Mutumwa Mawere

The future of Africa belongs to its builders.

When future generations look back at our generation, they will no doubt say that we are the luckiest people to live in an Africa free of colonialism and yet imprisoned by our collective inability to invest in an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of a multicultural and plural identity.

We are after all lucky to be alive and relevant at the same time with one of Africa's icons, former President Mandela, whose wisdom in knowing that there is a life after statehouse should be appreciated and communicated widely so that those who take the view that they are indispensable can take comfort that the future belongs to all and no single individual should have a right to claim more space than another.

Today is World Aids Day. Yes, our people are more exposed to diseases and more vulnerable than they were 53 years ago.

We were champions of our own emancipation but regrettably after "uhuru" we all have retreated into the comfort zone where personal pursuits are more important than collective progress.

We have to acknowledge that there are many non-Africans who are more concerned about the welfare and progress of Africans than the people who call themselves African.

What is even scarier is that very few of us will have any program of action and even as the world pauses to reflect on what needs to be done to alleviate the suffering of many Africans exposed to HIV-AIDS, we continue to regard our needed response as someone else's calling.

Access to affordable health is a human right and yet the network of people committed to Africa through the promotion of human rights and economic justice is less evident in Africa where corporate social responsibility is less responsive to home grown initiatives.

Is it not ironic, for example, that the estimated population of Indian South Africans is less than people of Zimbabwean heritage who are living and working in the country? However, the Indian economic cluster, for example, in South Africa is identifiable and more organised at the social, economic and political level.

Although of Indian heritage, there is little that connects these Africans with India. Over the years, they have invested in being African to the extent that no interest will be served if they were constantly made to feel that they are less African than another African who may be born black like me.

What is interesting is that many of the people are less concerned about the climate of human rights where they are resident but spent most of their time focusing on issues that they cannot do much about. With better organisation, we all can impact on our environments.

If we become the change that we want to see there is no doubt that the future of Africa will reflect the choices that we make today.

Africa is a home that hosts in the majority black people but I do believe that it was not God's intention that this geographical mass be reserved only for people who may call themselves authentic and indigenous Africans. Every human being who chooses to be African is authentic and must be treated as such lest Africa closes its doors to people who may add value to its cause.

Human rights are inextricably linked to democracy and development

We have to begin as Africans to embark upon a process of benchmarking our performance in respect of human security issues not just look at the behaviour of state actors who we normally look up to as guarantors of our safety even through empirical evidence shows that state power has been used in Africa to reduce freedom.

The initiative by members of Africa Heritage to establish a Human Rights Forum is a welcome one and should be supported.

We believe that Africa belongs to all who live and invest in its future.

By providing comprehensive services like cultural orientation, counselling, crisis intervention, English language skills, citizenship, translation, immigration, and legal aid and referral services and more importantly adding our voices against injustice and intolerance; we will make a difference by working together for a better and secure Africa.

The Forum seeks to educate, research, counsel and mediate on human rights issues, with particular reference to people who are marginalised and disempowered.

We thought that independence would confer on citizens of Africa civic, political, economic and social rights as defined by international law but regrettably this has proved to be a mirage.

In Africa, matters of land and property, citizenship, cultural communities, emergency powers, security of the person, and freedom of movement are important in giving citizens a sense of security.

Our knowledge on rights that should be accorded to human beings ought to improve with our understanding of key foundational and fundamental principles required for any progressive and dynamic society.

After 53 years of "uhuru" many of Africa's citizens have wounds that will never heal unless we go back to the basics. The kind of Africa we want to see must be our business.

This is my contribution to this inaugural edition of the AHS online magazine that can be found on www.africaheritagerivonia.com and so I would appreciate a conversation on what kind of Africa you want to see. By working together and reasoning together, I have no doubt that we can convert our diversity into an advantage.

Africa is a continent that has embraced other cultures and there is no doubt that converting our space into a pot where diverse ideas can melt will be to our benefit.