From Summit to Plummet : A moment of Introspection.

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.

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!