Shaping a new future for us all

via Shaping a new future for us all. 7 January 2015 by Vince Musewe

The future we must desire has to be significantly different from the past. We must create a future where we acknowledge that Zimbabwe belongs to all who live in it and can never be put in the hands of any family, clan or political organisation such as Zanu (PF).

The last 35 years have shown us that we can never develop to our full potential – mainly because those we expected to build and develop our country have failed dismally to demonstrate any competence whatsoever in building an inclusive developmental state.

Our history as a country is not only embarrassing but utterly unacceptable to some of us who know that we have all we need to create a modern and inclusive developed state, given the resources we possess.

As this New Year dawns we as a united society need to take a decisive stand that Zimbabwe is much more than Zanu (PF) has imagined. We must make it clear that for far too long we have accepted deceit, lack of accountability, incompetence, greed, corruption and bad leadership. Despite all its embellished claims, Zanu (PF) led by President Mugabe and his praise singers and prostitute writers have failed to create the country we want.

Our nation remains hamstrung by the selfish pursuit of power and privilege by a few at the expense of the millions who deserve a better life. Surely that is unacceptable to most of us?

For far too long we have bought into the lie that only Mugabe and those who participated in the struggle have the right to rule, even when they have shown us that they are unconcerned and disinterested in creating the future we desire. We have waited patiently for things to get better – but still our country is in no better shape than it was during the colonial era.

We have even bought into the lie that we are victims of Western “sanctions” and can therefore do nothing to change our economic and social circumstances. Some have bought the lie that indigenisation will emancipate our people from poverty. These are lies!

The truth is that we are complicit victims of Zanu (PF)’s greed, corruption and selfishness. We must not allow these unscrupulous cowards to continue to steal and cheat us of our dreams and a future that they can never imagine.

This year let us be clear in our message and intent; we no longer want Zanu (PF)’s narrative. It is moribund, offensive and underestimates who we truly are. We no longer accept to be oppressed and abused by other people simply because of an accident of history, for which they continue to take credit. We must not only re-write our history, we must expose them so that those who come after us can at least know the truth.

As stated by Ibbo Mandaza, we need an urgent plan of action through which Zimbabweans, on the basis of a national leadership that cuts across all sectors of society, can begin to chart the way forward, taking advantage of our historical foundations, our enormous natural resources, a resourceful population that includes among the most skilled at home and in the diaspora, and a pivotal position, both geographically and geopolitically, in the sub-continent of Africa.

We cannot shape a new future unless we create our own new narrative unadulterated by Zanu (PF)’s moribund politics and the likes of serial Mugabe lapdogs like Manheru. This new narrative cannot be driven by those who have created the very system which we wish to change. It must be led by a new breed of leadership who do not have the armed struggle hangover and have the audacity to dream beyond this generation.

In order to create the Zimbabwe we want, we desperately need leadership renewal underpinned by accountability and the promotion of a national inclusive agenda that cuts across particularly tribal prejudice.

We must include our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora in building a new modern state by the adoption of new management techniques, cultures and new technologies. We have to reinstate private property rights and the revival of our agricultural sector as the catalyst for overall economic recovery.

We have to see the de-politicisation of state security forces and the police to engender a culture of social justice and the protection of human rights. We must see the healing of past injustices committed against all Zimbabweans, primarily against our Ndebele brothers and sisters, and we must take the necessary steps for restitution.

We must compensate all those who have experienced loss including victims of the policies of the Reserve Bank and other private and public institutions that have robbed citizens of their wealth and properties. For me these are the hard issues that the current leadership continues to avoid.

As long as we have political contestation of multiple political organisations that are inappropriately structured and deliberately kill ambition and talent, selfish pursuit of material wealth by our leadership and a disinterest in creating inclusive political and economic institutions, we will not achieve the Zimbabwe we want.- Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare. You can contact him at vtmusewe@gmail.com