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Why we are still in Zim

Network Africa chats up a group of patriotic Zimbabweans

What really is the situation in Zimbabwe? Are the empty supermarkets we see, the inflation we hear real? Is it really difficult to get food and are people finding it difficult to live a normal life?

Allan: I think you have started in the middle, because the Zimbabwe story starts with a moral question. The moral question is about land, then everything else follows afterwards. But let me come back to your question: Yes the supermarket shops have been empty but it's because of a momentary episode in our lives. When the Government introduced price controls (actually price reductions) and instructed all the retailers to return their prices to what they were on 18 June[2007] and of course in a hyper-inflationary economy when the prices are retained by a month, then as a consumer you will see a real benefit. So the citizenry of the country took advantage and went shopping because we didn't know how long this low prices were going to last. But the supply chain is not geared to such rapid depletion of stocks and therefore the supply chains have not moved with adequate speed to replenish those supermarket shops and that is why you see the empty shops. They are a reality

When we talk about the supermarket, is it different from Agricultural produce? Are there enough food produced from the farm to go round the country?

As a matter of fact, I think the first reason is that the southern region [of Africa] experienced a drought. I think is a fact even in other countries like in Botswana for example. Some of my colleagues in that country actually asked if it was possible for me to bring some rice to Botswana when I am visiting next time. I said 'no'. The fact that we didn't have adequate

As Zimbabweans how did you feel when the government reverted land ownership from white Zimbabweans to probably black Zimbabweans. Was there a general feeling of appreciation or joy or people were against it?

Marcellina: I think the general feeling amongst the population was one of wrong being righted I think people had that expectation that it had to take place at sometime, and it was only a question of when and not knowing if there are really questions that needs because we all appreciated that there was definitely a need for land reform.

And talking about the president himself, how do people see him? Zimbabweans themselves do they adore Robert Mugabe? Are they fed up with him? Do they wish he was gone? Do they want him to still hang on as president?

Allan: I think again you started in the middle.You have to step back and look at Robert Mugabe as a leader of a revolution that brought independence to Zimbabwe. That is a role we can never take away from him and for that role he is admired. If you want to look at Robert Mugabe, he is s leader who is principled and who makes a stand and doesn't vacillate about what he believes. You can't take that away from him. You've also got to accept, like any other leader, that he's got areas were he could have done things differently. Today we speak about the Bushes and the Bliars who, based on the best intelligent systems in the world, genuinely thought that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. And so many years later, we all know that it was on the wrong premise. So like any other leader, you may have taken some actions that you might want to retrace; but in terms of principles, like Marcellina said, a wrong had to be righted and there are no apologies about that.
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Spiwe: Just to add to that, when I was talking to some colleagues recently, they said the reason why African countries went to war was to regain their land back. So it was a right and it is still a right for many countries. And some are learning from the Zimbabwe experience and doing it the other way round. I mean, improving on whatever they thought we could have done right. But it is a right the African deserves to have really.

People are leaving Zimbabwe because of the economic situation but you all are still in Zimbabwe. What makes you still stay on?

Carol: I am still in Zimbabwe because I have a passion for my country and I believe before I can go and work in development elsewhere in the UK, in America or wherever, you need to start at home because charity begins at home. So a lot of Zimbabweans are getting qualified and leaving. We have a lot of social workers who are going to do social work in the UK, you know, instead of doing social work in Zimbabwe .I am not saying it's wrong to go overseas but at least invest something in your country before leaving. Besides, in Zimbabwe I am treated like a first-class citizen; I have opportunities that are available to me which will not be if I was in the UK.I am a project manager for a charity in Zimbabwe, maybe in the UK it would take me a very long time to get that post. And I am on this leadership development program, aspiring to be an African leader, something which would not have been available to me, maybe, if I was in the UK. So there are opportunities. Zimbabwe is a land of opportunities if you take it. It's a land of plenty.

Jeffrey: All I can say about staying in Zimbabwe is that I am qualified and it is easier for me to find a job in South Africa or any other country.

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Recurring Decimal

"What You did't Know"

But home is sweet home, no matter where you go-at the back of your mind you still want to go back to your culture, to your people, to your values. All I can say is that the challenges that the country is facing makes individuals to be resillient and proactive, and in being proactive it brings out the good qualities about you and in the process developing the country. There're quite a number of Zimbabweans who have made it in the country-like Econet brand-out of that kind of environment, while others are leaving for the so called greener pastures. The challenges that crown it all is a small passing phase like any other revolution. It's a small passing phase. You may find that after about three to five years from now the same people who have gone out of the country will now come back to Zimbabwe. So as I see it, there's no point in leaving when there're opportunities that are available in the country. The industrial sector still has a lot of potentials, the agricultural sector still has a lot of potentials and there are so many business opportunities in Zimbabwe. It's only about identifying them and standing firm and saying, “I am a Zimbabwean and I belong here. This is my country and this is where my forefathers have been buried and naturally the generation that will come after me will still belong to Zimbabwe and therefore I should be part of the process of rebuilding the country,” so I don't see any point in moving out.

Africa is going democratic right now. Countries are trying to institutionalise democracy but news show that President Mugabe doesn't brook dissent or alternative opinions. How do you see that, and what is the press like in Zimbabwe?

Recurring Decimal-- Vice President Dr Goodluck Jonathan, (l) discussing with President Ijaw National Congress, Prof, Kimse

Godfrey: Mugabe is a hero wherever he goes and of the Zimbabwe people. When he came back from a United Nations meeting recently, you need to see the thousands and thousands of people that waited to receive him at the airport. If he comes to a place you are in to give an address you will want to listen.

Jeffrey: Let me interject a little bit. Yeah the question is good, it's ok. But if you go back to the issue of the lands, from the experience I had and from the people that participated in that, it was the people who went for the land and the government had to follow. In a situation like that the government did listen to the demands of the people. So in way we cannot say that what the government is saying rules the day but all we're saying is that the government does sometimes listen to the people. But like in any other situation where they say, 'democracy is the separation of the minority by the majority', the government cannot function properly if it listens to each and every quarter, otherwise we'll have different policies that will not take the country forward. This problem does affect each and every country so it's not a peculiar or unique Zimbabwean situation. Even in Nigeria you also experience the same thing. We have heard of religious clashes there and militants abducting people. So it's an African thing. It's a question that can be asked the South African; it's a question that can be asked the

Mozambican; it's a question that can be asked the Zambian, so it's not a peculiarly Zimbabwean situation. That we have instances where other sections of the country or the community doesn't really buy into or believe into government policies that on its own does not mean that the policy is wrong.

Godfrey: And Zimbabwe has got the third largest stock market in Africa.

That's not what we hear about Zimbabwe. It's as if businesses don't exist there and there are no rich Zimbabweans. How much of a tourist destination is Zimbabwe?

Godfrey: The bad things are always in politics. Across the bridge from here [Zambia], there's a hotel that can accommodate all of us. There's another Kingdom hotel and an Intercontinental Elephant Hills just across there that can accommodate us. There are five renowned international hotels and a lot of hospitality. I can drive at night right through to my house safely

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