African nationalists, pan-Africanists and believers in African solutions for African problems still believe that Robert Mugabe is the epitome of anti-Imperialism and anti-neocolonial struggles in Africa and that his policies have made Zimbabweans and Africans proud. I have read in the Kenyan media letters to the editor and opinion essays lauding Mugabe for taking back land from white Zimbabwean – or Rhodesians as some of them prefer to be known – and redistributing it to black Zimbabweans.
I have listened to Africans in academic conferences claiming that African leaders need to be as focused as Mugabe in dealing with Americans and Europeans, especially the British. Well, it is a terrible anticlimax when you visit Zimbabwe today and discover that the famed indigenization, empowerment and employment creation is mere rhetoric.
I found out for myself in November. It shocks one beyond words to realize that the kind of African nationalism preached by the ruling elite in Zimbabwe is simply that: Two words whose meaning not many Zimbabweans/Africans today would explain. Zimbabwe is a country on the brink of collapse, only held together by the goodwill of its immigrant population, philanthropists and the hopefulness of its citizens.
When Robert Mugabe became the second president of Zimbabwe in 1987 he was the most educated African president at the time. Mugabe had acquired five degrees by the time he became the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980. But Mugabe was also an astute, charismatic and progressive leader; or maybe just canny. He didn’t jail or deport Ian Smith, the man who had led (white) Rhodesians to a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) from the British in 1965 which had resulted in several years of war between Ian Smith’s government and African liberation movements, Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which Mugabe led, was just one of the liberation movements and Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU).
Mugabe became the executive president of Zimbabwe in 1987 and continued the inclusive policies of ZANU-PF that allowed hundreds of white farmers to continue owning land and which had given whites 20 exclusive seats in parliament. His government supported African smallholder farmers, invested massively in education and professional training leading to a country that had a 90% literacy rate in 2008. Hundreds of Zimbabwean teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, bankers, and farmhands are found all over Africa – especially in South Africa, Europe and Australia. They are the ones that largely keep the Zimbabwean economy going today; at least in terms of supporting their relatives back in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe once fed its citizens and exported agricultural produce; it had a worthy industrial base, a thriving tourism sector and a fairly mature political culture. Today Zimbabweans only remember those days nostalgically.
The reason because its leaders forgot that it took hard work, investment, political inclusion and sacrifice to develop a country. One can blame ZANU-PF’s suspicion of the minority Ndebele which resulted in the marginalization of the people from Matabeleleland but the truth is simply that the ZANU-PF leaders, led by Mugabe, simply believed that they were irreplaceable. The so-called war veterans, the so-called party apparatchiks, the hundreds of ‘comrades’ that control ZANU-PF, the intolerant political class, even the nationalist intellectuals seem to have decided that the country would serve them instead of them serving the country. And that philosophy has had a devastating effect on Zimbabwe.
The country’s teeters on, waiting for Mugabe to exit the scene but as he warned those planning to replace him on the last day of the 6th ZANU-PF People’s National Congress in Harare on Saturday 6th December, he still has a ‘good memory and will continue to serve the country for as long as he has some energy in him.’ But can Zimbabwe continue on this path? Mugabe castigated his deputy, Joice Mujuru, for planning to overthrow him, threatening to have her jailed and then expelled her and her allies from the party. In words directed at Mujuru, Mugabe scolded, “What boggles the mind is why anyone claiming to be a cadre, cooked in the crucible of the struggle, would hobnob with such politics? Why? Why? Why? We raise you in the struggle, grant you leadership, build your stature, impart consequence to your person, often against your intrinsic worth. Instead of recognizing all these efforts, you turn against the party and the President! Today the people reject you, spit you out, push you into the arms of the very opposition you sided with.” And now his wife, Grace Marufu Mugabe, is the head of the Women’s Wing of ZANU-PF, whilst ZANU-PF has just made Mugabe some kind of president-for-life!
Zimbabwe today is a shadow of its (ac)claimed glorious past. You see the signs of the hard times when you land at the Harare International Airport. The airport is literally ‘empty’ with Air Zimbabwe planes seemingly stuck in the hangars. The Kenya Airways plane was the only plane on the tarmac for the two hours I was at the airport. The first thing you notice on alighting from the plane is that some letters in the airport’s name have fallen off. Yet the terminal is a ‘new’ one. Surprisingly though the interior customs and immigration facilities are decent. The officials are welcoming and the fact that I didn’t need to apply for a visa before traveling to Harare makes the illusion of pan-Africanism worth entertaining. But the waiting lounge brings you back to reality. The porters’ uniforms have seen better days. The seats at the small bar where you can have a drink are few and tired. Those irritating men offering taxi services prowl. Then something hits you. The sign of the American dollar, all over – at the bar, at the bank ATM machines, at the mobile telephone shops, everywhere.
So, it is true that Zimbabwe’s legal tender is the United States of America dollar? It is not easy to reconcile the irony when you read about Zimbabweans doing business using the US$ and listen to Mugabe ranting on against imperialist Britain and America. Even as you read this article, Mugabe has already replaced Mujuru with two new vice-presidents. This is because Mujuru, a party cadre and war-veteran, and her supposed co-conspirators didn’t attend the People’s Congress, which was taken by the party as evidence that they were guilty of accusations of plotting to assassinate Mugabe.
But the truth is that the ZANU-PF youth leaders had threatened to bar them from the Congress. This drama is part of an old struggle in the party, right from independence. Mugabe and his inner core have been good at removing anyone who threatens his rule: Ndabaningi Sithole, Joshua Nkomo, Canaan Banana, Morgan Tsvangirai and now Joice Mujuru. All the time Mugabe accuses his opponents of being stooges of foreign forces; the same foreign countries whose currencies Zimbabweans use today.
But isn’t the dollarization of the Zimbabwean economy a more neocolonial act than calling for democratization in Zimbabwe? Today Zimbabwe is beholden economically to America, South Africa, the UK, Botswana, Australia, the European Union, Japan, India and China. The American dollar, the South African rand, the British Sterling pound, the Botswana pu
la, the Australian dollar, the Euro, the Japanese yen, the Indian rupee and the Chinese Yuan can be used interchangeably in Zimbabwe. However, the most used currencies are the US dollar, the rand, the Sterling pound, the Euro and the pula.The first shock one suffers is to pay for goods in the US$ and get change in rands. For instance, if you bought food for US$9 and gave a US$10 note but the cashier doesn’t have US$1 change, you will get back 10 rands. It is assumed that this is the equivalent of US$1. On several occasions I asked my hosts how they dealt with the dollarization of the economy in January 2009 by the government in order to manage hyperinflation. The answers were shocking. Many said that it was the most socially upsetting event ever in their lives. The dollarization meant that one evening you retired for the night owning quadrillions in the bank and woke up in the morning without a cent; your cheque book or saving book mere worthless papers.
The implications were biting for millions of Zimbabweans who had savings in banks, had taken out life and education insurance, had invested in, say, bonds, had mortgages, bank loans, owed debts, were owed money etc in Zimbabwean dollars. What would be the new value of these debts and credits? The government hadn’t been in control of the currency exchange rates for years as the Zimbabwe dollar was reissued or redenominated several times because the money lost its value even before it went into circulation. Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation had been so bad that individuals paying for goods by cheque would be asked to sign double the amount because the cheque value would have depreciated by half by the time it was cashed. Zimbabweans had resorted to barter trade. Rents would be paid in bales of maize flour – yes, Zimbabweans eat ugali; they call it sadza. At one time cooking oil became the most precious mode of paying for one’s bills. Families broke up as breadwinners could win no bread. Many migrated to neighboring countries.
Undoubtedly in this state of a collapsing economy the business and political elite hardly suffered. They had probably stashed money abroad – in dollars; they were shareholders in companies that did business in the same foreign currencies in high demand; they own(ed) diamond-producing mines or companies importing basic goods from South Africa; or they had relatives who could send goods and some money back home or they could simply board a plane and travel abroad to shop. Ordinary Zimbabweans relied on the age-old kinship system that meant one relative abroad or someone with access to goods across the borders of the country could keep a whole family or clan going. The kadogoeconomy thrived; millions migrated – and in return supported those at home; micro-enterprises thrived as big enterprises closed shop.
Harare, where I stayed for three days reminds one that it was once a dream city of wide avenues, jacarandas, planned housing, and a maintained road network. Today the streets are potholed. Houses haven’t seen paint for years. Dust is all over. Jua Kali sheds thrive in Harare just like in Nairobi. Hawkers are all over the city selling Chinese goods. The Harare City Library hardly has any new books.
But the Zimbabweans I met have an undying spirit. They are absolutely committed to the dream of Zimbabwe waking from the tragedy that ZANU-PF has sucked them into. They won’t say this aloud. Indeed Zimbabweans are so critical of their government and the ruling party in the media, especially online, even in the government-run newspaper, The Herald. But they will whisper in public about the excesses of ZANU-PF. This reminds one of the heydays of KANU rule in the 1980s.
Ordinary Zimbabweans will complain about how rotten things are but they also seem resigned to the waiting game; waiting for the father of the nation to exit the stage even as he seemingly prepares his wife to inherit him. As some kind of break, Zimbabweans make catchy jokes about their fate and their politicians; sing; dramatize their fate; recite poetry or write their stories – in other words create meanings for their bewildering everyday lives. Often they do that in their local languages. It is not strange to read a letter to the editor or an opinion piece in the newspapers written in English with some points emphasized in Shona. There is plenty of poetry and great music in Shona. Oliver Mutukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo, two of Zimbabwe’s most known musicians internationally often sing in a mix of Shona, Ndebele and English. But there are several new acts in Zimbabwe – young women and men who help Zimbabweans to bear their tough fate.
I went for an evening show by Hope Masike at the iconic Book Café and it was a show you would rarely watch in Nairobi. Ms. Masike is an emerging voice and force in the great Mbira music tradition in Zimbabwe, and she only began her music career in 2008. She is stunning on stage, singing in a seductive, exhorting and plaintive voice that invites the listener to enjoy and dance to the music, stand up for one’s rights and regenerate the society or humanity. Masike and her band is a group of young Zimbabweans who probably can only contest the tyranny of the liberation struggle story through song, dance and words. They can ‘hope’ that tomorrow they will wake up to a better day.
The Book Café is one of the spaces in Harare – and I was told that there are such others in other parts of Zimbabwe – where creativity and culture keep Zimbabwe going in these difficult times. It hosts musical shows by local and international bands, book readings, debates and poetry performances. On November 27, 2014, I was involved in a discussion with one of Zimbabwe’s veteran writers, Stanley Nyamfukudza, author of The Non-Believer’s Journey. The enthusiasm of the attendees was infectious. There were doctors, lawyers, musicians, poets, visual artists and the-ordinary-guy-out-for-a-beer in attendance. This spirit defined the following two days of the Litfest Harare 2014 when at a series of events at the Book Café, University of Zimbabwe and the Harare City Library, the participants emphasized the role of literature in renewing the soul of a society caught in the grip of political bloodletting and economic squeeze.
Indeed even the family of the late Doris Lessing saw it fit to donate 3,000 books from her collection to the Harare City Library. This act is highly symbolic because Zimbabweans will only come out of the pit of post-colonial despair that they find themselves in if they go back to history – to the archive – to find out what exactly happened to its ruling elite (and themselves) which clearly has betrayed the dreams of independence and when.
The anti-Western political rhetoric will not save Zimbabwe. The country’s economy will only recover if Zimbabwean leaders stop mortgaging it to foreigners and stealing from it. The whites are not the problem. In fact there seems to be very many white Zimbabweans still very committed to the idea of a regenerated Zimbabwe who continue to raise funds for several projects benefiting blacks in the country. The political elite in Zimbabwe will have to disavow the nepotism and tribalism that sucks energy from the economy and the ordinary people. Empty nationalist rhetoric, like ZANU-PF’s – won’t build roads, schools or hospitals or guarantee peace and security for Zimbabweans. The lesson of Zimbabwe, for the rest of the tin-gods that rule many of its countries, is that the continent is too connected and dependent on the Global North for them to continue to pretend to be indignant about neocolonialism and neo-imperialism.
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