Whither Zimbabwe? The Industrialisation of Politics in Zimbabwe
By Dr Lovemore Kurotwi
Published by RAE Holdings (2017)
ISBN: 978 0 797 482 517

IN November 2017, the political scene experienced a seismic shift which saw former President Robert Mugabe resigning from office.
With the assistance of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), the criminals who surrounded former President Mugabe were weeded out. The intervention by ZDF was meant to restore a destroyed social, economic and political order by a group that had no appreciation of the country’s rich historical legacy.
The toxic grouping within Government that had come to be known as the G40 cabal, was infamous not only for its destructive politics but for destroying the ZANU PF ethos as well as the ideology and values that drove the liberation struggle.
These infamous political players had no care for the masses and the economy of the country.
It is against this background that Dr Lovemore Kurotwi wrote Whither Zimbabwe? The Industrialisation of Politics in Zimbabwe.
The book under review this week highlights how the toxicity of the era in which the G40 cabal reigned supreme affected the business of the day.
Written and influenced by the social, economic and political circumstances before the coming of the new dispensation, the book is a no-holds-barred. Dr Kurotwi’s book is a piercing and bold piece that tackles problems the writer feels were setting back the nation in the old dispensation.
“Anybody who works under the command of a political godfather is bound to be corrupt. Professional fundamentals are thrown through the window because once you start working for the appeasement of a political godfather, you are no longer independent and your professionalism is compromised. You become corrupt,” writes the author.
Whither Zimbabwe? The Industrialisation of Politics in Zimbabwe is not a book of hopelessness but a candid approach to matters affecting the nation.
The book highlights everything that had gone wrong in the politics of the era before November 2017.
The writer, using personal experiences, shows how some decisions made by officials who were at the helm of state capture defied logic.
“The problem with some of these Government officials is that they take a Mr-Know-It-All attitude,” says Dr Kurotwi.
“Instead of facilitiating the private sector, if they are not corruptly given a stake in a project, they begin to frustrate that project by competing against it.”
Dr Kurotwi compares life in the then Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, providing suggestions and ideas which he believes can contribute to rapid economic growth.
The writer shows how life in Rhodesia was a nightmare for Africans, describing how taxes and policies were crafted to oppress the black person at every turn.
“White farmers did not have any farming skills to talk about. All the work was done by black people and white people took the glory,” writes Dr Kurotwi.
The writer berates politicians, in the independent Zimbabwe, who are driven by greed and forget that they are servants of the people. The masses remain poor due to failure to access resources that are grabbed by greedy and corrupt politicians.
Writes Dr Kurotwi: “So the dichotomy of rich white people and poor black people which obtained in Rhodesia has persisted in Zimbabwe as we now have the minority rich people who have acquired their comfort through political connectivity and the majority poor people who do not have any political connectivity which would also lead them to the feeding trough.”
It is such politicians who pushed progressive elements in ZANU PF and security forces to weed out the infamous G40 cabal.
The writer identifies nepotism, regionalism, corruption and tribalism as major inhibitors to development.
“The nephew who has nothing between his ears cannot run a whole behemoth of organisation but he finds himself at helm because his uncle wants to protect his interests and he has the political muscle to do so,” writes Dr Kurotwi.
The author calls on the people to be bold and demand the political players to deliver and to come up with measures to beat sanctions.
“If you try and correct the situation you actually become an enemy because you are disturbing somebody’s comfort zone because he or she and his or her political godfather and or godmother are living large in that chaos,” says Dr Kurotwi.
“Have we put strategies in place to counter ZIDERA and other Western imposed sanctions to beat these sanctions in the same way the Rhodesians did and managed to grow their economy the most when they were under severe sanctions?”
Whither Zimbabwe? The Industrialisation of Politics in Zimbabwe is an interesting book that offers solutions for any Zimbabwean who cares about the country’s future.