Unofficial statistics state that more than four million Zimbabweans
are living in the Diaspora;the majority of them in South Africa and
Btswana; and several thousands of others in the United Kingdom,the
United States and Australia.
The relocation of these millions of
Zimbabweans into the Diaspora was a direct result of the economic
meltdown as well as the deteriorating human rights situation
particularly from the late 1990s onwards .
A good number of these
Diasporans consist of highly qualified and experienced professionals
such as lawyers,medical doctors,nurses,accountants,engineers
etc.Thus,over the past decade or so,Zimbabwe has suffered from a
debilitating brain drain the real effects of which are yet to be
felt.
As I write this article,I am on a short private visit to
Sydney,New South Wales,Australia,and during my short stay here,I have
come across several Zimbabwean professionals who are based in this
coastal humid city.Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora are abound with
skills,job experience and resources.
As our country goes through this
transitional phase,I am of the humble view that these non-resident
Zimbabewans can and indeed,should,play a crucial role in the
rehabilitation of our motherland.
We all know that as a country today,Zimbabwe is hardly generating
foreign currency; especially in the formal
agricultural,mining,manufacturing and industrial sectors.Our export
capacity is virtually close to zero and somehow,the diamonds at
Chiadzwa as well as the platinum at Selous have not really benefitted
the country's formal export sector.
Sometimes,I really agonise and
wonder where all the foreign currency from Zimbabwe's rich mineral
resources is going whilst the majority of the people live in poverty
and squalor.I trust that the all-inclusive government will immediately
formulate and implement policies that will ensure that Zimbabwe's
mineral wealth is not privatised by a few well-connected and corrupt
individuals.
Surely,reports that a very senior politician has been
directly linked with an attempt to illicitly sell almost four tonnes
of gold do not help in convincing prospective donors that Zimbabwe
should be given a bail out package.On the other hand,reports that
another very senior politician recently bought a three storey luxury
house in an upmarket district of Hong Kong also do not help in
sanitising the image of Zimbabwe and also in trying to convince a very
skeptical world that the suffering of Zimbabweans has been caused by
so-called sanctions imposed by Britain and her Western allies.My
argument here is that if Zimbabwe would honestly and properly harness
all her resources,both within the country and in the Diaspora;we will
not be suffering the way we are today.
Indeed,we will not be going
around with a begging bowl asking for urgent humiitarian
assistance.Somewhere down the line we allowed corruption and greed to
dictate our national politics and the direct result of this is what we
have today i.e. mass poverty,hunger,destitution,dejection and despair.
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have been playing their part in supporting
families back home.Without this support from their children and other
relatives in the Diaspora,most families in Zimbabwe would have
literally succumbed to starvation.
I am inclined too believe that
Zimbabwe somehow kept on going on thanks to the Diasporan dollar.Prior
to the formation of the all-inclusive government,it is common cause
that the former government run by ZANU-PF had virtually abandoned its
core duties of running the affairs of the State.
The country was on
virtual auto-pilot and a total breakdown of the State was imminent.As
we try to extricate ourselves from this situation of utter
hopelessnes; I maintain that we need to harness the expertise and the
resources from the Diaspora.
It doesnot make any sense for us to ignore
the very positive role that the Diaspora can play in reconstructing
Zimbabwe.Infact,the all-inclusive government should deliberately craft
policies that are specifically targeted at harnessing the Diasporan
expertise.
Although the majority of Diasporans seem not to be too happy
with the form and content of the all-inclusive government,I remain
convinced that these non-resident Zimbabweans are patriotic and that
they will want to play a meaningfull role in the rebuilding of their
country.On our part,we should not miss this golden opportunity of
engaging the Diasporans in the task of reconstruction.But as I have
already suggested above,we should do this in a holistic and systematic
fashion.
There is absolutely no doubt that if this task is done
properly and efficiently,Zimbabwe will be able to raise millions of
United States dollars from her non-resident citizens.Perhaps,the
envisaged new people-driven constitution should also explore the
possibility of granting non-resident Zimbabweans the right to vote in
future national elections.Of course,logistically,this task will be
very cumbersome and expensive but it can be done.
There is need to give
non-resident Zimbabweans that feeling of belonging and what better way
of doing it than by granting them the opportunity to vote in future
national elections! If other countries can do it,why can't Zimbabwe do
it too?
Egypt is largely a desert country with very limited arable
land.However,Egypt has arguably the second biggest economy in Africa;
after South Africa.Egypt has managed to industrialise largely through
taping the resources and expertise of non-resident Egyptians.As a
die-hard football fan,I know that one of the twenty teams in the
English Premiership,Fulham,is owned by an Egyptian,Mohammed
Al-Fayed.
Al-Fayed,also the owner of the fashionable Harrods
departmental store in London,has played and continues to play a
prominent role in the ec onomic development of his motherland,Egypt.As
Zimbabweans,we can study the Egyptian example and seek to ascertain
how exactly they have managed to meaningfully involve the Egyptian
Diaspora in the economic development of their country.
Whether we like
it or not,the world is globalising and thus,it is becoming smaller and
smaller.It has already been stated,several times before,that it is
Zimbabwe that needs the world and not the world that needs Zimbabwe.We
should ,therefore,wake up and smell the coffee.
As such,we should
quickly learn to grab all our opportunities instead of always running
around with a begging bowl.A begging mentality will not take us far.It
will relegate us to the position of mere spectators in the global
environment.
Zimbabwe should refuse to be a nation of beggars;surviving
on hand-outs from well-wishers.We should strive to be up there with
the movers and shakers of the world's economy because that is
precisely where we belong.
The brain drain that Zimbabwe has sufferd from has to be urgently
addressed.The all-inclusive government should also try to lure back
some of our professionals who have now settled in the Diaspora.
Of
course,it is not going to be an easy task to lure back professionals
to a country where there is no access to safe drinking
water,affordable and quality education for their children,efficient
and reliable public transport as well as respect for basic human
rights and private property rights.In essence,therefore,we should
rebrand Zimbabwe as a country that can once
againbetrusted.
Presently,Zimbabwe has a rogue image out there; the
image of a renegade State where the law of the jungle is fully
operational; a lawless country where might is right.Zimbabweans that
are living in the Diaspora,particularly those living in developed
countries,are now accustomed to a certain way of running public
affairs.They live in countries where politicians and other public
officials are held accountable for their deeds and actions.Thus,the
rampant pilfering of public resources should never be tolerated by the
all-inclusive government.Public servants are there to serve and not to
be served.Corruption and greed should be ruthlessly nipped in the bud.
More importantly,Zimbabweans,both resident and non-resident,should
embrace a new culture of openess,honesty,integrity and mutual
respect.Ubuntu as they call it in Zulu.The politics of hate and
polarisaton has wrecked havoc with our way of doing business.We take
the first opportunityo to over charge and profiteer.
We would like to charge
top dollar for a shody service.In short,we would like to get rich
quickly;we would like to reap where didn't sow.This '' chikorokoza''
habit should simply stop if Zimbabwe is to catch up with the rest of
the world.The task ahead of us;though arduous is definately not
insurmountable.Where there is a will there is a way.
Senator Gutu
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