From Summit to
Plummet
It was a proud moment for the nation (the nation here being
taken to mean those who knew about it and gave a hoot) when one of our own got
to interview the President Of The United States (hereinafter POTUS) at the US
Africa summit . It was a proud moment because Obama is undoubtedly the most powerful man on earth
and most probably will be until his demise or if Jesus returns before the end
of his second term. It was wonderful seeing the 21 year old son of a High
School headmaster , Mr T Chingonzoh get to have a one on one with POTUS. These moments
fill one with pride as we know for sure we had an audience on a global scale to
see just how educated, bold and courageous we as a nation are.
I was thrilled at the prospect of having Obama answer some questions from a young Zimbabwean nobody, who ultimately can relate to the struggles that the Zimbabwean youth face daily and can articulate them on our behalf. I had hope that Obama would answer why , as a semi -African he seemingly has done little to empower the impoverished African masses. I prayed Obama would be made to see that the power he has in his hands can change millions of lives in Africa and most of all, I really hoped he would listen to a small for voice from a small Southern African state and be made answerable for his action and or inaction in helping alleviate the mounting economic and health problems in Africa.
I was thrilled at the prospect of having Obama answer some questions from a young Zimbabwean nobody, who ultimately can relate to the struggles that the Zimbabwean youth face daily and can articulate them on our behalf. I had hope that Obama would answer why , as a semi -African he seemingly has done little to empower the impoverished African masses. I prayed Obama would be made to see that the power he has in his hands can change millions of lives in Africa and most of all, I really hoped he would listen to a small for voice from a small Southern African state and be made answerable for his action and or inaction in helping alleviate the mounting economic and health problems in Africa.
Immediately as the
interview began and Chingonzoh asked about the illegal targeted sanctions
or restrictive measures or what you will imposed by America against Zimbabwe, I
found myself asking a small, seemingly
unimportant question as to the meaning
of it all… by the end of the interview I no longer felt the glowing amber and
warmth of this glorious historical occasion . In fact, it seemed to me that I
had watched some sort of façade or caricature .I felt the way I usually do when I have just
been duped, and tricked, a feeling of rising bile in the system…..a feeling
strikingly similar to the way I felt when my High School sweet heart cheated on me
with some rascal because I did not have
a car and he did (as a side bar the guy she cheated on me with and left with
drove a bloody battered rusting yellow Datsun cabbie…the epitome of utter betrayal
and deception). At the end of the interview, my attitude toward Obama and what
now looked like a well-orchestrated theater production, went
from summit to plummet.
The first question I asked is why; when the President of Zimbabwe was not
invited to this 'important' gathering was young
Chingonzoh asked to give this interview ahead of a host of seemingly more suited
candidates. With all due respect to Chingonzoh, he is no journalist , was
visibly shaken at the prospect of asking Obama a question or two (to the extent
that he forgot to introduce himself!) and above all, his country was not even allowed
to attend this summit and there were a host of nations to choose from. So why
him? I will proffer an answer with minute historical reference :
The dispute between
Zimbabwe and the United States stems from what America describes, as Obama put
it himself; Zimbabwe’s rampant abuse of
Human Rights. These Human Rights abuses , alleged or actual, lead the US to
place targeted sanctions against individuals believed to be the perpetrators of
these abuses. America says its’ problem with Zimbabwe also stems from alleged theft
of elections and the breakdown of democracy in this country. I will not venture
to comment. I merely provide context. Zimbabwe however argues that the
bilateral dispute is as a result of the Wests anger at Zimbabwe reclaiming its
land from the white minority and moreover because the ruling party , Zanu pf, continually
annihilates its ‘puppet agency’
, the MDC , in “free and fair democratic” elections. The
Zimbabwean government believes America is a vile evil state bent on exploiting
the countries resources and has continually interfered in the affairs of a sovereign
nation via a perpetuated regime change
agenda meant to turn Zimbabwe into a province of America . Again I will not
comment. But one can basically understand that there is an acrimonious dispute.
What does this have to do with an economic summit intended
to help foster bilateral business relations between Africa and the United
States is the question…. It appears to me as if this summit was used by America
to throw another jab at Zimbabwe in this long winding dispute. By choosing a young Zimbabwean to interview
Obama at a summit Zimbabwe itself was not invited to was a very shrewd way by
the US of telling Zimbabwe that it loves Zimbabweans , but just not their
elected leaders(NIKUV or no NIKUV). It
was a cunning way of saying ‘of course we want dialogue ,we love you
Zimbabweans ,but we only love the youths’ who are no doubt less inclined to
share their leaders sovereignty views and liberation ideologies. The same youth
that are more intrigued by the release of the new ipod and the desire
to emulate the desperate house wives kind of life. The same youth that are
docile, malleable and more easily distracted and less likely to unmask the true
agenda of the Western powers. Neo-colonisation
. In essence ,it was a clear signal that America will do business with Zimbabwe,
but only on American terms.
We are in a global community and must try by all means to
assimilate into it as a nation and to build relationships that buttress our
nations gains yet at the same time improving
the nations livelihood, for the fact of
the matter is; Zimbabweans and indeed Africans , face
severe economic challenges.
One of the ways Africa can help itself to get help is by
engaging the rich and powerful nations in a bid to nurture dialogue ,obtain
both foreign direct invest and humanitarian aid . This is hardly a secret. Yet
it is clear that no matter where we turn to as Africans for this aid and investment we are met with
ancillary conditions that come along with this help and aid that are totally undesirable
and will in the long run hurt Africa more than they will aid it. America has no
right to interfere in the running of any sovereign nation, let alone Zimbabwe,
we do not even need to venture forward and analyse the perilous consequences
that meet countries that are ‘helped’ by America. In the same vein , looking
east to countries such as China and India seems to be yielding equally
disappointing results. We ask China for help to kick start the economic
blueprint Zimasset (which on a sober reading is not a terrible road map), yet a
full year after their pledge to do so little has been done by China. This is
because the Chinese, like the Americans are after one thing, and one thing only
where African nations are concerned , and that is our resources. It often seems
as if both these super powers have a genuine concern for the livelihoods of
Africans but evidence on the ground certainly does not reveal any unpretentiousness
.
If America genuinely wanted trade with Zimbabwe ,would they not put aside
issues of a political nature to help the individual Zimbabwean start up a
business as the agenda of the summit dictates? Would they not set up a bank in
Zimbabwe for example that gives out to loans to a clearly bright, ingenuous and
innovative Zimbabwean youth? Is doing that hindered by sanctions or which
political party is in power in Zimbabwe or is the wool trying to be delicately
pulled over our eyes through a mirage of sweet talk and flattering overtures? At
the same time, if the East was serious
about helping Zimbabwe would they be flooding our markets with sub-par goods that
pulverise our local industry or would they be setting up factories in Zimbabwe
and employing our vast skilled labour? Would the East not have resuscitated our
mining industry by injecting the
billions they promised , as an example, into the revamp of the largest iron ore mine
in Africa, Ziscosteel, by now? If they
could do this would we not be praising the influx of Asians into our country as
God sent rather than questioning where in the world we found such insensitive devils?
The situation is rather obvious is it
not? Any which way we turn we will find a rich powerful nation purporting to be
ready , willing and able to help Africa yet on closer inspection the hand they
offer in aid contains a barrage of traps and complex ‘what will we benefit
clauses’ and ‘do what we say contracts’ that will ultimately result in the theft
of our identity , resources and freedoms. So . What is the solution?
A wise man who is since long dead once said that a “patriot
is always ready to defend his country against his government”
The above is apt, because however we look at it the problems
facing Africa are governance issues. They are corruption issues. They are party
patronage issues. They are nepotism issues. They are tribalist , religious and
parochial issues. In essence, they are issues we ourselves as Africans have
brought upon ourselves and that we can and are compelled to solve.Yet our leaders , in the plush comfort of their residences’ seem to believe if we frolick in the United
States of America with our begging bowls at had, the American will return them
filled to the brim with US dollars, USAID and all the treats and treasures of
the ‘civilised world’ . They appear to have it in their well fed bodies and not so
well fed minds that the ghastly plight of the African man , woman and child
will be changed by a one week all expenses paid trip to DC to have dinner with
POTUS . Our leaders further believe that if we strategically partner with China they
will pour billions into our economies and walk away happy that they have helped
the poor African countries survive. The reality of the issue however is: whoever
we as Africans turn to wants something in return. Not one of either America or
China is attempting to invest or do business with Africa for the benefit of the
African, they have their own constituents and their policy is always to please
their own before they please others. Our
leaders surely must see this. If they do
not then it our duty as citizens of this continent to point it out, to demand
reform ,to demand a government that works for its people first , and then the needs of the super powers to have their ego’s stroked after. If we continually allow our governments to be
corrupt then we will always be see them fly out of our countries at our expense to
sign useless bilateral accords that never improve the lives of Africans one bit;
rather than see them focus their attention on providing basic humane standards of living
for the people they lead.
We need to identify
our problems, our real problems and work towards solving them. We often confuse
a call for action with a call for revolution, yet revolution is not essentially
what we require. Kwame Nkrumah is dead. The revolution is dead. The time has
come for EVOLUTION . We require a move away from apathy and despondency or in
simpler terms, we need to get off our behinds and demands the standards of life
we deserve from our leaders. We need to hold our leaders accountable for their
actions and stop accepting rhetoric, pacification and the threat of brutality as
legitimate excuse for an inept governance. We need to stop telling our leaders that they
are entitled to rule us because once upon a time they did something great for
the nation or their father did something great or their cousin or next door
neighbour or long lost goat herder did, and
start demanding a government that works towards the upliftment of the African. It really does not matter what
a leader calls himself or where he comes from, whether he supports MDC or Zanu
pf, speaks Xhosa or Shona, is a
descendant of Shaka or the great chief of the Kikuyu tribes. A leader must be prepared
to lead one and all of his people. If a leader of a nation is a leader for a
specific race , tribe or religion then fuck him, he is no leader at all.
In conclusion, as Zimbabweans we need to take a look at
ourselves and decide whether this is the life we really want. We have to ask
ourselves what future we desire. We have to demand that which we know to richly
deserve. As Africans we truly need to
wake up from this dream that some angel from the East or West will come down in
a cloud of fire and lightning and solve our own problems for us. We need to stop
having wet dreams about FDI and aid from
countries that owe us no loyalty nor grant us any. If we stay in our current
state of delusion we will wake up one
day to find that which we value and treasure most gone; loaded into a yellow Datsun
truck and driven away before our very eyes and we will be left feeling used,
abused and terribly betrayed. We have to come together as Africans , kubatana as we say in shona.
If only Africans could unite we would stand on both feet as giants and not continually scamper to the big powers with our rags and metal begging plates, like rats, clambering to get a crumb from the table upon which gluttons have feasted. We must remember to never forget, especially whenever America or China offer us a silver spoon or a chair at their dinner table, that they do not need us nor value us much as equals or people, they just want our resources and will say and do whatever it takes to get them. It is our duty to be vigilant enough to come together to stop that. So to put it more brusquely and in the words of one of the greatest modern day philosophers of all time , Mr Aubrey Graham, when it comes to summonses to summits, whether we attend or not, we need to remember “ these fuckers never loved us.” Remember!
If only Africans could unite we would stand on both feet as giants and not continually scamper to the big powers with our rags and metal begging plates, like rats, clambering to get a crumb from the table upon which gluttons have feasted. We must remember to never forget, especially whenever America or China offer us a silver spoon or a chair at their dinner table, that they do not need us nor value us much as equals or people, they just want our resources and will say and do whatever it takes to get them. It is our duty to be vigilant enough to come together to stop that. So to put it more brusquely and in the words of one of the greatest modern day philosophers of all time , Mr Aubrey Graham, when it comes to summonses to summits, whether we attend or not, we need to remember “ these fuckers never loved us.” Remember!
