By Shephard Majengeta 

IN all cases and acts deployed to solve human problems, human beings must deliberately act to bring about the desired change. 

And time has shown that innovation, knowledge and science are not the preserve of Western societies. 

Notorious for their refusal to acknowledge African superior brain power, extreme skills in the arts and sporting arenas, Westerners have used stigmatisation and overt racism as strategies to marginalise non- Westerners across the world. 

And, sadly, these strategies have been effective in degrading the human factor. 

Put simply, if you think you cannot, then you will not. 

And Western efforts have largely been expended in making us feel inferior and sub-human. 

When people believe they can do something, then they will work hard and succeed. 

Westerners, our history shows us, were literally at the bottom of the human race but one day decided that at the lowest rung they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

Thus began the conquering of the rest of the world by this once lowly race. 

Money, science and abundant raw materials are not enough to make things happen. 

There are human qualities paramount to achieving set objectives and desired success. 

Courage, commitment, bravery, confidence and self-belief are qualities critical to achieving set objectives. 

Never is it enough that science or technology exists or is well catalogued in a manual or that it is known by certain individuals. 

If people possessing the relevant knowledge do not stand up and act, contribute, and support development objectives, then we will not achieve our desired outcomes in the times we have set for ourselves. 

What makes one a patriot? 

What drives one to give his/her all for the motherland? 

The patriot acts out of conviction that his or her actions are necessary and desirable for the good of the society or community, and secondly for his/her own good. 

Anywhere and everywhere in the world, human progress is characterised by purposeful action. 

The human factor is critical in the development agenda — not just the Government but the involvement of every citizen. 

It is no secret that when individuals or collective communities fail to act purposefully, development is hampered. 

The central tenet of hunhu/ubuntu dictates that we all, each and every one of us, act to preserve the interests of the collective and then ourselves. 

Each one of us is there because all others are — it is as simple as that. 

However, Western ideology says you act in your individual interest, for personal best outcomes. 

Sadly, when some members of African societies adopt the individualism of the whiteman, the fabric that binds society is raptured. 

In all cases and without exception, the human factor dictates whether the group moves purposefully forward or not. 

The human factor is thus critical. 

What is needed for success is the human element to be imbued with the values of ubuntu/hunhu. 

All the time he or she must be committed and dedicated to act in the best interests of the family, community and nation. 

And to act in the interests of the group is only possible if the individual has been brought up and educated to embrace the values of family, community and nation — there is definitely no ambiguity when it comes to serving one’s motherland. 

But if one has been brought up to believe that he/she can work for anyone as long as the pay is ‘good’, that someone will sell out and sup with the enemies of the people. 

It will become easy for him/her to work with those seeking to destabilise one’s country. 

If we liken the human factor to the software of a computer programme, then Western neo-colonialism is the virus. 

When a virus infects a host cell in our body, for example, it directs the host cell to reproduce viral components which create millions of new viruses. 

And we proceed to reproduce clones, identical copies of Western human factors. 

In such a scenario, each citizen, though black in colour, is packed full of anti-African propaganda. 

For instance, if anti-African ideas are injected into our youth, they grow up to reject things African, to reject their own culture and traditions. 

The Westerner does not have to sit there and monitor, the virus spreads itself synchronously, with each citizen seeking to outdo the next person to tear down the country. 

Thus it is not enough that we have people who are trained; who have the requisite skills if they do not stand up and act and contribute to the national development agenda. 

All activities, at the family, communal and national level require that the human factor content be correct and active. 

To achieve Vision 2030 of an upper-middle income economy, we must think and act in an Afrocentric way. 

The indigene and Africa should simply be the centre of human existence. 

For example, equipment hairime, chinorima vanhu! 

There is the human factor. 

Knowledge, science and innovation alone will not develop and take Zimbabwe and Africa out of poverty! 

If we do not work on and correct the human factor content of the African, he or she will continue to multiply into millions of anti-African clones that work to keep the blackman down, a kind of self-destruction. 

The human factor is at the centre of our existence!