My trip to Zimbabwe in November was very enlightening but also very shocking. I stayed in both Bulawayo and Harare and I saw very massive differences in terms of the deterioration of standards in both roads and infrastructure, Bulawayo was like a ghost town with human Angels. I was amazed at how humble and polite the people in the community were regardless of the difficult economic challenges they were facing every single day.
In Harare the deterioration of standards was also there but to a much lessor extent, there most people I met seemed to have accepted the conditions that are offered to them, there was no real excitement or that feeling of positive energy you sometimes get in people. The good places were very good but also very expensive and clearly distinguishable as social places for the more affluent in society, unfortunately for me i never really got a chance to engage with any of the wealthy and influential in society.
I guess the wealth of a country is not measured by the number of rich individuals in it but by the amount of poor people in society. Zimbabwe is very rich in terms of the many kind hearted people you meet in the streets, most of my old friends had become pastors..something I would have never even imagined they would one day become. My conclusion was there are a lot of opportunities for those with the capital to start off, and in terms of attitude I felt there was more people could do together than just waiting for government to come and help them fix their problems. Essentially government should only be there as a facilitator, helping society in the formulation and implimentation of polices that are capable of promoting growth in communities.
In Bulawayo there is approximately plus or minus one million individuals who potentially migrated to seek employment in other countries, the biggest being South Africa. Surely if these individuals all organised themselves into community based Trusts a monthly contribution of R50 each for say 500 000 individuals would raise R25 million a month which works out to R300 million per year..that's just half from South Africa and one region..surely a lot can be done with that kind of funding to help rejuvinate the communities they grew up in.
This same approach could be applied to other regions in the country, but in-spite of our very high literacy rate we seem to be failing to trust each other when it comes to joint initiatives, we seem to struggle with issues of transparency and accountability which simple require consistent and effective feed-back systems that build confidence in such group activities.
I appreciate the bad experiences that some externalised citizens have had with relatives and individual partnership agreements in their attempts to contribute to the upliftment of society, but where trust was broken because of that lack of honesty and transparency. I have also been a victim of such dishonest arrangements, however do think sitting back and dismissing that window of opportunity without trying again differently is self defeating. I believe that transparency and accountability require a consistent feed-back system that can build confidence in such group activities.
We can speculate about what might happen or what the powers be may opt to do in such scenario's but that all remains speculation until we are prepared take ownership taking into account those bad experiences in order to implement much more viable and sustainable approaches that allow for a fluid flow of ideas between individuals and communities.
The information age gives us options to harness tools like the internet and mobile technology to ensure transparency and accountability in process. Surely if the likes of Econet Boss Strive Masiyiwa can introduce technological innovations like Eco-Cash what's stops us taking advantage of similar methods to put in place more transparent methods of community investment initiatives?
There are several benefits that come with such a concept, depositors can have an opportunity to choose which area of their community's development agenda they would love their funds directed to. It could be funding small business, funding construction projects, funding education initiatives, funding sports activities etc. etc. there could even be an emergency fund for priority areas like health and food subsidies or small scale farming financial assistance.
By the way, such ideas do not have to be all charity based, activities like road and infrastructure construction and other types of work could be instituted through an independent community tendering process put in place through an agreed legal process negotiated with the local authority with emphasis on granting opportunities to members of those specific communities first before any outside companies in order to promote localisation and give back locals that sense of achievement and pride of having done something valuable in their environments.
The foreign taxation route is not something that I would be too keen on advocating for at this stage of our independence, it's quite clear to most that our government has shown us how terrible their record is in terms of corruption and mismanagement of the economy. Foreign taxation methods would only be a viable option if externalised citizens can secure an agreement that's capable of protecting their interests and allows them space in any investment decision making process. Such agreements may come with voting rights which would legislatively give them a voice as to how their taxes should be utilised for national development objectives.Personally I would prefer the public does it alone with the blessing and cooperation of government and other linked stakeholders.
What may happen soon if we do not initiate this ourselves is the government may introduce a foreign taxing system of which we may have no say nor have access to information that clearly shows how our money is being utilised..
..food for thought..
'We' [people] have the power to change our environments but not by remaining spectators and critics always blaming government and other's for our failures.
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