How can we effectively contribute to the development of Zimbabwe?

My article today is a follow up assessment on changing our attitudes in order to have a common vision. In the last couple of years, I have found that most Zimbabweans  spend most of their time criticising and discussing the way government is managed by politicians, and few have have actually focused on solutions outside government proposals save for personal family and career achievements. Most have had very limited focus on their own personal development and progression with regards to finding sustainable solutions that can gradually develop their knowledge and abilities in a beneficial way to Zimbabwean socio-economic environment (How their roles,personal achievements, can effectively benefit a broader society). The majority choose to criticise any efforts without even making any suggestions to address some of the problems we face that have been affecting our socio-economic environments. 


I do however sympathise with those who have been victims of past injustice caused by violence and political persecution by those in authoritative positions. Most of these victims of human right violations have had very little therapy if any, in terms of being counselled with regards to their experiences they have been put through. The wounds inflicted on them are so deep and will remain open as very little has been done by society in general to try and address these unjustified actions against innocents. Many probably feel it is the responsibility of government to provide a national healing platform, but why cant we take the first steps in addressing emotional issues that affect us as people from the same region without waiting for these rather stubborn and righteous minded political leaders?   What we really need is political solutions that can demand as part of any progressive condition, a commission of inquiry to bring justice for the victims of political violence. There seems to be a reluctance by global leadership to engage the current political authority, and those that attempt to do so are usually accused of having other hidden agendas and interests in our national matters. I'm not sure if aggressive direct confrontation is the right way around it, nor is amnesty granted without the perpetrators acknowledging their mistakes justified. However what I'm sure about is these matters do need to be addressed sometime soon if peace and stability is to be achieved in Zimbabwe.

All these issues have contributed to the negative behaviours and actions  towards positive development in our country, which in turn has been  exasperated by a blame culture linked to other historical event’s. All these have been used as propaganda tools, to create unnecessary divisions amongst our people, as a result of bad communication by leaders from various sectors of our society. What seems to have been overlooked by many or probably forgotten at times, is that Zimbabwe is a country, and those currently managing it are humans who have a life expectancy just like every other living organism, the main difference being Zimbabwe as a land locked country will always be there and be managed by others, hence the need to stay focused on long term solutions that will provide constant socio-economic growth for future generations. That does not mean we should conclusively dismiss short term objectives, they are also important starting points .

My personal observation is publicity at large, often starts with the media entities, and then gradually the information then spreads through interpersonal communication at various levels. While popular wisdom suggests that “any publicity is good publicity,” research has found only downsides to negative press. Though the economic approach to negative publicity has focused more on the role of critics than the mechanism through which publicity influences opinion, word of mouth acts as signals of quality, which influences members of the public to make particular decisions on national and personal matters affecting their lives. However negative information generally decreases evaluations, attitude changes alone cannot explain why negative publicity would ever be positive. Negative publicity should decrease opinion evaluations, and as a result, decrease the confidence people have on public institutions and governance issues.

So is it possible for us to draw a line on freedom of press and publicity? Shouldn’t there be a standard that is acceptable to the public not just membership associations?

“Nothing should be further from the truth. Great marketing does great things for people and for businesses. We need to stop being so defensive and start celebrating marketing’s role.” ~ Leroy

Perhaps we should be looking at the creation of an independent self-regulatory media body. The majority of the public would want the press regulated by an independent self-regulatory run by those independent of the newspaper industry. Anyway the press is not the problem but just a part of both the problem and solution.

There’s no amount of negative publicity that can enhance the already available knowledge in the world media about the need for progressive change in Zimbabwe, so instead of always focusing on the negatives we have experienced in the past, let’s rather look at also addressing those negatives with positive actions. Positive action is taking ownership of our situations and not waiting for government officials to continuously manipulate our trust, faith and hope nor seek outside assistance that may as well manipulate our disadvantaged positions.

“In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.”

~ Albert Einstein~

So how can one start effectively contributing to the development of Zimbabwe? Well first and foremost one must be passionate about Zimbabwe, it could be you live there, want to live there, want to visit on a regular basis, have family, friends who live there or want to go back and live there or simple interested in Investing in the economy. I think most Zimbabweans have realised that the time for talk and chat is fast becoming a bad habit, a friend of mine said today; 

" My challenge is for Zimbabweans in diaspora to invest and create even a single job in Zimbabwe. Sounds stupid idea, but lets try it"~D R

What ever may be the case it's time to let our actions speak louder than our words. Let's take the time to plan our future, empower ourselves with the necessary knowledge and skills, try to compliment each other in areas where we are weak so that what may seem impossible becomes a possibility and eventually a reality. Let's share information that is capable of strengthening our goals and plans for the future, for time is the most precious product in life. If we do not make it to the final destination at least we would have left a trail of inspiration for generations to come. With hopes and dreams anything is possible.

The Vision for Zimbabwe is Clear!

Well when people talk about change, in most cases they expect to see immediate results, immediate being within a few months, in normal circumstances that is usually unrealistic and I blame those who make miscalculated or rather unrealistic election promises which in most cases are not supported by any realistic evidence. Evidence should be able to highlight a track record of past achievements or in academic terms cited from achievements of similar projects that have relevance to our situations.

Perhaps the question we should be asking is what does it take to deliver a new vision to any socio-economic environment? It's time for us to personally assess ourselves, are we going to continue this attitude of waiting and hoping for a special leader to come and lead us to our vision? Are we going to continue listening to the old traditional politics of promise where politicians only start having an active interest in people’s lives when it’s time for an election? Are we going to listen to the traditional politics of promise that has produced little in terms of effective change in people’s lives?

Well if you answered yes to any of those questions then you shouldn’t be too worried about seeing effective change any time soon, because you acknowledge the way things are currently being done. Those that want to see a new vision that brings about change must look within themselves for answers first. We must first change ourselves before we are able to change our socio-economic environments, by that I mean we need to change our attitudes towards life, our attitudes towards each other as humans, our good and bad habits, we need to train ourselves to be more focused and more disciplined towards what we would like to achieve in our lives. Without self-assessment and internal change we will not be ready for a much broader vision that will have common values and shared responsibilities.

Our greatest challenge is dealing with our negative past, the memories that keep haunting us as we fight to progress, the only way around that is to forgive and repent if you are a doer of injustice. There will obviously be those who will choose to be stubborn about the idea of apologising and those who will out rightly reject the idea of forgiving, they will unfortunately have to carry the burden of wanting to be righteous until such a time the opportunity comes, if it does happen, to fulfil their desires. What I’m trying to say is let’s move on whilst we can with what we have, because time waits for no human.

The future of Zimbabwe is very bright, promising and full of hope.  I have personally met a very diverse community of people from all walks of life, I believe Zimbabwe has completed her human empowerment programme, the past unstable economy  caused by various factors from retrogressive foreign policies to bad governance that has seen a rise in politics of patronage, forced an exodus of citizens out of the country in search of greener pastures in more developed countries. This mass movement, though influenced by very difficult and challenging times can now be utilised in a progressive manner if migration policies like dual citizenship are introduced.

Zimbabwe now has the experience and knowledge in human resource power, to begin a very powerful economic revolution that can see it becoming the power house of African economies. The recent discovery of the largest diamond reserves in the world is more than a good reason to aggressively look forward to seeking long term solutions, not only in our economy but also outlining how we will develop future leaders of Zimbabwe. I currently see ourselves with a lot of replacement politicians and aspiring politicians, what Zimbabwe needs is leaders whose actions speak change, leader's who lead by effectively addressing the problems of people on the ground, leaders who can clearly outline 5 year and 10 year plans without worrying about moving into State House or being chauffeur driven in the latest bullet proof Mercedes. Once politicians, who are meant to serve the people start living celebrity life styles what image and message are they effectively giving to young aspiring Zimbabweans?

We now live in a world where information exchange is one of the biggest boosters of economic growth. Zimbabwe can not afford to be behind in terms of technological developments in the region. What are our options? Well the biggest barrier currently is our old revolutionary leadership, their role to liberate our people was done and we truly appreciate their contributions but it's now time for them to loosen up their forceful grip on power and gradually let the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe take over the reins of leadership, so that Zimbabwe can get back on the road to become the food and bread basket of Africa again.

However let me give an advance warning to all of you, my brothers and sisters of Zimbabwe that Rome was not built in one day. Prior preparation prevents poor performance. So let us all learn to be patient, plan ahead and remain committed and dedicated to the final outcome.

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”

-Franklin D. Roosevelt