughout the country, 61 percent of which are rural-based while 51 per cent are female-owned. Cumulatively, over 80 per cent of these projects are in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Mining has, in the past year, been affected by low international prices and rising costs of production. The new fiscal incentives for mining and approved new incentives to increase the production of gold by the small-scale and alluvial gold sectors, medium-scale and large-scale producers, have gone some way towards causing some recovery.
A notable development in mining is the increase in applications for exploration licences by local small companies. While more resources should be channelled towards these players, as the future of the industry lies in their hands, the setting up of the Gold Mining and Minerals Development Trust (GMMDT) will facilitate the growth of the small-scale sector, by assisting the mining and benefication processes.
Mr Speaker, tourism is certainly recovering. Tour operators and travel writers from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia and Malaysia who visited Zimbabwe on fact-finding missions testify to this fact. More initiatives should be embarked upon in order to achieve the overall turn-around of this lead sector.
Mr Speaker, the passage of the Rural Electrification Fund Act this year has given a fillip to our rural electrification programme. To date, two bonds, totalling Z$7 billion have been successfully issued to finance the rural electrification programme. As at 21st October 2002, 1 507 projects had been completed countrywide under the Expanded Rural Electrification Programme. The Programme also provides beneficiaries with end-use infrastructure such as equipment used in irrigation, welding, milling and various other small businesses, which will, in turn, enable them to use electricity for economic gain.
Infrastructure development remains the cornerstone for the growth of the economy. The Road Fund established to finance maintenance of roads and bridges has, to date, accumulated about $2,6 billion, of which about $2,3 billion has been disbursed to the respective road authorities namely, the Department of Roads, Urban Councils, Rural District Councils and the District Development Fund.
The new Chirundu Bridge built at a cost of US$22 million through a Japanese government grant has been completed and is now commissioned. The bridge should improve the increased flow of traffic between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Major civil aviation projects are being implemented, such as the rehabilitation of the Harare International Airport runway, and the upgrading of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo, Victoria Falls and Buffalo Range airports at a cost of $2,5 billion, $14 billion and $3,5 billion respectively.
Housing remains a major priority for Government. Consequently, $198 million was allocated to local authorities to up-grade old housing estates in various parts of the country, with a further $150 million being allocated for servicing about 1 350 stands at growth points and rural service centres countrywide. Other activities included construction of the Harare Composite Office Block and Chirundu Border Post facilities. Projects in progress include the Interpol Sub-Regional Headquarters, Central Registry and Immigration Headquarters, Rural Health Centres and 13 District Hospitals.
In the area of education, Government continues to expand tertiary education in response to demand. All technical colleges have been up-graded to polytechnic status to facilitate the diversification of programmes while the curricula of vocational and technical institutions have been reviewed to respond to emerging needs such as those occasioned by the agrarian reforms. In this regard, the rural industrial attachment programme for students in technical and commercial disciplines has been introduced to stimulate the rural economy. As the students gain practical knowledge and skills, they simultaneously assist local communities in development projects.
A total of 61 A-Level classes have also been established and 29 of these are rural district schools to allow easy access to rural students who would otherwise find it expensive to enroll at boarding schools. The preservation of Zimbabwean social norms and values is at the core of our education through teaching topics on our Constitution, National Anthem, National Flag and Human Rights. In order for children in resettlement areas to continue with their education, 346 primary and 93 secondary satellite schools have been established.
To reduce the number of vulnerable children dropping out of school, about 700 000 children in primary, secondary and special schools have been assisted with levies, tuition and examination fees under the Basic Education Assistance Model (Beam) since January this year. In fulfilment of our commitment to the Declaration of the Fifty-fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Government has set in motion the process for monitoring and reporting on the Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty by the year 2015. The Children in Difficult Circumstances (CDC) programme is another response by Government to revitalise the traditional child-care approaches by empowering communities so they can assess, analyse and take appropriate action for vulnerable children in their areas. A total of $50 million was allocated this year for the purpose. The National Youth Service Training Programme opened more centres at Guyu in Gwanda, Mushagashe in Masvingo and Dadaya in the Midlands. Another centre at Kamativi will open in April 2003.
Given the significant role of this programme in moulding and developing our youth, Government will ensure that it has adequate resources to meet the expansion plans for the year 2003 and beyond.
The HIV/Aids pandemic continues to ravage the country. As part of Government measures to combat the spread of the disease, the number of Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres has been increased from 10 in 2001 to 15 in 2002; free nevirapine for the prevention of mother-to-child infection has been secured to cover the period 2002 to 2007 while district and village Aids committees are now functional throughout the country, thereby strengthening the process of district planning and organisation to fight HIV/Aids. By the end of August this year, the National Aids Council had raised $4,5 billion of which $2,1 billion had been disbursed.
The biggest challenge of dealing with HIV/Aids remains the need for the population to adopt healthy lifestyles. It is in this context that in addition to implementing water and sanitation programmes, the Government has allocated $2,5 billion for child supplementary feeding to cover an estimated 1,4 million children under the age of five until the end of the year.
The brain drain fuelled by aggressive recruitment by overseas agents has resulted in the loss of several health sector personnel, the most affected group being nursing which has lost about 2 000 nurses. As a short to medium term measure, the Government has re-introduced the training of state certified nurses and other paramedical personnel such as pharmacy technicians, clinical officers or assistants to physicians. This is in addition to the recruitment of various health personnel from friendly countries, for example, Cuba, whose 110 medical personnel have already been deployed to various parts of the country.
Mr Speaker, Britain’s relentless diplomatic campaign of vilifying and isolating our country has hit a frenzy only matched by its futility. There is a growing recognition even within the European Union that this Blair-led anti-Zimbabwe drive is as unjustified as it is spiteful. A number of countries are questioning the British motives, while global solidarity with Zimbabwe continues to grow. Equally, the search for new partnerships with non-traditional regions of our economic pursuits is beginning to yield positive results. We remain guided by principles of mutual respect and unbending regard for the sovereign will of independent nations. The regard we give to all nations of the world is the respect we expect from the same world.
Much against malicious claims, we have completed our mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo and all our soldiers deployed there have come back triumphant at the conclusion of a hallowed pan-African duty. What the international community could not achieve with so much tragedy in the 1960s, has been accomplished by three small southern African nations with meagre resources and abundant will. As always, the prophets of doom have been shamed and we have written yet another chapter in peace-making and peace-keeping, a glorious chapter in African solidarity. Today, the DRC can march towards peace, with her boundaries clearly etched and drawn, her right to self-determination fully asserted.
In our relations with our partners in Sadc and the African Union, Zimbabwe has always sought to play a constructive role in addressing issues that affect the region. The centrality of our policy has been and will continue to be based on peace and stability as pre-requisites for social and economic development.
Mr Speaker Sir, I wish to urge all Zimbabweans to actively participate in partnership institutions like the National Economic Consultative Forum and the Tripartite Negotiating Forum and proffer collective and home-grown solutions to the economic and other challenges that our country is facing. The National Economic Consultative Forum has now set up its own permanent secretariat dedicated to following up on the implementation of recommendations arising from the Forum.
As we bid farewell to yet another year, let us all look to the New Year with hope, remaining steadfast in our endeavour to seek economic justice and prosperity for our people and country. Yet before the year ends, we have the Christmas period which, as a joyous and charitable occasion, should inspire us to espouse the virtues of love, unity and oneness both as individuals and as communities.
Let us be better people in 2003. Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
I thank you.
Reproduced from:
http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=16993&pubdate=2002-12-20
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African Venezuelans fear new U.S. coup against President Chavez
Posted: Wednesday, December 18, 2002
December 12, 2002
by Professor Alejandro Correa & Professor Emeritus Willie Thompson
This month, for the first time in history, Venezuelan people of African descent have total control of their historic Black university, the Instituto Universitario Barlovento. They are already planning a university administered hotel and a restaurant for students, faculty and the community. This is an achievement of a lifetime, and the people of Barlovento gather around their seat of higher learning to reflect on their success.
Another topic on their minds and hearts is the fate of President Hugo Chavez. He is Venezuela's first multiracial president and is called "Negro" (nigger) by his detractors because of his African-Indigenous features. Behind the enemies of Venezuela and Hugo Chavez are very large sums of money being spent to destroy the dreams of the people who historically have been discriminated against because of race, economic ideas, etc.
These dreams of the African Venezuelan people may be deferred if the United States replaces Chavez with a rightwing businessman as president. Currently, three Blacks are state governors elected by the people; the secretary of education is black; two Indigenous Venezuelans are congresspersons elected directly by the people; Indigenous Venezuelans have the complete right to claim their historic lands; land is protected and available to Black and Indigenous Venezuelan farmers so that they can now engage in farming for the first time in generations; and Venezuelans of African descent are participating in conferences against racism around the world and establishing strategic relationships with international organizations. They have attended Congressional Black Caucus conferences in 2000, 2001 and 2002; the pre-conference against racism in Chile in 2000; and the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. The African Venezuelan community in Barlovento also hosted the Second International Reunion of the African Latin Family in 1999.
Sixty percent of the population of Venezuela are people of African descent. The others are Mestizos of Indigenous and European descent and Indigenous. The support of the people of African descent in the United States is one of the most strategic factors in helping the people of African descent survive and prosper in Venezuela.
President Hugo Chavez was elected in a democratic election with more than 70 percent of the 11 million votes cast. One of his first actions was to call for an election of a National Constituency Assembly whose mission was to reform the 1969 national Constitution. During 40 years of democracy this Constitution was used to avoid empowering the people. The election of the National Constituency Assembly allowed the participation of students, business related organizations, community representatives and parties opposed to the president in the Assembly. The entire society had its opportunity in the Assembly.
The National Constituency Assembly designed a new national constitution, which was widely discussed all around the country. Then a national election was called to consider the acceptance of the new constitution. The Venezuelan people, in direct election, said, "We do accept the new constitution" in 1999. New national elections were called at all levels of government to test the acceptance of the new constitution and renegotiate the public powers. President Hugo Chavez, again, won the election with over one million votes more than his closest opponent. The party supporting Chavez also won, as did several state governors who belonged to the party.
During his three years in power – the complete term is six years – President Chavez has been an advocate for the education of the poor. After 50 years of being eliminated, schools were created with full schedules from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., allowing children to stay longer in recreational programs and special classes.
Never before have small businesses flourished with the full support of the government at the local and national levels. Chavez has opened the doors for the participation of those who have long been excluded.
When President Chavez came to power, 80 percent of the population lived below poverty. Overcoming this difficult obstacle requires a joint effort at all levels of society. Unfortunately, the support has not echoed in the upper economic brackets of Venezuelan society. What have they done? Organizing a coup is not the way to support the government.
Venezuela is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and the second largest oil exporter to the United States. President Chavez has never threatened the export of oil to the U.S. He has visited the U.S. about five times, holding meetings with businesspersons, seeking to stimulate foreign investment in Venezuela in order to raise the level of employment and mitigate the conditions of the poor.
Unfortunately, the sectors of society wanting to reverse these important advances decided to violate Venezuelan democracy. A group of renegade military generals formed a coalition with "businessmen" – land owners whose ancestors stole it from Indigenous Venezuelans and used enslaved African labor to build the Venezuelan economy and society.
Some members of the press also belong to the business establishment. Three main private TV stations led a campaign against the evolution of democratic change in the same style Hitler used against the Jews: "Say a lie a thousand times and everybody will believe it as a truth."
These forces formed a coup to destroy freedom in Venezuela. For three days they controlled the government and instituted practices not seen in Venezuela since the ‘50s, during the days of the military rulers. Venezuelans in their 60s were astonished to see such violations of civil rights.
Leaders of the coup imprisoned President Chavez, isolating him from any public contact, lying about a presidential resignation, dissolving all legitimate national powers at all levels. Then they started hunting down the legitimate member of Congress and of the president's cabinet. Even the Supreme Court was forced to resign. They did all that in a period of three days. Further, they derogated the 1999 constitution.
In response, however, people of all races and backgrounds took to the streets, the military bases and public buildings to liberate President Chavez. He is in control again.
Venezuelans watched with deep concern how Ari Fleisher, Bush's press secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, Bush's defense advisor – a black woman – avoided calling the coup against President Chavez what it really was: a vulgar, right wing coup against a democratic government. Both have used vague rhetoric to criticize Chavez' administration rather than condemn the coup. The Bush administration in general looked with sympathy at the coup and issued no declaration condemning it.
The New York Times also has presented the facts in a less than objective way. Rather than going into the countryside to talk with the people, Times reporters appear to have visited only the Caracas suburbs to assess public opinion. Furthermore, the local media consider only the opinions of wealthy people. All other opinions are considered unworthy. So, if you are poor or if you are not in agreement with the media, then you are not considered a part of the public opinion.
U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd has expressed dismay over the Bush administration's behavior regarding the situation in Venezuela. His position is an example of goodwill and is appreciated by Venezuelans.
There's an international effort to destroy the public image of President Chavez. Let us briefly analyze it.
1) Hugo Chavez has visited Iraq, Iran and Libya. Because he is a friend of those nations, he is branded an enemy of the United States. Venezuela and the countries visited by President Chavez are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Together with these countries, Venezuela regulates oil prices and must agree with them on strategies for maintaining profitability while at the same time making prices affordable to the oil importing countries such as the U.S. With 60 percent of its national budget based on oil income, clearly Venezuela must talk with members of OPEC. This doesn't make Venezuela a partner in terrorism as has been insinuated by the U.S. and the media.
2) Hugo Chavez is a friend of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro. It is insinuated that he is therefore an enemy of the U.S. Venezuela is a free and self-determining nation in its business relations with Cuba. It has a right to have business relations with China or any other country.
3) It is said that Hugo Chavez didn't condemn the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and is therefore an enemy of the U.S. But President Chavez most certainly did condemn the Sept. 11 attacks and said, just as France and Russia and the Pope did, that he doesn't support a heavy and indiscriminate attack against Afghanistan which might cause civilian casualties. The Bush administration considers neither the presidents of France and Russia nor the Pope as enemies of the U.S. and is not willing to plan and finance a coup against those leaders because they express humanitarian points of view.
4) President Chavez is said to be a supporter of the Colombian guerrillas and is therefore involved in terrorism. The truth is that President Chavez has condemned terrorism in Colombia. Furthermore, the Venezuelan government under his administration has been a mediator in peace talks between the guerrillas and the Colombian government.
5) The people of the U.S. should think deeply about U.S. support of the failed coup and its leaders and its plans to change the regime in Venezuela. The result of President Chavez' trip to oil exporting countries was agreement on a solid oil price. In Venezuela, the price of oil is extremely important for education, health care and public services generally. The first declaration of the leaders of the failed coup was the abandonment of the quota system, which caused oil prices to drop.
Writer's note: Africans and people of African descent are beginning to tell our own story. Most other people have no vested interest in telling the truth about us. Professor Correa of Barloyento University is an African Venezuelan, and he tells the story of the achievements of African Venezuelans, the United States' participation in the failed attempt to overthrow President Chavez, and the certain reversal of the social, economic, cultural and psychological gains to African Venezuelans if President Chavez is overthrown. He pleads with us to 1) discuss in open forums, churches and community organizations the U.S. attacks on Venezuela and the conditions there, and 2) write letters to the U.S. Congress asking that the U.S. respect the Venezuelan government and follow the rule of law and international treaties in dealing with Venezuela. You can trust his advice and act on it.
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China extends US$5m grant
Posted: Tuesday, December 17, 2002
Herald Reporter
CHINA has extended a US$5million (Z$280 million) grant to Zimbabwe for the importation of maize and agricultural equipment to boost the land reform programme.
Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Hou Qingru handed over the money to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Herbert Murerwa, yesterday.
He said his country — a close ally of Zimbabwe — was concerned with the current shortage of basic commodities in the country and hoped that the grant would help the Government import the much-needed maize.
"There is a very long traditional relationship between Zimbabwe and China and we have been supporting Zimbabwe before independence. We are happy that the funds have been fully utilised," Mr Qingru said.
He said his Government had bought about 4 500 tonnes of yellow maize from South Africa, which is expected in the country soon.
Speaking at the hand over ceremony, Dr Murerwa said the money would help ease food shortages and boost agricultural activities. MORE
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Mega park great news for regional tourism
Posted: Monday, December 16, 2002
By Tandayi Motsi, www.herald.co.zw
ZIMBABWE's tourism can do with a little bit of great news, what with the critical fuel shortage which is causing headaches to hotels and tour operators ahead of the festive season.
Most hotels and resorts in Zimbabwe are almost fully booked for the festive season. The majority of the bookings have been made by Zimbabweans who want to unwind with their families after a trying year.
But the fuel crisis, the worst to have hit the country, could put paid to their travel plans. With air fares out of the reach of many people, road travel is but the only option for those going to holiday. Without fuel, people cannot travel and hotels and tour operators lose out.
At present there are no signs that the fuel shortage is going away anytime sooner. Noczim officials are trying hard to line their pockets by attempting to dump Tamoil of Libya in favour of other international oil suppliers who demand cash upfront. With cash deals, Noczim officials can have opportunities to line their pockets. In the meantime fuel shortages worsen.
While the fuel shortages are depressing, the recent launch in Mozambique of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is great news for the local tourism industry.
The 95 000-square-kilometre park links Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, Limpopo National Park in Mozambique and Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Presidents Mugabe, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique recently signed the Mega Park treaty in Xai Xai, a town situated along the Limpopo River in Mozambique.
There are high expectations that the Mega Park will unlock great tourism revival and investment in Zimbabwe and the region. MORE
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Workers tired of stay-aways achieving nothing
Posted: Friday, December 13, 2002
By Tim Chigodo, www.herald.co.zw
ZIMBABWEAN workers are tired of stay-aways and demonstrations called by organisations attempting to justify the receipt of funds they get from donors.
Their refusal to participate in work stoppages backed by the National Constitutional Assembly and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, all appendages of the Movement for Democratic Change, has created sharp divisions between the opposition groups themselves and their supporters.
It is no longer a secret that opposition groups in the country are sponsoring violence and thuggery to cause mayhem in the country and in the process, further damage to the economy.
After failing in its attempts to remove President Mugabe and his Government from power, the West is now disenchanted with the work of the opposition groups.
Coffers of the MDC, NCA, ZCTU and other European-sponsored groups are drying up. This has broken the affinity among the organisations.
Now they are blaming each other for not doing a good job for their masters. They are seeing the demise of the MDC.
The failed stay-away and a protest march by the so called human rights lawyers is also a big disappointment to the organisers and the imperialist forces which finance them to create problems in their country in an effort to perpetuate colonialism.
Dr Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of NCA has not hidden his anger at the deteriorating support his organisation is now getting from the West. He has accused his sponsors of making false promises.
With the venom of a cobra, the NCA boss this week castigated the international community for letting him and his colleagues down. Dr Madhuku said they had celebrated when the United States passed the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill which sought to punish Zimbabwe for acquiring land from the white commercial farmers for redistribution to landless peasants.
"Civil organisations have received nothing since that piece of paper became law," he said angrily when he addressed a meeting attended by less than 200 people.
The meeting had been organised by the Mass Opinion Public Institute (Mopi), another opposition group led by a critic of the Government and University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Professor Masipula Sithole.
The NCA leader said his organisation had not received any money since the enactment of the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill. He advised his followers not to expect anything from the Americans and Europeans.
Other critics of the Government, Mr Brian Kagoro of Crisis in Zimbabwe and Mr Charles Mangongera of Mopi, addressed the meeting. There was total confusion when most speakers attacked the opposition groups of being irrelevant.
They blamed the MDC had failed to achieve its intended purpose of removing President Mugabe from power and that the movement was collapsing.
Dr Madhuku said it was no longer necessary to talk about President Mugabe’s legitimacy or illegitimacy. Cde Mugabe beat the MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai by more than 400 000 votes during the Presidential election in March this year.
Observers say the opposition faces total disintegration that may force it into oblivion.
The recent expulsion of Highfield Member of Parliament, Mr Munyaradzi Gwisai, has added more confusion to the opposition. The intolerance of a diversity of views by the party’s leadership has without doubt, spelt out its demise.
Analysts say the dismissal of Mr Gwisai has ruffled feathers within the rank and file of the party and sent a clear message to all the people that the MDC and Mr Tsvangirai, do not accommodate views different from theirs. The democracy that they have talked about so much is non-existent in the party.
Zanu-PF secretary for information and publicity, Cde Nathan Shamuyarira, said the latest events in the MDC were interesting and pertinent.
"We are intrigued and happy that the MDC has now publicly shown that it is not a party for the workers and peasants," he said.
Cde Shamuyarira said the observation made by Mr Gwisai that the MDC has neglected the workers and students who supported the party by virtue of being members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions was very pertinent.
"The MDC has no ideological direction," Cde Shamuyarira said.
Although the expelled legislator has supported the land reform programme, his party failed to come up with a policy on land.
"MDC leaders could not open their mouths because they were hamstrung by Britain and white commercial farmers who supported the party financially," the ruling party’s information and publicity chief said.
Any party that ignores the workers and peasants will not last long.
"They are important voices and not that of the Europeans and white commercial farmers," Cde Shamuyarira said.
Political commentator and publisher, Dr Ibbo Mandaza, said the events taking place in the MDC were symptoms of the collapse of the party. He said Mr Gwisai’s expulsion was inevitable considering the long standing rift between the legislator and his party leadership over ideology and policies.
"Unlike Zanu-PF, which has everyone in one camp, the MDC has elements in different camps. There are many young turks in the MDC who do not agree with the party’s policies," Dr Mandaza said.
The legislator and his superiors have, for a long time been at variance over ideology.
Mr Gwisai is a member of the International Socialist Organisation and pursues socialist ideology while the MDC, which sponsored him during elections, promotes capitalist policies.
Observers say the worst sin that the MP committed was to come out in full support of the Government’s land reform programme. He also slated his party for ignoring the workers who formed the core of the ZCTU which was later turned into a political party by Mr Tsvangirai without consulting them.
The party’s reliance on foreign support and continued articulation of imperialist policies has hastened the MDC’s downfall. The party destroyed itself by pursuing an anti-people programme, observers say.
Mr Tsvangirai, has never supported the land reform programme that seeks to empower Zimbabweans economically through equitable land redistribution. He has called Zimbabweans who have overwhelmingly endorsed the fast track land resettlement exercise "scavengers."
Most people took exception to Mr Tsvangirai’s utterances which they viewed as those of his white masters and not from a Zimbabwean.
Analysts derided the MDC leader for insulting the electorate.
The MDC is facing serious trouble that not even its foreign supporters who have in the past tried to clandestinely patch up differences within the movement can do anything about it now. It will be a tall order to put together the disintegrating British-sponsored party.
As things stand at the moment, the cracks in the MDC have widened and threaten its future as an opposition party in this country.
The failure of the MDC to attract local support was long foreseen when the party continued embracing foreign policies. The opposition made a mistake of thinking that because of the economic hardships in the country, people would abandon the ruling party and support it.
Mr Tsvangirai has been blaming the Government for the current problems some of which are the result of drought which has affected the entire Southern African region. He has, however, offered no solution to redress the economic hardships faced by the people.
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http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=16760&pubdate=2002-12-13
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Foreign aid should not further political objectives
Posted: Friday, December 13, 2002
From Innocent Gore in CHIRUNDU, www.herald.co.zw
FOREIGN aid should be given to strengthen economic co-operation and not to further political objectives, President Mugabe said yesterday.
The President said this at a ceremony to commission the new Chirundu Bridge on the Zambian side of the border.
The ceremony was also attended by Zambian President Mr Levy Mwana-wasa, Cabinet Ministers and senior Government officials from the two countries.
Cde Mugabe lauded the Japanese government for providing the US$25 million grant for the construction of the new bridge, which is expected to ease congestion and smoothen the flow of traffic at Chirundu Border Post.
He said since independence, Zimba-bwe had enjoyed cordial relations with Japan, which availed grant aid packages to various sectors of the Zimbabwean economy, such as transport and communication, health and local government.
Zimbabwe also received assistance in the form of technology transfer and the training of artisans in various technical fields.
"I wish we could say that of many other countries which we are associated with in history.
"They should learn that when aid is given with the purpose of strengthening co-operation, it would be better appreciated than aid, given in order to perpetuate political objectives.
"And when we have such aid given for political objectives, we shall never want nor entertain it," Cde Mugabe said.
The new bridge is going to ease the flow of traffic and is expected to increase the volume of trade between Zimbabwe and Zambia. MORE
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The British in bid to divide Zimbabweans
Posted: Monday, December 9, 2002
By Darlington Muzeza
As was the case in the 1890s when the British used dubious tactics of dividing the Shona and the Ndebele, the same people, in cahoots with some local enemies to the State and President Robert Mugabe, are again in a desperate bid to fabricate ethnic differences to divide us.
As I went through a document purporting that the Shona would want to subdue the Ndebele through President Mugabe, I could only conclude that this is another example of the ongoing barbaric attempts to cause tribal and regional animosity between us, perpetrated by our enemies, whose objective is to denigrate the President and undermine the 1987 Unity Accord.
Are these political cowards claiming to be democratic so despondent that they have failed in their thinking, that they are prepared to continuously demonise their country and people’s hard- won independence, unity and solidarity?
It does not show vision on the part of these people who aspire to be leaders of this country. By trying to undermine unity, peace, tranquillity and co-existence that the two tribes have shown, they are betraying the country.
This tribal propaganda being peddled by the British intelligence and some local enemies of the State is merely a scapegoat to oppose the land reform in Zimbabwe.
The land that Zimbabweans have taken is not a Cde Mugabe issue, but a historical concern that should have been corrected long back, and the idea of taking it back now is not bad.
The economic plight of the blacks is, to a large extent, a function of colonialism as well as our domestic enemies in which some political upstarts interested in assuming power for personal aggrandisement have sabotaged our economy by calling for sanctions. They have also peddled hostile publicity to create an impression that Zimbabwe is not a safe destination for investment.
This has been done in opposition to the land issue that our detractors have personalised to mean a Cde Mugabe issue.
President Mugabe and his Government are right in correcting these colonial imbalances and had the President not done so, history was not going to spare him judgment over the matter.
The revolution would have been incomplete if the land question was not addressed and the purpose for having gone to war would have been rendered illusory.
Therefore, it is frivolous for some MDC members in cahoots with the British intelligence to use this trivial tribal issue, which, since 1987, has been buried.
To cause confusion, suspicion and insecurity among us as a tactic to derail the land reform shall never succeed.
May I remind our enemies that the land reform has proved to be unstoppable and it is not a political gimmick.
Those preaching the gospel of tribal chauvinism are not only detractors and enemies of the State but are obsessed with political parochialism.
Zimbabweans are an enlightened people. They discern illusions from reality and this cheap politicking is a sheer waste of time and resources. We are aware of and understand who our enemies are.
It should be borne in mind that both the Ndebele and the Shona suffered the same enslavement, oppression and suppression by the same people who want to see us divided.
Atrocities were committed in Mboroma, Nyadzonya and Chimoio.
Both the Ndebele and the Shona people perished in these brutalities committed by humanity against humanity with impunity. Surprisingly, these people have the audacity to tell the world that we are divided.
They divided us when they colonised our country and they want to repeat it.
Hatikanganwe zvazuro nehope sezvinoita vamwe vedu. Our relationship as one people is inexorable and is second to none.
Those propaganda statements are a direct insult intended to undermine our cherished 1987 Unity Accord forged by the late Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo, and President Robert Mugabe, to facilitate the reconstruction of our country.
The lies being spread are a shame in the face of solidarity, unity and co-existence that we enjoy.
I urge all Zimbabweans to remain united against all odds of self-opinionated people who want us to be disunited.
Those championing such propaganda shall die as political nonentities because their objectives are not to build, but to destroy our country.
Their support is fast fizzling out because of lack of policies to rehabilitate our ailing economy.
Their utterances speak volumes about their confusion and lack of political wisdom to know that land is the economy. Their fabrication of facts is a desperate move by people who have run short of ideas.
Our detractors should appreciate that the Ndebele and the Shona are one people.
We achieved unity that our enemies never wanted or desired to see born. That unity should be guarded against those who threaten it.
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Shaping Zimbabwe's Economy Using African Model
Posted: Monday, December 9, 2002
Analysis By Dr. David Nyekorach-Matsanga in London
The Persistence of Vulnerabilities in Zimbabwe
During the past 9 months, the CNN, BBC and other western media outlets have been focusing the attention of its viewers on the imminence of another cataclysm in Zimbabwe: the collapse of the state of Zimbabwe. This expected to lead, before the end of this year or early in the new one, to devastating economic consequences in the Southern Africa state of ZIMBABWE. We are accordingly being reminded, should we ever pretend to have forgotten, of the extent the neo-colonial masters have predicted the vulnerability of the Zimbabwe economy then GOD will hate us.
This plus the current drums of war in Europe against President Mugabe has forced me to write this analysis for that doubting Thomas that never heard Dr. Herbert Murewa's quote from the Bible at the end of the Budget of 2003 in November. I had decided not make my feelings known but as humble Christian and Director of Africa Strategy whose voluntary duty is to defend and correct the wrong impression the British government and the opposition MDC are spreading in Europe about Mugabe I have to the dirty toxins on Zimbabwe now being spread by the followers of the Mad and Disoriented Creatures (MDC) in this country.
The negative notion on Zimbabwe has not changed a bit since 1997.The blame has been put on President Mugabe's policies yet the whole pattern of our economies in Africa remains the same. At the root of this lie structural imbalances and rigidities. These manifest themselves in the form of (i) demographic explosion; (ii) rapid desertification; (iii) frequent periodic drought in economies whose agriculture is virtually completely rain-dependent; (vi) dependencies; (v) economic and social disequilibria; (vi) lack of public accountability; (vii) destabilisation caused by conflict created by British and American systems, civil war, internal strife and coup d'etat; and, (viii) the debt overhang.
Unless and until these imbalances and inequalities are addressed at the root, the African economies will continue, at best, to achieve growth without development and at worse neither growth nor development. This requires a fundamental restructuring of the African and therefore Zimbabwean political economy is not an exception.
In my analysis I will try to show to those enemies in the Western World who hate President Mugabe that it is not his fault but it is a general trend on the continent. It requires an integrated approach to development that takes into account the effective inter dependence and linkage of economic sector activities, recognising the special role played by the food and agriculture sector as the leading production sector in an economy going through a period of demographic explosion like the one in Zimbabwe. Any government faced with this outside pressure needs measures for raising the general level of productivity to reverse the declining production trends. It will require giving very high priority to combating desertification including stopping all activities that bring about deforestation. This will increase production and stop future drought. Indeed, the protection of the environment and the cycle of reproduction of species require an optimum balance between population and nature and consequently the avoidance of a development profile that involves the depletion of or irreparable damage to environmental resources.
As political scientist I believe that most countries in the west have ignored the rules that govern environmental issues as far as Africa economies are concerned. The demand for timber in Europe has forced people in Africa to cut down forests that has caused the change of weather patterns. The colonial economy did not emphasis the need for human beings as the owners of the process, which has led to break down in relationship in most African nations like Zimbabwe. Above all, it requires a sustainable human-centred development process to be able to get out of economic hardships.
At present, in most SSA countries, less than one-third of the population have no access to potable water and electricity. Education for all still remains an unattained objective as a result Africa's illiterate population is increasing. The goals of competitiveness and efficiency will remain unattainable in a society burdened by deficient and inefficient economic and social infrastructure. So also will it be unattainable in a polity where the British and their stooges have demonised democracy, distorted governance and confused public accountability and where the fragile socio-political systems are often undermined by internal strife created by British and USA intelligence networks, coup d'etat, conflicts and civil war. Like Zimbabwe.
These often paralyse the state and turn them into a failure. States collapse when fragmented by internal strife like what the MDC and the British are advocating Zimbabwe in which none of the factions is capable of re-establishing central authority or when they lose their legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of their population and are therefore unable to exercise authority without excessive coercion or when they are rent by the unbridled greed and avarice, incompetence, negligence. The British and USA want to create such chaos in Zimbabwe by trying to overthrow the government of Mugabe. These signs are at advanced state in Zimbabwe.
A sound management of the economy is also a condition sine qua non of an effective viable and dynamic state. Macro-economic policy that alienates the government from the people, impoverishes the population and throws them out of jobs may achieve higher rates of economic growth for a while but certainly not sustainable human development. That is why I agreed with President Mugabe when he said no to devaluation and he has totally refused the instruments of neo-colonialism called IMF and World Bank.
No one now disputes that "demand management" which is a requirement of structural adjustment programmes of the 'World Bank and the IMF is largely politically motivated and shortsighted. Nor that these programmes have had little success in reviving economic growth on a sustainable basis in SSA. Impartial observers, particularly among Western experts, have now come round to my long-held view points that SAPs are too un-focused, typified by the proliferation of conditions, where more than hundred conditions per programme have not been unusual. As a person who has read some economics to a level of distinguishing between good and bad I will concur with the Zimbabwean approach that looks at the future of the nation not the interests of the current MDC demands and of the British hegemony.
How does Zimbabwe resume the struggle to forge the future?
Then the time is now and the delivery has been done by the land distribution programme, which has been completed.
The Economist in one of its leader articles - Emerging Africa - on the June 14, 1997 issue, inter-alia, urged Africa to forge its own future. This is no doubt a very opportune and appropriate counsel to give. This indeed is in conformity with the acknowledgement made from time to time by the Western world that the primary responsibility for the development of Africa is that of the people of Africa and their leaders. Indeed, at their Denver Summit in June 1997, the so-called Seven (now turned Eight) most industrialised democracies of the world echoed the same sentiments when they stated that developing countries have a fundamental responsibility for promoting their own development, and that developed countries must support these efforts. But when Zimbabwe brought out its land reform program most of these so called countries tried their level best to distort and reject these reforms. Hence the start of the economic hardships that this country is facing.
However, as all Zimbabweans know, the reality has been quite different. Every attempt that has been made by the Zimbabweans to forge their future, to craft their own development strategies and policies has been rebuffed by the so-called international financial institutions (IFIs) with the support or at least the connivance of the donor community. While the Zimbabwean leader can be faulted in some ways as alleged by the imperial monster powers, at least in this regard, fairness demands a full acknowledgement of the series of heroic efforts which he has made since the 1980s to craft his own indigenous development paradigms in the light of the perceptions of his people.
Mugabe has been the only African leader who has followed and understood all the declarations of the African meetings. The Lagos Plan of Action in 1980 (LPA); Africa's Priority Programme for Economic Recovery 1986 to 1990 (APPER) which was later turned into the United Nations Programme of Action for Africa's Economic Recovery and Development UN-PAAERD) by its adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations at its Special Session of May/June 1986; the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation (AAF-SAP) in 1989 and, the African Charter for Popular Participation for Development in 1990. The UN General Assembly also adopted both AAF-SAP and the African Charter. I can mention a long list of all these important declarations whose ink has only dried on paper but not implemented by the same neo-colonial masters.
Unfortunately, all of these were opposed, pooh-poohed, undermined and jettisoned by the Bretton Woods institutions. This has been a matter of concern and bitter frustration to Africans who see these negative reactions as the blatant exercise of power by the rich over the poor and, more importantly, as a negation of the democratic principles and the denial of the rights of a people to make decisions about their future - regardless whether such decisions prove to be right or wrong.
The undermining of the ability of African governments to determine their development strategy and choose the package of public policies without fearing being turned into international pariahs has made a farce of the pro-democracy movement. It is indeed inconsistent to champion the cause of democracy all over Africa and deny the governments and people the elementary right to forge their own future. Thus, the failure to change course and direction of public policies discussed in Section III above has been due largely to both external pressure and resistance. Not the reasons advanced by those opposed to the land redistribution program in Zimbabwe. I am trying to pump sense into those who think that the problems in Zimbabwe were created by Mugabe's land redistribution process.
Debt overhangs as barrier to good economics
At present, it is clear that the only way Zimbabwe can avoid losing the right to be in charge of its own national economic management is by not being burdened by unserviceable debt. But as far as the land redistribution is concerned Mugabe has won the war. It is the only way Zimbabwe can avoid being obliged to pursue programmes that are adjudged to be unfocused. The Economist with its tremendous influence should see to it that the regrettable economic (including debt) situation of Zimbabwe is not l used to deny them the right to craft their own development strategies and policies. This will encourage the resumption of initiatives by the government to the road to recovery, which the new Minister of Finance announced on 15th November 2002.
Needless to add that the African governments and leaders have themselves to blame for their failure to put their money where their mouth is. To adopt, after great deal of effort, discussions, consultations and negotiations, common strategies, policies and programmes only to ignore them in deference to those crafted by donors and international financial institutions in order to have access to loans and credit shows how deep seated African leaders' dependency, lack of self-confidence and commitment have been I thank the leadership in Zimbabwe for the tenacity and steadfastness they have shown when standing firm against the whirl wind of poison from the British decayed foreign policy.
Zimbabwe will only be able to invent for itself a future that will bring rising prospects of prosperity through total commitment to its own programmes and through their vigorous implementation. The policies of economic policy consist not only in their conceptualisation, articulation, adoption and popularisation but also in total and unrelenting commitment to implementation. It is only by so doing that Zimbabwe, particularly as one of the countries in SSA, can rediscover its self-respect and remould its image. We need not to urgently shed the image that we are incapable, as a people, to run a modern society and sustain the independence of our political economies through the process of internally generated development. That is what I saw in the budget of November 2002. I had wanted to see what the British budget would look like before I make my analysis and contribution to the stability of Zimbabwe.
Framework of Zimbabwe's Indigenous Development Paradigm
It is clear from the foregoing that for Zimbabwe's economy to stop going to doldrums it has to fundamentally be reshaped through a human-centre holistic development strategy postulated in the Lagos Plan of Action and the with the Africa Charter on Popular Participation providing the political underpinning. In specific and operational terms, this means
(i) The pursuit of an increasing measure of self-reliance at the national level through (a) the internationalisation of the forces of demand, which determine the direction of development and economic growth reality. In any case, the strategy of export-oriented industrialisation is to enable Zimbabwe to rejoin the global economy more forcefully and more vigorously and take the fullest advantage of the new world order.
(ii) The promotion of private investment in Zimbabwe. While all this is welcome, I believe that Zimbabwe's experience under the Lome Convention however shows that duty-free access is useful if there is the capacity to produce and supply the market in the near future. It is this capacity that the pursuit of this strategy will create.
Zimbabwe's Achilles Heel: Debt Overhang and demonised democracy
To enable Zimbabwe to pursue vigorously and determinedly the pursuit of the goals of its human-centred holistic development paradigm, which the Hon. Minister of Finance put forward to the nation, and the priority goals, its major albatrosses must be successfully and speedily removed. They are the debt overhangs and the perennial attacks on Zimbabwe's democracy. This has led to a halt in development and smooth planning in all sectors of government.
Unfortunately, these cannot be adequately treated in this already long analysis for each of them, given that its importance and complexity, requires to be so treated separately. But this analysis will be considered rather empty if it does not deal, however briefly, with these all-important problems that currently overwhelm the Zimbabwean political economy and threaten to force it to collapse. Let us begin with the debt overhang.
Today, 32 developing countries are classified as Severely Indebted Low Income Countries (SILICs). 25 of these are in Africa. They are Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principle Somalia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire).
These are countries whose 1993 GNP per capita was no more that US $695 per annum and for which either one of the following two key ratios for 1991 to 1993 is above a critical level: present value of debt service to GNP is 80 percent or more, and present debt service to export goods and services is 200 percent or more. In 1994, the total debt of these countries alone was $209.3 billion. 24 percent of this was owed to multilateral institutions, while the balance was made up of bilateral government-to-government and commercial loans. But the real burden of the debt lies in the growing weight of debt service obligations. Because multilateral institutions cannot, under existing rules be rescheduled or reduced, the burden of servicing the debt has risen to unsustainable levels. For the SILICs, the debt burden is like a millstone around their neck. This is what those who blame Mugabe should look at before jumping at conclusions.
Unfortunately, the several moves towards solving the debt crisis through debt relief, reduction and cancellation have been both too late and too little. And until September 1996 when the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative was launched by the World Bank and the IMF, multilateral debt was excluded from all solutions. The cumulative result of this exclusion was that whereas only 24 percent of total debt was owed to multilateral institutions in 1994, the SILICs debt service obligations to these institutions in the same year was 43 percent of their total debt service burden. In 1980, the percentages were 8.9 and 13 respectively.
Debt has thus become the major obstacle to Zimbabwe's development. Its most devastating impact is felt through the economic effects of debt overhang due to an unsustainable debt stock. Debt overhang discourages domestic and foreign investment by creating uncertainty about inflation, currency stability and future taxation. It also raises the risks of commercial transaction, by increasing the cost of access to trade credits. Consequently, the levels of investment are invariably very low in countries facing debt overhang like Zimbabwe. And needless to add that the rate of growth is low and little development takes place. The debt crisis has also exacerbated Zimbabwe's dependency.
Regrettable as it may sound, there is little evidence that an effective and permanent solution is in sight. The HIPC Debt Initiative, which is the first debt reduction mechanism, which promises to deal with the ongoing debt crisis in a comprehensive and concerted way, has had a very poor start. It is now more than five years since the initiative was heralded as a breakthrough and, in the words of the World Bank President James Wolfensohn, as "very good news for the poor of the world" this optimism remains to be justified. Instead the world institutions have turned heat on Zimbabwe by demonising and isolating the country.
Uganda was so far the only country to benefit from the HIPC Initiative. The debt relief package agreed for the country on April 23, 1997 by bilateral and multilateral creditors amounted to only 19 percent of Uganda's debt burden (i.e. US$338 million). The magnitude of the relief has come as a disappointment and, what was worse, is that it did not become effective until April 2000. As the country's former Minister of Finance, J.S. Mayanja stated, "any delay (in debt relief) was not merely an issue of timing.
But Uganda is still very lucky compared with other SILIC/HIPC countries. Of the other countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Senegal - whose expected decision point is 1997 little progress has been reported. 6, 5 and 5 countries are slated for 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively. The 1998 list consists of Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Togo; on the 1999 list are Congo, Madagascar, Niger, Tanzania and Zambia while the 2000 list is composed of Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Those who blame Mugabe for the mess of the economy of Zimbabwe should read and look at all the national budgets of these countries.
Judged by the slow progress made during the first year of the HIPC Initiative, considerable delay is inevitable in achieving the various completion points. Finally, the point must be that of the 32 SILICs, only 24 have been earmarked to benefit from the HIPC Initiative. The 8 countries - Burundi, Kenya, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Somalia - which have been excluded have no doubt been deemed to be unqualified for one reason or the other which has nothing to do with the objective data based on the ratios of debt service to export goods and services and of present value of debt service to GNP. Consequently, I have no alternative but to conclude rather grimly that it is a long way to the time when Zimbabwe like other African countries can hope to exit from the debt crisis and achieve debt sustainability.
The demonised democracy by the British and USA hegemony
If the persistence of the debt crisis gives cause for concern, the pervasiveness of internal strife caused by the British system has added chaos to the situation in Zimbabwe, continue to give credence to the basket case hypothesis and the sense of hopelessness that it generates. The Economist last year described Africa as a violent continent. Since 1990 it has had about 80 violent changes of government with more than two dozen heads of state and government having lost their lives through political violence changes of government. Six - Sudan, Uganda, Ghana, Burundi, DRC and Benin - have each gone through violence and brutalisation several times.
Nigeria tops the list with its six changes of government. Five other countries - Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Comoros and Central African have had three battings each, while two - Burkina Faso and Chad - have experienced violent changes four times. Eight other countries - Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Togo and Liberia - have had it two times with the remaining seven having one bout of violence each during the past four decades. Today, as many as ten SSA countries are engaged in severe political crisis. These conflicts are caused by the British and USA intelligence networks that benefit by looting the resources in Africa, as is the case of the DRC.
Zimbabwe faces of devils of western imperialism
There is no gainsaying the fact that wherever there are conflicts, civil strife and war, there are ipso facto brutalisation, poverty, hunger and starvation and, of course, also debt. They do indeed go hand in hand. There is also invariably democratic deficit. Despotism and kleptocracy engineered by the British intelligence are now rampant in Zimbabwe. Indeed, at the root of Zimbabwe's persistent economic crisis the British and USA perennial bouts of political strife might cause violence in the near future. As I have said again and again, we will never comprehend Zimbabwe's crisis so long as we continue to take a purely the economist viewpoint. What we confront in Zimbabwe is primarily a political crisis created by the British hegemony, albeit with devastating economic consequences.
To achieve lasting peace and sustainable democracy and development In Zimbabwe, it is imperative to fully comprehend and master the many complex factors and forces that have brought about these this current economic stand-off, and political instability. It is too simplistic to regard them as merely a post-independence teething problem and to resort to stereotypes by lumping them together under the banner of ethnicity or bad leadership. The truth of the matter is that we really do not know. We are yet to fully comprehend the many underlying causes and histories of conflicts that have, over the centuries, plagued the continent as a whole. And, thereafter, we need to master them by devising strategies and policy options for transcending the existing conflicts and averting potential ones. THIS IS ALL THE LEGACYOF COLONIALISM.
This requires serious, empirical and dispassionate research; not expressions of partisan commitment of MDC nor mouthing of "peace making" platitudes and devaluation of currency. By the very nature of these internal strife, there is an urgent need of applied, proactive research which involves looking back in order to look forward, taking two or three steps back from current or immediate past conflicts in order to understand their causes and dynamics more fully so that we can look one or two steps forward to master and transcend them.
It is only by so doing that we can lay a firm foundation for sustainable economic development and political peace in SSA. It is unforgivable to continue with the pretence that cessation of hostilities and change of government in Zimbabwe is tantamount to peace and economic miracle. It is imperative that we must, through proactive research seek ways and means of achieving lasting economic freedom and peace, which are much needed in Zimbabwe. To us this will be achieved by the tough line we have taken against the British government and the much lobby work that has shut down the rumour factory of the MDC in London.
Fortunately, the African Strategy (AS) which was established some 4 years ago as an independent, non-governmental, non-profit continental organisation for research and to fill the void of strategic thinking has embarked upon mobilising Africa's research and intellectual capacity to undertake such a projects. I have chosen eight countries for case studies. They are Rwanda and DRC in Central Africa; Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa; Angola and Mozambique in Southern Africa; Sudan in North Africa; and, Somalia in the Horn of Africa. While virtually every African country is potentially a conflict, country, it is believed that a comprehensive study of these eight countries, which are still engaged in conflict or have recently emerged from it, will enable us to realise the goals of comprehending and mastering African conflicts. (AS) enjoys the full support as of the United Nations in this endeavour. Hence I have applied to the UN for the project to be incorporated and registered into the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, which will show our documents and analysis to the international community. Those countries like Zimbabwe will be able to benefit because most us who like Mugabe on the continent will fight tooth and nail to see his programs through.
The Way Forward for Zimbabwe: Facing the Daunting Challenge
To say that the task ahead of Zimbabwe is daunting is no exaggeration. There is also a time factor. I usually disagree with T.S Eliot in all his theories but one thing, which struck me as an African, is the quote "Time past is time future. Are both contained in the time present. And time present in time future" The rest of the world is moving so fast that the gap between it and Zimbabwe has become too wide. I have always been asking my self which way my beloved people of the great Southern African state will go? The Zimbabwean people themselves are yearning for the move forward. Their leaders have risen to the challenge and mobilised the entire people and thereby unleashing their energies for achievement of the Zimbabwean miracle. When I sat in the Zimbabwe Parliament in the Speakers Gallery on 15TH November 2002 and listened to the learned friend Hon. Dr. Herbert Murewa read word by word his plans for the future of Zimbabwe one thing that I was worried of was for him to mention the word "devaluation" which the MDC members were whispering in the Parliament Chambers. But his Bible sermon, which brought in tougher rules on monetary issues pleased and I have to tell you that compared to my dear friend Gordon Brown in the Labour government Hon. Dr. H.Murewa parable were fantastic. He never borrowed and borrowed like the Tony Blair's cash boss.
I want to thank him for having thought like some of who hate IMF and World Bank policies that would bring the downfall of the President Mugabe. There is no room in Zimbabwe politics to contend and simply to persist in continuing to elevate a collection of wrong signals unto national policy. That is why I support the abolition of the Bureau-de-change nightmare in Zimbabwe. They work well in an economy with IMF and World Bank policies not where the offices of IMF have dust on the shelves. That is the message I got as political analyst whose knowledge on economics and on political economy on Africa favours the Murewa approach. Simplification over the acknowledgement of complexity, quick fixes over patience, sustainability and the nominal over the real is not the route of "an economic war cabinet" of President Mugabe.
In other words, those opposed to Mugabe want to persist in the concerns for their "things" rather than for people which as the experience of the 1980s has showed and has created a divided society where the less fortunate are hurt, damaged and discounted by public policies which have jettisoned social justice and sacrificed the common good.
Is Zimbabwe capable of drawing inspiration from East Asia and turn its current basket case country into wonder country during the next two to three decades? Will the people develop the ability to accelerate the rate of accumulating physical and human capital, focus exclusively on productive investment agriculture, make human development the priorities and promote the mastering of technology? Will Zimbabwe strive to join humanity in the acquisition of the new and emerging technologies, which will dominate global economic activities in this twenty-first century? Finally, can I state that action during the next two to three decades should establish the African values, which are truly humanistic, pro-people enforcing social disciple, competitiveness and a high moral code.
If the answers to these questions are positive and affirmative as seen in Zimbabwe and Kenya as countries that have survived without IMF and World Bank then the African elite and policy makers will accept that economic development and transformation does not require mimicking the life-style of the West and that imitative development will not spark off the process of self-sustained development. I believe that we would have begun to develop the self-confidence essential for self-reliance. We need to keep reminding ourselves that development is not a matter of change; it is one of choice.
If Zimbabwe can put its act together, if it can wean itself of its colonial past, its unenviable heritage and its neo-colonial status, the sky is virtually the limit, given its potentials. No doubt leadership - in terms of quality, integrity and commitment - is a crucial factor in the pursuit of the development ethic that alone can bring about the second liberation of this country. Those leadership qualities are in ZANU-PF. The heroes of the first liberation - political independence - were well-known household names in their own times and are still useful to the current situation in Zimbabwe. Because they know all corners of the nation and they can seep with African broom of nationalism. The second liberation needs its own heroes modelled and guided by the fathers of the revolution on all matters and given the knowledge and experience of the first freedom fighters. These must not be the type of MDC sell-outs and turncoats bought by the British but people- both men and women imbued with vision and with fire in their belly who are totally and irrevocably committed to redeem Zimbabwe in the socio-economic fields and continue with the work of Mugabe t of the past two decades; men and women who will uncompromisingly pursue the goals of transforming the Zimbabwean polity, society and economy.
It is my earnest hope that Zimbabwe will succeed in producing such leaders, who can motivate and mobilise their people and galvanize and unleash their energies. In addition, an enabling international environment is, as has been made abundantly clear again and again in my analysis, essential. It is therefore important that the New Global Partnership for Development that the G.7 (now G.8) and the concepts of NEPAD be looked at seriously without destroying the national Independence of Zimbabwe. The major so-called industrialised democracies initiated at their Lyon Summit in 1996 the amorphous agency called NGPD that deal with African problems like they did in 2002 in Canada with NEPAD which I have always called "LEOPARD" because of the colours of the skin in the Canada meeting. But what must be known is that all these are simple "fixes" not solutions the problems of Africa or Zimbabwe.
The real solution is for the people of Zimbabwe to look at their Banking Laws that makes political weaklings in MDC to think that the whole economy is gone. The Kenyan case study and the Ugandan case of1979 after Idi Amin can be used as a comparison and there are lots of things that can be borrowed and learnt from these cases. Africa strategy is ready to avail the documentation of recovery for use as we did help to restore the foreign exchange saga in the Kenyan economy by standing firm against the IMF WARLORDS.
The continued support for democratic institutions of pluralism in Zimbabwe, the rule of law, which is in plenty in Zimbabwe and sustainable human development based on the land redistribution program as, agreed to by the Denver Summit is a welcome follow up development to Africa. However, it is imperative that these words must be matched by deeds. Not by demonising the government of President Mugabe. I have written this analysis for those who have not allowed the government of Zimbabwe to solve its own problems and for those MDC turncoats who are telling their masters in LONDON THAT ZIMBABWE IS FINISHED ECONOMICALLY.
Dr David Nyekorach-Matsanga can be contacted at africastrategy@hotmail.com
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Shaping Zimbabwe's Economy Using African Model
Posted: Monday, December 9, 2002
Analysis By Dr. David Nyekorach-Matsanga in London
The Persistence of Vulnerabilities in Zimbabwe
During the past 9 months, the CNN, BBC and other western media outlets have been focusing the attention of its viewers on the imminence of another cataclysm in Zimbabwe: the collapse of the state of Zimbabwe. This expected to lead, before the end of this year or early in the new one, to devastating economic consequences in the Southern Africa state of ZIMBABWE. We are accordingly being reminded, should we ever pretend to have forgotten, of the extent the neo-colonial masters have predicted the vulnerability of the Zimbabwe economy then GOD will hate us.
This plus the current drums of war in Europe against President Mugabe has forced me to write this analysis for that doubting Thomas that never heard Dr. Herbert Murewa's quote from the Bible at the end of the Budget of 2003 in November. I had decided not make my feelings known but as humble Christian and Director of Africa Strategy whose voluntary duty is to defend and correct the wrong impression the British government and the opposition MDC are spreading in Europe about Mugabe I have to the dirty toxins on Zimbabwe now being spread by the followers of the Mad and Disoriented Creatures (MDC) in this country.
The negative notion on Zimbabwe has not changed a bit since 1997.The blame has been put on President Mugabe's policies yet the whole pattern of our economies in Africa remains the same. At the root of this lie structural imbalances and rigidities. These manifest themselves in the form of (i) demographic explosion; (ii) rapid desertification; (iii) frequent periodic drought in economies whose agriculture is virtually completely rain-dependent; (vi) dependencies; (v) economic and social disequilibria; (vi) lack of public accountability; (vii) destabilisation caused by conflict created by British and American systems, civil war, internal strife and coup d'etat; and, (viii) the debt overhang.
Unless and until these imbalances and inequalities are addressed at the root, the African economies will continue, at best, to achieve growth without development and at worse neither growth nor development. This requires a fundamental restructuring of the African and therefore Zimbabwean political economy is not an exception.
In my analysis I will try to show to those enemies in the Western World who hate President Mugabe that it is not his fault but it is a general trend on the continent. It requires an integrated approach to development that takes into account the effective inter dependence and linkage of economic sector activities, recognising the special role played by the food and agriculture sector as the leading production sector in an economy going through a period of demographic explosion like the one in Zimbabwe. Any government faced with this outside pressure needs measures for raising the general level of productivity to reverse the declining production trends. It will require giving very high priority to combating desertification including stopping all activities that bring about deforestation. This will increase production and stop future drought. Indeed, the protection of the environment and the cycle of reproduction of species require an optimum balance between population and nature and consequently the avoidance of a development profile that involves the depletion of or irreparable damage to environmental resources.
As political scientist I believe that most countries in the west have ignored the rules that govern environmental issues as far as Africa economies are concerned. The demand for timber in Europe has forced people in Africa to cut down forests that has caused the change of weather patterns. The colonial economy did not emphasis the need for human beings as the owners of the process, which has led to break down in relationship in most African nations like Zimbabwe. Above all, it requires a sustainable human-centred development process to be able to get out of economic hardships.
At present, in most SSA countries, less than one-third of the population have no access to potable water and electricity. Education for all still remains an unattained objective as a result Africa's illiterate population is increasing. The goals of competitiveness and efficiency will remain unattainable in a society burdened by deficient and inefficient economic and social infrastructure. So also will it be unattainable in a polity where the British and their stooges have demonised democracy, distorted governance and confused public accountability and where the fragile socio-political systems are often undermined by internal strife created by British and USA intelligence networks, coup d'etat, conflicts and civil war. Like Zimbabwe.
These often paralyse the state and turn them into a failure. States collapse when fragmented by internal strife like what the MDC and the British are advocating Zimbabwe in which none of the factions is capable of re-establishing central authority or when they lose their legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of their population and are therefore unable to exercise authority without excessive coercion or when they are rent by the unbridled greed and avarice, incompetence, negligence. The British and USA want to create such chaos in Zimbabwe by trying to overthrow the government of Mugabe. These signs are at advanced state in Zimbabwe.
A sound management of the economy is also a condition sine qua non of an effective viable and dynamic state. Macro-economic policy that alienates the government from the people, impoverishes the population and throws them out of jobs may achieve higher rates of economic growth for a while but certainly not sustainable human development. That is why I agreed with President Mugabe when he said no to devaluation and he has totally refused the instruments of neo-colonialism called IMF and World Bank.
No one now disputes that "demand management" which is a requirement of structural adjustment programmes of the 'World Bank and the IMF is largely politically motivated and shortsighted. Nor that these programmes have had little success in reviving economic growth on a sustainable basis in SSA. Impartial observers, particularly among Western experts, have now come round to my long-held view points that SAPs are too un-focused, typified by the proliferation of conditions, where more than hundred conditions per programme have not been unusual. As a person who has read some economics to a level of distinguishing between good and bad I will concur with the Zimbabwean approach that looks at the future of the nation not the interests of the current MDC demands and of the British hegemony.
How does Zimbabwe resume the struggle to forge the future?
Then the time is now and the delivery has been done by the land distribution programme, which has been completed.
The Economist in one of its leader articles - Emerging Africa - on the June 14, 1997 issue, inter-alia, urged Africa to forge its own future. This is no doubt a very opportune and appropriate counsel to give. This indeed is in conformity with the acknowledgement made from time to time by the Western world that the primary responsibility for the development of Africa is that of the people of Africa and their leaders. Indeed, at their Denver Summit in June 1997, the so-called Seven (now turned Eight) most industrialised democracies of the world echoed the same sentiments when they stated that developing countries have a fundamental responsibility for promoting their own development, and that developed countries must support these efforts. But when Zimbabwe brought out its land reform program most of these so called countries tried their level best to distort and reject these reforms. Hence the start of the economic hardships that this country is facing.
However, as all Zimbabweans know, the reality has been quite different. Every attempt that has been made by the Zimbabweans to forge their future, to craft their own development strategies and policies has been rebuffed by the so-called international financial institutions (IFIs) with the support or at least the connivance of the donor community. While the Zimbabwean leader can be faulted in some ways as alleged by the imperial monster powers, at least in this regard, fairness demands a full acknowledgement of the series of heroic efforts which he has made since the 1980s to craft his own indigenous development paradigms in the light of the perceptions of his people.
Mugabe has been the only African leader who has followed and understood all the declarations of the African meetings. The Lagos Plan of Action in 1980 (LPA); Africa's Priority Programme for Economic Recovery 1986 to 1990 (APPER) which was later turned into the United Nations Programme of Action for Africa's Economic Recovery and Development UN-PAAERD) by its adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations at its Special Session of May/June 1986; the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation (AAF-SAP) in 1989 and, the African Charter for Popular Participation for Development in 1990. The UN General Assembly also adopted both AAF-SAP and the African Charter. I can mention a long list of all these important declarations whose ink has only dried on paper but not implemented by the same neo-colonial masters.
Unfortunately, all of these were opposed, pooh-poohed, undermined and jettisoned by the Bretton Woods institutions. This has been a matter of concern and bitter frustration to Africans who see these negative reactions as the blatant exercise of power by the rich over the poor and, more importantly, as a negation of the democratic principles and the denial of the rights of a people to make decisions about their future - regardless whether such decisions prove to be right or wrong.
The undermining of the ability of African governments to determine their development strategy and choose the package of public policies without fearing being turned into international pariahs has made a farce of the pro-democracy movement. It is indeed inconsistent to champion the cause of democracy all over Africa and deny the governments and people the elementary right to forge their own future. Thus, the failure to change course and direction of public policies discussed in Section III above has been due largely to both external pressure and resistance. Not the reasons advanced by those opposed to the land redistribution program in Zimbabwe. I am trying to pump sense into those who think that the problems in Zimbabwe were created by Mugabe's land redistribution process.
Debt overhangs as barrier to good economics
At present, it is clear that the only way Zimbabwe can avoid losing the right to be in charge of its own national economic management is by not being burdened by unserviceable debt. But as far as the land redistribution is concerned Mugabe has won the war. It is the only way Zimbabwe can avoid being obliged to pursue programmes that are adjudged to be unfocused. The Economist with its tremendous influence should see to it that the regrettable economic (including debt) situation of Zimbabwe is not l used to deny them the right to craft their own development strategies and policies. This will encourage the resumption of initiatives by the government to the road to recovery, which the new Minister of Finance announced on 15th November 2002.
Needless to add that the African governments and leaders have themselves to blame for their failure to put their money where their mouth is. To adopt, after great deal of effort, discussions, consultations and negotiations, common strategies, policies and programmes only to ignore them in deference to those crafted by donors and international financial institutions in order to have access to loans and credit shows how deep seated African leaders' dependency, lack of self-confidence and commitment have been I thank the leadership in Zimbabwe for the tenacity and steadfastness they have shown when standing firm against the whirl wind of poison from the British decayed foreign policy.
Zimbabwe will only be able to invent for itself a future that will bring rising prospects of prosperity through total commitment to its own programmes and through their vigorous implementation. The policies of economic policy consist not only in their conceptualisation, articulation, adoption and popularisation but also in total and unrelenting commitment to implementation. It is only by so doing that Zimbabwe, particularly as one of the countries in SSA, can rediscover its self-respect and remould its image. We need not to urgently shed the image that we are incapable, as a people, to run a modern society and sustain the independence of our political economies through the process of internally generated development. That is what I saw in the budget of November 2002. I had wanted to see what the British budget would look like before I make my analysis and contribution to the stability of Zimbabwe.
Framework of Zimbabwe's Indigenous Development Paradigm
It is clear from the foregoing that for Zimbabwe's economy to stop going to doldrums it has to fundamentally be reshaped through a human-centre holistic development strategy postulated in the Lagos Plan of Action and the with the Africa Charter on Popular Participation providing the political underpinning. In specific and operational terms, this means
(i) The pursuit of an increasing measure of self-reliance at the national level through (a) the internationalisation of the forces of demand, which determine the direction of development and economic growth reality. In any case, the strategy of export-oriented industrialisation is to enable Zimbabwe to rejoin the global economy more forcefully and more vigorously and take the fullest advantage of the new world order.
(ii) The promotion of private investment in Zimbabwe. While all this is welcome, I believe that Zimbabwe's experience under the Lome Convention however shows that duty-free access is useful if there is the capacity to produce and supply the market in the near future. It is this capacity that the pursuit of this strategy will create.
Zimbabwe's Achilles Heel: Debt Overhang and demonised democracy
To enable Zimbabwe to pursue vigorously and determinedly the pursuit of the goals of its human-centred holistic development paradigm, which the Hon. Minister of Finance put forward to the nation, and the priority goals, its major albatrosses must be successfully and speedily removed. They are the debt overhangs and the perennial attacks on Zimbabwe's democracy. This has led to a halt in development and smooth planning in all sectors of government.
Unfortunately, these cannot be adequately treated in this already long analysis for each of them, given that its importance and complexity, requires to be so treated separately. But this analysis will be considered rather empty if it does not deal, however briefly, with these all-important problems that currently overwhelm the Zimbabwean political economy and threaten to force it to collapse. Let us begin with the debt overhang.
Today, 32 developing countries are classified as Severely Indebted Low Income Countries (SILICs). 25 of these are in Africa. They are Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principle Somalia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire).
These are countries whose 1993 GNP per capita was no more that US $695 per annum and for which either one of the following two key ratios for 1991 to 1993 is above a critical level: present value of debt service to GNP is 80 percent or more, and present debt service to export goods and services is 200 percent or more. In 1994, the total debt of these countries alone was $209.3 billion. 24 percent of this was owed to multilateral institutions, while the balance was made up of bilateral government-to-government and commercial loans. But the real burden of the debt lies in the growing weight of debt service obligations. Because multilateral institutions cannot, under existing rules be rescheduled or reduced, the burden of servicing the debt has risen to unsustainable levels. For the SILICs, the debt burden is like a millstone around their neck. This is what those who blame Mugabe should look at before jumping at conclusions.
Unfortunately, the several moves towards solving the debt crisis through debt relief, reduction and cancellation have been both too late and too little. And until September 1996 when the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative was launched by the World Bank and the IMF, multilateral debt was excluded from all solutions. The cumulative result of this exclusion was that whereas only 24 percent of total debt was owed to multilateral institutions in 1994, the SILICs debt service obligations to these institutions in the same year was 43 percent of their total debt service burden. In 1980, the percentages were 8.9 and 13 respectively.
Debt has thus become the major obstacle to Zimbabwe's development. Its most devastating impact is felt through the economic effects of debt overhang due to an unsustainable debt stock. Debt overhang discourages domestic and foreign investment by creating uncertainty about inflation, currency stability and future taxation. It also raises the risks of commercial transaction, by increasing the cost of access to trade credits. Consequently, the levels of investment are invariably very low in countries facing debt overhang like Zimbabwe. And needless to add that the rate of growth is low and little development takes place. The debt crisis has also exacerbated Zimbabwe's dependency.
Regrettable as it may sound, there is little evidence that an effective and permanent solution is in sight. The HIPC Debt Initiative, which is the first debt reduction mechanism, which promises to deal with the ongoing debt crisis in a comprehensive and concerted way, has had a very poor start. It is now more than five years since the initiative was heralded as a breakthrough and, in the words of the World Bank President James Wolfensohn, as "very good news for the poor of the world" this optimism remains to be justified. Instead the world institutions have turned heat on Zimbabwe by demonising and isolating the country.
Uganda was so far the only country to benefit from the HIPC Initiative. The debt relief package agreed for the country on April 23, 1997 by bilateral and multilateral creditors amounted to only 19 percent of Uganda's debt burden (i.e. US$338 million). The magnitude of the relief has come as a disappointment and, what was worse, is that it did not become effective until April 2000. As the country's former Minister of Finance, J.S. Mayanja stated, "any delay (in debt relief) was not merely an issue of timing.
But Uganda is still very lucky compared with other SILIC/HIPC countries. Of the other countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Senegal - whose expected decision point is 1997 little progress has been reported. 6, 5 and 5 countries are slated for 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively. The 1998 list consists of Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Sierra Leone and Togo; on the 1999 list are Congo, Madagascar, Niger, Tanzania and Zambia while the 2000 list is composed of Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Those who blame Mugabe for the mess of the economy of Zimbabwe should read and look at all the national budgets of these countries.
Judged by the slow progress made during the first year of the HIPC Initiative, considerable delay is inevitable in achieving the various completion points. Finally, the point must be that of the 32 SILICs, only 24 have been earmarked to benefit from the HIPC Initiative. The 8 countries - Burundi, Kenya, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Somalia - which have been excluded have no doubt been deemed to be unqualified for one reason or the other which has nothing to do with the objective data based on the ratios of debt service to export goods and services and of present value of debt service to GNP. Consequently, I have no alternative but to conclude rather grimly that it is a long way to the time when Zimbabwe like other African countries can hope to exit from the debt crisis and achieve debt sustainability.
The demonised democracy by the British and USA hegemony
If the persistence of the debt crisis gives cause for concern, the pervasiveness of internal strife caused by the British system has added chaos to the situation in Zimbabwe, continue to give credence to the basket case hypothesis and the sense of hopelessness that it generates. The Economist last year described Africa as a violent continent. Since 1990 it has had about 80 violent changes of government with more than two dozen heads of state and government having lost their lives through political violence changes of government. Six - Sudan, Uganda, Ghana, Burundi, DRC and Benin - have each gone through violence and brutalisation several times.
Nigeria tops the list with its six changes of government. Five other countries - Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Comoros and Central African have had three battings each, while two - Burkina Faso and Chad - have experienced violent changes four times. Eight other countries - Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Togo and Liberia - have had it two times with the remaining seven having one bout of violence each during the past four decades. Today, as many as ten SSA countries are engaged in severe political crisis. These conflicts are caused by the British and USA intelligence networks that benefit by looting the resources in Africa, as is the case of the DRC.
Zimbabwe faces of devils of western imperialism
There is no gainsaying the fact that wherever there are conflicts, civil strife and war, there are ipso facto brutalisation, poverty, hunger and starvation and, of course, also debt. They do indeed go hand in hand. There is also invariably democratic deficit. Despotism and kleptocracy engineered by the British intelligence are now rampant in Zimbabwe. Indeed, at the root of Zimbabwe's persistent economic crisis the British and USA perennial bouts of political strife might cause violence in the near future. As I have said again and again, we will never comprehend Zimbabwe's crisis so long as we continue to take a purely the economist viewpoint. What we confront in Zimbabwe is primarily a political crisis created by the British hegemony, albeit with devastating economic consequences.
To achieve lasting peace and sustainable democracy and development In Zimbabwe, it is imperative to fully comprehend and master the many complex factors and forces that have brought about these this current economic stand-off, and political instability. It is too simplistic to regard them as merely a post-independence teething problem and to resort to stereotypes by lumping them together under the banner of ethnicity or bad leadership. The truth of the matter is that we really do not know. We are yet to fully comprehend the many underlying causes and histories of conflicts that have, over the centuries, plagued the continent as a whole. And, thereafter, we need to master them by devising strategies and policy options for transcending the existing conflicts and averting potential ones. THIS IS ALL THE LEGACYOF COLONIALISM.
This requires serious, empirical and dispassionate research; not expressions of partisan commitment of MDC nor mouthing of "peace making" platitudes and devaluation of currency. By the very nature of these internal strife, there is an urgent need of applied, proactive research which involves looking back in order to look forward, taking two or three steps back from current or immediate past conflicts in order to understand their causes and dynamics more fully so that we can look one or two steps forward to master and transcend them.
It is only by so doing that we can lay a firm foundation for sustainable economic development and political peace in SSA. It is unforgivable to continue with the pretence that cessation of hostilities and change of government in Zimbabwe is tantamount to peace and economic miracle. It is imperative that we must, through proactive research seek ways and means of achieving lasting economic freedom and peace, which are much needed in Zimbabwe. To us this will be achieved by the tough line we have taken against the British government and the much lobby work that has shut down the rumour factory of the MDC in London.
Fortunately, the African Strategy (AS) which was established some 4 years ago as an independent, non-governmental, non-profit continental organisation for research and to fill the void of strategic thinking has embarked upon mobilising Africa's research and intellectual capacity to undertake such a projects. I have chosen eight countries for case studies. They are Rwanda and DRC in Central Africa; Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa; Angola and Mozambique in Southern Africa; Sudan in North Africa; and, Somalia in the Horn of Africa. While virtually every African country is potentially a conflict, country, it is believed that a comprehensive study of these eight countries, which are still engaged in conflict or have recently emerged from it, will enable us to realise the goals of comprehending and mastering African conflicts. (AS) enjoys the full support as of the United Nations in this endeavour. Hence I have applied to the UN for the project to be incorporated and registered into the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, which will show our documents and analysis to the international community. Those countries like Zimbabwe will be able to benefit because most us who like Mugabe on the continent will fight tooth and nail to see his programs through.
The Way Forward for Zimbabwe: Facing the Daunting Challenge
To say that the task ahead of Zimbabwe is daunting is no exaggeration. There is also a time factor. I usually disagree with T.S Eliot in all his theories but one thing, which struck me as an African, is the quote "Time past is time future. Are both contained in the time present. And time present in time future" The rest of the world is moving so fast that the gap between it and Zimbabwe has become too wide. I have always been asking my self which way my beloved people of the great Southern African state will go? The Zimbabwean people themselves are yearning for the move forward. Their leaders have risen to the challenge and mobilised the entire people and thereby unleashing their energies for achievement of the Zimbabwean miracle. When I sat in the Zimbabwe Parliament in the Speakers Gallery on 15TH November 2002 and listened to the learned friend Hon. Dr. Herbert Murewa read word by word his plans for the future of Zimbabwe one thing that I was worried of was for him to mention the word "devaluation" which the MDC members were whispering in the Parliament Chambers. But his Bible sermon, which brought in tougher rules on monetary issues pleased and I have to tell you that compared to my dear friend Gordon Brown in the Labour government Hon. Dr. H.Murewa parable were fantastic. He never borrowed and borrowed like the Tony Blair's cash boss.
I want to thank him for having thought like some of who hate IMF and World Bank policies that would bring the downfall of the President Mugabe. There is no room in Zimbabwe politics to contend and simply to persist in continuing to elevate a collection of wrong signals unto national policy. That is why I support the abolition of the Bureau-de-change nightmare in Zimbabwe. They work well in an economy with IMF and World Bank policies not where the offices of IMF have dust on the shelves. That is the message I got as political analyst whose knowledge on economics and on political economy on Africa favours the Murewa approach. Simplification over the acknowledgement of complexity, quick fixes over patience, sustainability and the nominal over the real is not the route of "an economic war cabinet" of President Mugabe.
In other words, those opposed to Mugabe want to persist in the concerns for their "things" rather than for people which as the experience of the 1980s has showed and has created a divided society where the less fortunate are hurt, damaged and discounted by public policies which have jettisoned social justice and sacrificed the common good.
Is Zimbabwe capable of drawing inspiration from East Asia and turn its current basket case country into wonder country during the next two to three decades? Will the people develop the ability to accelerate the rate of accumulating physical and human capital, focus exclusively on productive investment agriculture, make human development the priorities and promote the mastering of technology? Will Zimbabwe strive to join humanity in the acquisition of the new and emerging technologies, which will dominate global economic activities in this twenty-first century? Finally, can I state that action during the next two to three decades should establish the African values, which are truly humanistic, pro-people enforcing social disciple, competitiveness and a high moral code.
If the answers to these questions are positive and affirmative as seen in Zimbabwe and Kenya as countries that have survived without IMF and World Bank then the African elite and policy makers will accept that economic development and transformation does not require mimicking the life-style of the West and that imitative development will not spark off the process of self-sustained development. I believe that we would have begun to develop the self-confidence essential for self-reliance. We need to keep reminding ourselves that development is not a matter of change; it is one of choice.
If Zimbabwe can put its act together, if it can wean itself of its colonial past, its unenviable heritage and its neo-colonial status, the sky is virtually the limit, given its potentials. No doubt leadership - in terms of quality, integrity and commitment - is a crucial factor in the pursuit of the development ethic that alone can bring about the second liberation of this country. Those leadership qualities are in ZANU-PF. The heroes of the first liberation - political independence - were well-known household names in their own times and are still useful to the current situation in Zimbabwe. Because they know all corners of the nation and they can seep with African broom of nationalism. The second liberation needs its own heroes modelled and guided by the fathers of the revolution on all matters and given the knowledge and experience of the first freedom fighters. These must not be the type of MDC sell-outs and turncoats bought by the British but people- both men and women imbued with vision and with fire in their belly who are totally and irrevocably committed to redeem Zimbabwe in the socio-economic fields and continue with the work of Mugabe t of the past two decades; men and women who will uncompromisingly pursue the goals of transforming the Zimbabwean polity, society and economy.
It is my earnest hope that Zimbabwe will succeed in producing such leaders, who can motivate and mobilise their people and galvanize and unleash their energies. In addition, an enabling international environment is, as has been made abundantly clear again and again in my analysis, essential. It is therefore important that the New Global Partnership for Development that the G.7 (now G.8) and the concepts of NEPAD be looked at seriously without destroying the national Independence of Zimbabwe. The major so-called industrialised democracies initiated at their Lyon Summit in 1996 the amorphous agency called NGPD that deal with African problems like they did in 2002 in Canada with NEPAD which I have always called "LEOPARD" because of the colours of the skin in the Canada meeting. But what must be known is that all these are simple "fixes" not solutions the problems of Africa or Zimbabwe.
The real solution is for the people of Zimbabwe to look at their Banking Laws that makes political weaklings in MDC to think that the whole economy is gone. The Kenyan case study and the Ugandan case of1979 after Idi Amin can be used as a comparison and there are lots of things that can be borrowed and learnt from these cases. Africa strategy is ready to avail the documentation of recovery for use as we did help to restore the foreign exchange saga in the Kenyan economy by standing firm against the IMF WARLORDS.
The continued support for democratic institutions of pluralism in Zimbabwe, the rule of law, which is in plenty in Zimbabwe and sustainable human development based on the land redistribution program as, agreed to by the Denver Summit is a welcome follow up development to Africa. However, it is imperative that these words must be matched by deeds. Not by demonising the government of President Mugabe. I have written this analysis for those who have not allowed the government of Zimbabwe to solve its own problems and for those MDC turncoats who are telling their masters in LONDON THAT ZIMBABWE IS FINISHED ECONOMICALLY.
Dr David Nyekorach-Matsanga can be contacted at africastrategy@hotmail.com
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