Wananchi ,I spend an afternoon with a very dear ,longstanding friend of mine Brian Kagoro at some economic symposium somewhere in the outskirts of Harare,where we had been invited as co - speakers . They say prophets are never recognized in their own country ,and Brian is a good example of that. He was erudite ,inciteful and rich in an address that was as expansive as it was piercing and yet so relevant. I have known Brian since he was a firebrand student leader at the University of Zimbabwe ,then later against very stiff competition I successfully persuaded him to come and intern at Honey and Blanckenberg ,Legal Practitioners where I was then a junior partner. Long gone are those days but clearly there is fire in the belly and it is a pity that in this poisoned environment ,this country can not accommodate the likes of Brian and the millions like him scattered into the diaspora. Over the years the African diaspora has been growing exponentially largely as a result of wars and physical conflicts in many of the African countries. Thus a huge diaspora has come from formerly war torn countries like Eritrea,Ethiopia,DRC ,Liberia ,Rwanda and Burundi to name a few. A huge diaspora too has been created by the African who went in pursuit of education and never come back. Zimbabwe bares the brand of a country ,not actually involved in a physical war ,that has created a huge diaspora through political conflict ,violence and economic melt down. Over three million Zimbabweans are outside Zimbabwe located in every corner of the world ,doing all kinds of things ,and reproducing themselves in all kinds of shape and form. It is an unkind situation for there is no viable narrative to that of the motherland and the self induced confidence of one being in her own country. It is an unkind and unpalatable situation for one to be displaced from her family or siblings and to wallow in a diaspora involuntary . It has a dramatic effect on family cohesion ,chemistry and alchemy. This is one of the biggest untold legacy of our ugly predatory politics of the last 33 years. To be fair ,they are thousands of Zimbabweans excelling and flourishing across the globe.They are key personnel in some of the world s greatest institutions ,at the World Bank ,the Fund,the UN ,the African Development Bank to name a few. They are in some of the world s finest corporates.The Goldman Sachs of this World ,on Wall street and in many other place. My university colleague James Manyika is a big wig at McKinsey and even advises the president of the most powerful state in the world. They are some who have built huge business empires running into billions,and constantly rub shoulders with some of the world s super elites. They are some who have filled and dominated certain countries ,such that if their labour and skills were to be withdrawn ,those countries would have hiccups. They are some like my friend Proff Mutambara who have floored them at their top citadels of learning ,Oxford and MIT and up to now they still do not what hit them.The rocket from Guhune ,ward four . But the diaspora is not homogeneous. There also these who are at the bottom of the pile and live an under existence that is difficult to imagine. I see them on streets in Joburg for instance selling car chargers or key holders.Some despite their extraordinary qualifications are waiting on elites in restaurants. Others have been enslaved to care work where they are exposed to the hidden underbelly of some of these developed countries. The large part of the diaspora are citizens by birth to the motherland.They too are Zimbabwean . The question therefore is how does the State create conditions that recognize that they a re citizens with a role to play in the affairs of there country despite them being domiciled elsewhere wether voluntarily or otherwise. Compared to say the huge Indian or Pakistan diaspora ,the African State in general terms has never had a proper and meaningful strategy of handling its people . The reason largely has been political.Many of the early diaspora communities are persons running away from persecution. Thus when they left it was good riddance and over the years they are treated as pot of dissident activity or a snake park breeding opposition politics. There constant demonstrations at their country s embassies is an embarrassment and irritation to the dictators that they fled from. Dictators who do not understand the mystery of why people should be allowed to demonstrate and wish they could send their black boots to Strand Street to bit the hell out of these spoilt brats. It is time Africa and Zimbabwe in particular understood the muscle in the diaspora and the duty of incorporating same and the body psyche of the nation . In the case of Zimbabwe this is a group that played a key role in helping sustain this economy particularly during the melt down years . Diaspora remittances then averaged $ 1.5 billion annually ,a figure which has dropped severely in recent years to around $350 million annually. But these are still huge figures by any standard. The issue is that there is an obligation to set up legal and financial infrastructure that offers incentive to the regular ,formal and simple way of diaspora remittances . Other countries like Pakistan for instance have a diaspora bank. Beyond this ,incentives need to be offered for the diaspora community to be investors or economic actors in their own countries. Surely preferential treatment ,or reserved quota in many of the country s programs is not remiss. Further the creation of specially made and tailored instruments of intervention is key.Instruments such as Diaspora Bond ,Diaspora Venture Capital or Diaspora Private Equity funds could happen with just some dialogue with these communities. Most of these things never happen.In the last Government people lost a lot of time fighting over which Ministry ,Diaspora issues should be located,wether in Higher Education ,Regional Integration or Economic Planning. In the end nothing was done virtually. However the new constitution offers some opportunities for the State to once again recognize its citizens as human beings. The expanded and clearer definition of Citizenship ,in particular the elastic definition of citizenship by descent offers exciting opportunities. So too the fact that citizenship by birth can never be lost under any circumstances including even when one acquires multiple citizenships of multiple countries. Another exciting thing too is Article 67 of the constitution which offers a full gamut of political rights to all citizens ,including the right to vote .Since the diaspora is a citizen ,the right to vote should be extended to same. Section 67 is taken virtually word for word from section 19 of the South African Constitution . .In a number of decisions including ,Richter v Minister of Home Affairs 2009(3)SA1(CC), the South African Constitutional court has leaned towards an interpretation of the law that is generous as to allow diaspora voting. Some might question why give the diaspora special treatment .It is not special treatment at all. They too are Zimbabweans who should not be disadvantaged by their physical location which in any event in the majority of situations was an involuntarily placement . But I see a much much bigger role for this group of people.At the right time many of these will return and offer this country invaluable fresh and original capacity. We are a nation currently operating with C class capacity as a result of the brain drain. This A class capacity will and should return. But let not its role be restricted to business and technical areas, They too have a right to participate in the political affairs of the country . So let them stand in public office and offer a fresh perspective to the tired and exhausted litanies of present actors. Perhaps this is where Zimbabwe is lucky.It has these huge skilled and experienced group of people ,a bank literally ,which it will be able to cash in upon one day. That is why it is key to recognize that , and as argued before ,this country is in a genuine transition,delayed as it is ,it is on. Zikomo,
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 21:25:55 +0000
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