Mutumwa Mawere

Who is and who is not?  This is the question that divides rather than builds and unites.

Africa's narrative is not complete without reference to the national question.

Colonialism attempted to build a nation within a nation and the experiment failed because it ignored the universality and indivisibility of human rights.

The colonial nation was stratified on racial and class lines putting native Africans outside the project.

All oppressed people were, therefore, accorded inferior rights through an immoral and unjust constitutional order.

The decolonisation of Africa did little to address the politics of identity.

It is not unnatural, therefore, to expect that notwithstanding the viability and strength of integration, Africans remain divided along ethnic and national identities.

The guest of honour at the fund raising dinner held on 28 April, 2012, former President Mbeki, made a profound remark that we cannot and should not as Africans be charitable to ourselves.

This remark was made in response to the call by the organisers of the initiative led by the Deputy Prime Minister ("DPM"), Professor Mutambara, in part to assist in negotiating a change of focus from philanthropy to responsibility.

The fact that the UZ needs financial support like other institutions and individuals in Africa is not news.

At the said dinner, a fund raising handbook in which a proposed investment program was set out was handed out to guests.

The total cost of the program was estimated at US$76.4 million of which US$1.6 million was budgeted for the expansion of the chapel from the current sitting capacity of 120 people to accommodate up to 1,200 patrons.

Contrary to reports that the donation by a consortium led by Mr. Chiyangwa was misdirected and disingenuous, the chapel was indeed an integral part of the investment program for which funding was sought by the UZ.

The need to depoliticize the funding of the University is self evident.

I was one of the people who attended the Launch Dinner on Saturday, 28 April 2012, in support of a campaign led by the Deputy Prime Minister ("DPM") of Zimbabwe; Professor Arthur Mutambara to raise funds for the University of Zimbabwe's ("UZ") aimed at improving the standards at the country's oldest higher institute of learning.

The physical and financial condition of the institution tells its own story.

The journey from 1980 to date calls for doctors and historians to locate the reasons why after 32 years independence it would be deemed fit to use the route chosen by the DPM to not only raise awareness about the challenges faced by the factories of knowledge building but also to expose the fact that a public good now requires the strategic response of private benefactors.

On 23 April 2012, I received an email from the DPM with two attachments and a request to complete and submit a pledge form before the 28 April.  This was followed by a phone call from the DPM requesting me to circulate the email to my circle.  He implored on me to attend.

After 32 years of independence, it must be accepted that commercial and financial literacy can pause a more serious challenge to nation state building than the limitations imposed by the colonial past or the evils of imperialism.

No case demonstrates the challenge of constructing an understanding of what needs to be done to bridge the wealth gap and building an inclusive and cohesive society than the issue of economic empowerment and the role of state intervention in reducing the frontiers of poverty.

In an article entitled: "Zimbabwe - All for minerals, metals and land", Nathaniel Manheru provides a compelling case that links minerals, metals and land to the developmental prospects of Zimbabwe.

It is significant that the role of human beings is relegated to the supremacy of God's creation in advancing the cause of human prosperity.

Time is the only undisputed variable in life for with each minute that is consumed history is made.

Nation states only exist to the extent that human beings allow them to and when a nation celebrates its birth, an opportunity exists to pause and reflect on the journey travelled by the human beings whose experiences during the relevant period define and shape the character of the nation state.

On 18 April, Zimbabwe will turn 32 years old and the question that must be posed is whether the promise of a prosperous and equal life for all its citizens has been delivered.

Some will argue rightly or wrongly that Zimbabwe is better principally for the benevolence of the state and the genius of state actors in defending the country's sovereignty and independence.

Zimbabwe like the majority of African states is well endowed with rich mineral resources to suggest that its current state of development can be meaningfully transformed solely by leveraging on God's creation and gift.

Addressing a seminar hosted by Sapes last week, Deputy Prime Minister ("DPM") Professor Mutambara added his voice to a possible linkage between Zimbabwe's mineral resources, its debt and development prospects by asserting that one good deal could offset the country's sovereign debt of US$9.1 billion.

After 32 years of independence, we are all compelled to join the battle of ideas in the full knowledge that the promise of a better life requires an investment in correct ideas and not criminalizing economic behavior.

April represents a special historical month for South Africa, Africa's largest economy, and Zimbabwe, a celebrity country that is now a global household name perhaps for the wrong reasons but nevertheless an important African address.

Both countries will celebrate 18 and 32 years of democracy and independence, respectively.  They are neighbours separated by a river but share a common history and their future is inextricably linked.

The African National Congress ("ANC"), a party that turned 100 on 8 January 2012, was elected four times to put its representatives in the state.  Its representatives have been in charge of the state for the last 18 years.

The role of citizens commonly described as politicians in delivering the promise of a better and secure life is never understood in its proper legal and constitutional context but what is ironic is that so much is expected from this class of citizens than what is humanly possible to deliver.

The head of party that presides over the state is person who is normally a leader in party, national or international affairs.  The post-colonial African narrative has produced its own diverse characters that have climbed the power ladder to assume the position of first citizen.

As we look back on the journey travelled, we are compelled to invoke in our conversations a discussion on the difference, if any, between a politician and statesman.

With 54 sovereign states, Africa's population estimated at 1 billion is more than three times the population of the USA and yet the promise of a better life for all has been as elusive as the question of statecraft.

To the extent that we are all actors in the theatre that we call life, we can accept that the state is a theatre dominated by citizens that are commonly described as politicians and bureaucrats.  So much is expected from the class of citizens that are described as politicians and yet so little is understood about what makes a good or bad leader in the state.

The process of creating the first citizen of any country is simple but it produces outcomes that are often contested and disputed notwithstanding the fact that in its proper construction the activity by which states are maintained and given form requires legitimacy and validation from the very people who naively expect that when elected, state actors acquire some superior wisdom in the management of public affairs.

Addressing an investment conference held recently in Johannesburg, Hon. Tendai Biti, Zimbabwean Minister of Finance advanced a view that he has held for a long time that "while nationalism was a good and sufficient instrument for the democratisation and the decolonisation of the colonial sate, it did not have an answer to the post-independence challenge of development, democratisation and upliftment of the people."

He attributed the challenges that have confronted a number of black Zimbabweans engaged in business primarily to the attitude of ZANU-PF representatives in the state whose actions he has previously described as motivated by a power retention agenda.

At an investment promotion conference held in Johannesburg last week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai ("MT") said "You can't nationalise investments, you can't grab property - that is very clear" while the Minister of Finance, Hon. Tendai Biti stated as fact that "It's true that outside land, no foreign investor had its property or asset or shareholding expropriated."

Hon. Biti went further to raise publicly concerns that after visiting Marange with the Prime Minister, he was of the view that the government may be receiving only a small portion of what it was due from the diamond miners.  He raised the question "How do we make sure that Zimbabwean resources work for the people of Zimbabwe?"

In 1914, police officers, lawyers and magistrates from 14 countries gathered in Monaco to discuss police procedures, identification techniques, centralised international criminal records and extradition proceedings and subsequently in 1923 at the Second International Police Congress in Vienna, the International Criminal Police ("ICP") was founded.

As we look back, we are forced to pause and reflect what led minds to meet and think beyond the confines of their boarders to establish Interpol.

They were ordinary people who understood the challenges of the time and felt that it was in the interests of mankind that institutional arrangements be put in place to facilitate the genuine enforcement of domestic laws in foreign states as well as provide a platform for uniformed police officers to exchange knowledge and ideas that support the transparent enforcement of the law.

On 18 February 2012, an entitled "Loan Shark dines with Presidents" was published by the Newsday newspaper presumably as a rebuttal to an article published by the Sunday Mail on 12 February 2012 in which it was alleged that Mr. Frank Buyanga, a Zimbabwean businessman, was on the police wanted list in connection with over 500 properties that were owned by companies, Hamilton Finance ("HF") and Hamilton Properties ("HP") in which he is a shareholder pursuant to financial arrangements concluded between certain individuals and the companies concerned.

The choice of words for the heading of the article is significant in that an attempt is made to establish, without the assistance of any independent tribunal, the identity of Mr. Buyanga as a loan shark who is playing it large with the rich and powerful while the victims of the alleged fraudulent financial arrangements are exposed to loss of their properties.

On Saturday, 11 February 2012, former President Nelson Mandela was honoured by putting his image on South Africa's currency while on the same day, Manheru in an article entitled "Empowerment: Learning from Rhodesia" sought to argue that ZANU-PF should solely claim the credit for the introduction of the currencies of foreign states as legal tender in Zimbabwe.

Manheru continues to play a thought provocative and stimulating role in the battle of ideas.  What is tragic is that often he ends up talking to himself because many are intimidated by the style and form in which his arguments are presented and articulated.

In a few weeks, President Mugabe will celebrate his 88^th birthday and as a founding father of Zimbabwe I have no doubt he will also use the opportunity to reflect on his legacy and why under his watch it became necessary to abandon the national currency.

At the core of the struggle for independence was a realization that the principle of individual rights was an indispensable foundational construct of any viable and sustainable nation state.

The post-colonial experience was expected to bring to life the universality of the principle of man's individual rights as an extension of morality into the social system by limiting the power of the state and in so doing act as a protection of man against the brute force of the collective.

Regrettably, the experience has not produced a moral, cohesive and inclusive Africa.