WHILE it is true that at independence in 1980 Zimbabwe was indeed the jewel that everyone admired, it is wrong to include Zimbabweans as part of that economy as they were systematically sidelined by their former colonialists.
Blacks were never part of that economy.
In fact, they had to fight all the way in order to have a stake in that economy.
Zimbabwe was not put in a position to flourish when it gained independence, but in a position to fail.
This has been its position since it embarked on the numerous empowerment programmes it is currently pursuing.
Zimbabwe started its independence with minimal to no financial security, depleted resources and ruined infrastructure and a need for a new Government structure that catered for all the people in the country, not just a section of the society.
At independence, Zimbabwe inherited an economy that was heavily skewed in favour of about 4 000 white farmers who owned 87 percent of the country’s prime land and 400 whites who controlled industry and trade.
And whites were about 250 000 against a population of about 5 000 000 blacks.
That was indeed a sound economy, but one which fed the pockets and stomachs of the few whites.
But how did we get to embrace this ‘jewel of Africa’ myth?
In the midst of euphoria that engulfed our beloved nation in 1980 was the myth that the so-called jewel of Africa mantra encompassed blacks who had just emerged from the bush where they had spent years fighting for their land, economy and abundant natural resources.
What the black leadership inherited was a super-economy created to cater for the needs of a few privileged white minority and a naïve black elite who foolishly believed being part of that hostile economy was a favour from the colonialists.
It is the naïve black elite who never cut ties with whites and who today form a vital component of the West’s neo-colonial agenda in the country.
Today, Zimbabwe’s much touted economy is hamstrung by this black elite either trying to push for the return of the Rhodesian old order or one which is involved in the corruption scandals that have rocked the country.
This is a system that was created by Cecil John Rhodes right up to Ian Smith’s much maligned Rhodesia.
It is a system of looting and plundering.
For instance, Rhodes’ diamond firm, De Beers, was part of those who looted the Marange diamonds before Zimbabweans ‘discovered’ them.
Thomas Meikles was among those who looted Matabele (Ndebele) cattle.
In fact, hundreds of thousands of Matabele cattle were looted after whites set up their Loot Committee.
The late former Rhodesia Prime Minister, Smith, was among those who looted the country’s gold, chrome and other minerals.
In all this looting, there were never opportunities for blacks.
If anything, blacks were being abused and sidelined through racial discrimination which created a wide gap between skilled and unskilled workers as well as poor health services for a variety of people.
In pursuit of this agenda, the Government put in place legislation depriving the black majority of land.
The legislation, among others, included the following:
l The 1930 Land Apportionment Act which legalised the forced dispossession of land from indigenous inhabitants to create space for white settler commercial agricultural production.
l The 1958 Land Husbandry Act and the 1969 Land Tenure Act, both of which consolidated the white settler political and economic base vis-à-vis the black majority, and;
l The 1956 Law and Order Maintenance Act which created a legal umbrella under which the police and the army dealt expediently with any dissent.
As a result, our attaining of independence meant fixing problems that were created by British colonial influence.
The Government had to deconstruct the oppression that white minority put in place by raising up all of the ‘native’ African people who were oppressed by passing laws to make the system cater for the marginalised people within society to bridge the gap that had been created.
For example, a higher minimum wage was legislated, better health care services and more jobs were created.
But doing all this came with its own fair share of problems.
For instance, President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF became ‘bad’ leaders overnight when they repossessed land from the whites through the Land Reform Programme in 2000.
Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world suddenly became an ‘unattractive’ tourist destination because the West and its allies were livid over the displaced former white farmers.
Yet what was simply happening was the building of a nation to incorporate blacks into the mainstream economy.
Giuseppe Mazzini, in his book, A Cosmopolitanism of Nations defines nation and nation-building in terms of political equality and popular consent expressed in the form of ‘equality, liberty and association’.
He describes the nation as: “The entirety of citizens who speak the same language and are associated, under equal enjoyment of civil and political rights, for the common purpose of developing and progressively perfecting all social forces and their activity.”
This is what the Government of Zimbabwe has done for the people, but the myth of the jewel of Africa continues to hover above our heads like the ‘sword of Damocles’.
Tragically, some in our midst believe this myth.
Let those with ears listen.