Why Zimbabwe Shamed US All!

Source from:  Financial Gazette (Harare) January 5, 2006 Ken Mufuka 01/06/2006

IT is common in the western academic world to cite President Robert Mugabe's "land grab" as an example of Africa's imperviousness to reason, and its inability to grasp the economic realities of the 20th century. The explanation given cannot pass the test of history. They blame him, as an individual -- Mugabe has ruined the country -- is the song. Let me upset the applecart and see what our readers' reaction will be. It is possible, according to my theory that President Mugabe is doing everything he knows how, according to his understanding of African realities. Let me start with acknowledgements. Dr. L.S.B. Leakey said that the greatest tragedy of the western world is the assumption that an African with university degrees from the western world will think, behave or act like a European. President Mugabe has seven university degrees. My second teacher was Madam Professor Emily Okpete from Nigeria. Simply stated, her theory is that cultures do not yield their secrets to outsiders easily. The third one is Madu the African, also from Nigeria. The problem of Africa today is that the elites believe that we can remake little Englands in Zimbabwe or South Africa. Armed with Eurocentric minds, they try to solve problems with roots deep in the history and soil of Africa. I spent some time at three farms in Zimbabwe in order to observe and test these theories. Let us take the example of KwaJohn (Vice President Msika's farm). He acquired the farm lawfully by title deed with a loan from the Agricultural Bank in 1984. He is much loved in Chiweshe for his generosity and kind heart. The farm produced tobacco, corn (maize), vegetables and beef cattle. There was a mechanical shop for tractor and lorry repairs. Brother Msika never engaged in any farming that I know of for the last 25 years. He saved many villagers' cattle from death through drought by allowing them to graze on his farm. Earlier on, ZANU thugs used to beat up villagers who wanted to work for him, allowing these same villagers to work for MacKay and Monckton, white farmers. The second farm belongs to Comrade Mavhaire of Masvingo. He is a courageous man, works very hard, bought his farm from the famous Hewlett, a rancher and corm grower. Hewlett grew two crops using an artesian water source. As Governor of Masvingo, surely Mavhaire had all the support of the state he needed. But all the cards were stacked against him. Using draught oxen or donkeys, bedeviled by persistent droughts in the 1980s, it soon became apparent that Mavhaire was no Hewlett. The economic deterioration started soon after independence and was only accelerated by the land grab of 1999-2005. The two farmers mentioned above are men of impeccable character and some education. But Madam Okpete detects what she calls the missing cultural secrets. White Rhodesians like Hewlett, Mackay, John and Monckton had advantages, which the black farmers did not have, even if the government was black. The advantages were racial and cultural. To begin with, black workers are treacherous when working for a brother. Many of Hewlett's workers left with him, refusing to work for "mubhoyi." Europeans designed the banking system, and even if a black manager is in charge, the system still favours whites. Even the rains are kinder to whites than they are to blacks. Then there is the rhythm of the universe. During the colonial days, one could see huge stacks of fertilisers covered by tents outside Hewlett's farm in August, two months ahead of the planting season. Today, one needs a fertiliser shed, lock and key as well as an armed guard. The rhythm of the universe seemed to work along (not against) the white man. Today, farmers are still scrounging for fertilisers in December, long after the rains have fallen. But why did Msika not attempt to farm at all? Perhaps he did not understand his investment as a productive investment. The farm was to be his home, and in due course, his children and their grandchildren will have somewhere to rest their weary bones. Professor Stanlake Samkange took me to his farm in Msengezi after independence and introduced me to his "mismanager." The cheek in tongue use of the word mismanager surprised me. Even though it was a farm, he had brought some beef from Harare and a hundred pound bag of cornmeal. The farm was an expense to him rather than an income generator. He too, wanted to be buried there, with his ancestors. The questions we ask have no priority in the African mind. The African mind listens to a different drummer, and until we make new Afrocentric priorities, we will not succeed. It is useless to be copycats, because no matter what we do, we cannot be half Englishmen. The African elites are self impressed by their personal attire, the three-piece suits from Hepworth of London, but they deceive themselves. The poor Africans see through this charade . . . When President Canaan Banana, bless his soul, asked State House chefs to prepare some sadza, some left in protest to work for the Meikles and other hotels. Deterioration of standards (white man's standards) or lack of production is inherent with Africanisation. Enditem