Mutumwa Mawere

What kind of Africa do we want to see? Sudan gained independence in 1956 and so became the first African state to chat its own future. It was followed by Ghana and this year, 2010, 17 African states will celebrate their 50th anniversary of independence.

The citizens of the 17 African states that turn 50 this year will no doubt ask the question whether independence has produced a fair society and the extent to which the circumstances they find themselves in speak to the values that were critical in informing the decolonization struggle.

We are all God's children and, therefore, it is not unusual to expect any society created by human beings to be fair.

I thought of introducing the concept of a fair society and whose responsibility it is to create such a society in the context of Africa because I do not believe that it could have been God's intention to create a civilization in which in life one human being is superior to another on account of one's race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual preferences and class.

At independence, many Africans looked to the future with hope and expectation. However, many of us thought that the responsibility to create the kind of society we want to see was not ours but was that of some other distance person.

We all wanted and still want to see an Africa in which everyone is treated with full respect, dignity befitting a human fairbeing, and where no one is left behind.

In terms of wealth creation and protection of citizens and property, Africa still lags behind other societies but what is universal is that no society has managed to strike the right balance in terms of fairness.

In all societies, citizens do not have the same access to health, justice, and property relations can be best described as unfair and skewed in favour of the few.

The pyramidal structured of human societies is universal. A few are above the law and play by their own rules.

Most of our societies are stratified and, therefore, it is not unusual for one to be demonized as a result of exercising his/her right to free speech particularly when such speech is seen as critical of those in power notwithstanding the fact that the majority of the people in power in post-colonial Africa pride themselves of being liberators.

Regrettably after more than 54 years of independence, the majority of Africans are not proud to be counted among its members not least because the promises offered by independence have not been realised but because they feel alienated from the experience.

We want an Africa that is owned by all who believe in it. This ought to be the starting point to creating a new Africa that can deliver on its promise.

The majority of African citizens are not formally employed leaving only a small working class to provide the financial backbone to the state.

The post-colonial state's capacity to create wealth and protect citizens is overwhelmed by the growing numbers of unemployed people that cannot be absorbed in the formal system.

To the rich, a fair society ought to respect and protect their rights. To the poor, a fair society has to ensure that wealth is evenly spread irrespective of how the wealth may have been acquired.

The rich would hold the view that the wealth accumulation process in a market system is underpinned by an exchange mechanism based on willing contracting partners.

For anyone to generate profits attributable to shareholders, one must assume that all dues to the relevant stakeholders including the state will have been paid leaving the residual income for distribution to risk takers.

In the case of joint stock companies, the profits generated by the business belong to the business in the first instance and will only be distributed if the company does not need the money for its own growth and survival.

A company can only communicate through its directors and it is up to directors to decide how much of the profits profitsgenerated must be distributed.

Once so distributed, the profits should not be subject to another form of taxation.

At the point of distribution, it has been argued that society must not have any other claim on the income distributed otherwise there would be no point for any rational human being to participate in commercial ventures.

Would it then be fair for shareholders who stand at the bottom of the ladder to receive on a discretionary basis income generated by enterprises to then be ridiculed in the name of social justice? It can be argued that any progressive society has to be underpinned by values of fairness.

In Africa's case, it is natural that complains are registered regarding the continued unfairness witnessed in the post-colonial era.

In the face of a global system that has failed to deliver the promise, there can be no better time to pause and reflect on what kind of society we want in Africa.

Arguments that seek to manage society through some social engineering in which the state plays a critical and decisive role in the allocation and management of resources often ignore the fact that state players are after all human as well.

Although we are all children of God, the experience of life teaches us that it would be naive to trust another human being to do what one can do for himself/herself.

If it pays to be unemployed, then rational human beings will gravitate towards the state of unemployment as a permanent feature in their lives. Equally, if the rich behaved as if they were poor, then the poor will have no incentive to climb the opportunity pyramid.

The rich need the poor in as much as the poor need the rich. More importantly the people with power need the people without power but they must use their power so that the people who do not have it must notice the difference and dream of having the same power one day.

A society that has no mobility is not secure and will not capture the human imagination.

There is no perfect society but human civilization has exposed systems that do and do not inspire hope.

A fair society must have balance and must be rooted with values that spur human progress.

In our discussions, we must introduce concepts like fairness and to test the extent to which they speak to the values that are important to us as Africans recognizing our diversity and plurality.

There are no easy answers to nation building challenges but what we do know is that in life we all want a better life for not only ourselves but those that succeed us.

Poverty is a common enemy and it would be naive to assume that the rich have no knowledge of what it means to be poor.

Many who are on the top of the opportunity pyramid have their own stories about what it means to climb up in a market system.

We all will benefit when we take time to appreciate the struggles and triumphs of the few at the top.

The few who assume positions of power and influence must be understood in as much as the majority in the valley must also be given an opportunity to advance their cause without let or hindrance.