By Charles T.M.J. Dube

I HAD the privilege of going through Dr Douglas Munzvengi’s doctoral thesis titled, Socio-Economic Challenges of Developing Economies: A Case Study of Zimbabwe.
The thesis is a gem information source on the Zimbabwean economy, especially with regards to finance and banking.
Dr Munzvengi takes the reader through power dynamics and property relations before, during and after colonialism.
The contemporary socio-economic challenges of developing economies in Africa and elsewhere are partly rooted in the historical imbalances socially constructed from selfishness — the desire for control and dominance by Europe and Western powers.
The natural factors of self-interest, control and dominance are significantly manipulated by Westerners dating back to the 30 years’ war in Europe that ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
The peace settlement of Westphalia was the terminal point of the protracted struggle for religious boundaries in Europe.
The outcome of the peace settlement in Europe was that the religion of the ruler became the religion of the subjects under the ruler’s territorial control and the subjects had to pay taxes to sustain the ruler’s religion, a principle defined as ‘cujus region ejus religio’.
The principle of ‘cujus regio ejus religio’ was imported into Africa in 1884, at the partitioning of Africa and manifested at a time when Christianity and Islam were being propagated by missionaries among the indigenous Africans.
The indigenous Africans subscribed to family unity and equity before the Supreme Being, the High God/Nyadenga or Musikavanhu.
The Westerners and missionaries, such as David Livingstone, were motivated by what has gotten to be termed the ‘4Cs’ of ‘commerce’, ‘Christianity’, ‘civilisation’ and ‘conquest’ as key to the colonisation and domination of African countries by European powers.
The skewed trade and capitalist tendencies of the Westerners and shortages pushed by the industrial revolution fuelled the appetite for the partitioning of Africa that was implemented at the Berlin Conference in 1884.
In their physical and mental cohesion intended for resource manipulation, slavery and control of Africa, the Westerners formulated bad attitudes towards Africans by denigrating their persons, identity, language, philosophy, culture, beliefs, religious institutions, traditions and way of life.
The denigration caused deep-seated low esteem, self-hate and inferiority complexies among the African indigenes.
Chinua Achebe (2009) summarises the colonial position well when he writes:
“Colonisation may indeed be a complex affair, but one thing is certain, you do not walk in, seize the land, the person, the history of another, and then sit back and compose hymns of praise in his honour.
To do that would amount to calling yourself a bandit; and nobody wants to do that.
So what do you do?
You construct elaborate excuses for your action.
You say, for instance that the man you dispossessed is worthless and quite unfit to manage himself or his affairs.
If there are valuable things like gold or diamonds, which you are carting away from his territory, you prove that he does not own them in real sense of the word – that, he and they just happened to be lying around the same place when you arrived.
Finally should the worse come to worst, you may even be prepared to question whether he can be, like you, fully human.
It is only a few steps from denying the presence of a man standing there before you to questioning his very humanity.
Therefore, the agenda of the colonist did not make provision for the celebration of the world of the colonised…”
It is on the backdrop of all this that, as Dr Munzvengi delves into the financial dynamics even during the inflationary era leading to dollarisation, he eventually jumps to introduce indigenous knowledge systems in seeking solutions to the socio-economic challenges of Zimbabwe.
In his doctoral thesis, Munzvengi (2016) focused on the socio – economic challenges of the developing economies culminating in the co-creation and emergence of an African indigenous philosophy and strategy model of Humwe-iDura as a way of problem solving.
The symbol for Humwe-iDura also resonates with children’s play in rural village communities that goes: “Apa pakasungwa neutare, apa zinyeke-nyeke.”
The practitioner, interestingly, reminisces and attributes links of the Humwe-iDura philosophy to the cultural practice of humwe that prevailed within rural Zimbabwe, coalescing with dura/matura to form a common mission oriented tactical and strategic command model for oneness and spiritual unity for socio-economic development relevant for contemporary wealth creation.
Humwe, on the one hand is derived from the Zimbabwe indigenous languages, literally meaning purposeful solidarity, oneness, consolidated togetherness, collectiveness, synergies, alliances, partnerships and corporates; yielding communion, common vision, common good, common interest and commonwealth.
On the other hand, the concept of ‘humwe’, ‘nhimbe’ or ‘hoka’, as respectively identified in regions within Zimbabwe, is a strategic traditional practice of pooling resources for the successful accomplishment of tasks.
The humwe practice in village communities involved communal people management and systems thinking, the engagement and organisation of common labour from the villagers for expediency and economies of scale in ploughing fields, planting crops, weeding, harvesting, thrashing and winnowing grain.
The village practices often culminated in celebrations, feasting and enjoyment of the traditionally brewed beverages of mukumbi/amarula wine from mapfura fruit and rapoko, finger millet and/or sorghum malt beverages (njuza, mangisi and mahewu).
Dura is primarily and figuratively a silo or simply an investment, the treasury and banking system or relationship building engaged and sustained for purposes of survival and improvement of the wellbeing of individuals, organisations and society as a whole.
The essence of humwe is oneness and working together which crystalises into a futuristic dura for the sustenance of ideation processes, wisdom, relationships, wealth and generations into posterity.
The source of humwe is vested in the image of God (imago dei), further reflected in the communion of God/Musikavanhu with humanity, that is spelt out in the mission of God in humanity (missio dei), summarised by the need for the love of one another.
Dr Munzvengi (2016) argues the essence of humwe negates social ills such as selfishness, greed, corruption, exploitation, subjugation and wealth concentration among other social evils that lead to social fabric decay within communities.
He posits that it is the rejection of humwe that is central to socio-economic crisis and societal decay the world over from time immemorial.
The tenets or credo of Humwe-iDura, when applied in society and the diverse disciplines such as management, politics, economics, development, unity or spirituality, achieve significant sustainable outcomes within the respective focus areas.
The concept of Humwe-iDura is premised on five tenets or set of principles.
The tenets or guiding principles of Humwe-iDura start with the need for survival of the self in the community and its sustenance; then the need for equity in the survival and wealth creation processes (dura), to establish the sound wellbeing of the people in communities and organisations, that finally give effect to unity, harmony and stability under common vision.
Dr Munzvengi argues the concept of Humwe-iDura forms the fibre for the success of society and the economy, which in the Zimbabwe context translates to be a lubricant for the achievement of the goals of the economic blueprint of Zim-ASSET, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Millennium Development Goals.
In the modern scenario, the dura/granary should be viewed as an equivalent of the bank as it aims to provide future security for livelihood as value is no longer just stored in grain and livestock, but money.
Accordingly, financial inclusion becomes critical; an area the thesis makes propositions on.
Dr Munzvengi’s thesis with the Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management, a school of management leadership in South Africa reads like prophesy in the light of the popularisation of the Command production concept first applied in agriculture in the last season with intentions to spread it to other sectors of the economy.
Because the institute insists that any research by its graduates influences and contributes to society, the Humwe-iDura financial inclusion model will be tried and tested by some Zaka community before being spread to other communities.