The more I try hard to pull away from the toxic politics in Zimbabwe, the more I find myself being pulled back into the discussion irrespective of the direction that I have chosen to focus on the business and investment arena.
I however find myself more aligned to nationalism more than political party identities, though on reflection I can see how certain political party policies favour a nationalist approach on paper but somehow are still reflective of the inherited capitalist system that tends to benefit a minority few in positions of power and influence reflective of the Rhodesian government model of governance only this time economic beneficiaries are partisan based and to some degree also nepotistic (family appointments) in nature.
Whilst on the other hand the other political parties are more liberal and embracing an open kind of democratic dispensation that has no clearly articulated framework to protect the sovereign interests of the indigenous citizen of Zimbabwe but relies heavily on being guided by the influence that comes from the so called superpowers of the world with permanent interests in Zimbabwe.
That said in most political platforms looking from outside inside, I see how moral and ethical standards have been eroded in terms of being guided by values like 'ubuntu/hunhu' that represent who we are as African people.
This is not to suggest that we must throw away everything that was brought and taught to us by foreigners. I still respect certain aspects of western democratic models but have also realised that not all aspect can be applied to African political environments because of our unique cultural history and leadership style.
Most of us perhaps because of the influence that comes from a largely globalised political environment, we find ourselves naturally being attracted and looking up to foreign influences, moreso also because of our heavily inherited colonial education system that makes academic, visual and shared information on online resources appear more superior based on those indoctrinated foreign concepts, ideologies and value systems.
I guess finding the right balance in terms of where to draw the line with regards to protecting what serves the interests of African society/people over what is presented as helping develop African society can be a very complex task especially when there seem to be subtle hidden agendas designed to serve and benefit foreign interests more African people nor a sincere partnership for uplifting African nations.
I guess some will argue that it's also a double edged sword in the sense that most our so called leaders have embraced a culture of corruption which makes the whole quest to empower ordinary citizens (self emancipation) counter productive as the same crop of leadership seem to have a great admiration of western propagated 'status symbols' which are a byproduct of the dominant global capitalist system as reflective in their life styles.
It is African authors like Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o that should inspire young African's to wake up and believe they have what it takes to take our continent out of this negative label of perpertual poverty. Surely African nations and their abundance of untapped natural resources can unite and be equal partners amongst the great nations of this world. Nothing is impossible as long as we believe we can rise above those artificial barriers some imposed by others and some that are just part of the natural creation of life.
