Farewell to outdated formulae
WHEN Mali’s then President Modibo Keita talked about the need for African leaders to observe a high level of dignity, his advice was coming from the understanding that many eyes from all over the world were watching the continent.
But why so much attention on our beloved continent? The answer is a long grisly tale which anybody can tell.
When colonialism came to Africa, the colonisers claimed to be on a civilising mission.
Europeans, through their poets and preachers, had chanted the rhyme that to chart their way into the future, Africans needed Western redemption.
However, the truth is that Africa became what is, in terms of underdevelopment, due to European barbarism, slavery and colonialism.
Now 40 years after emerging from that dark era, and as we begin an era of tolerance and communion, President Mnangagwa has reiterated that we should let bygones to be bygones.
We may sentimentally go back to the past, but we must not seek its resurrection, because everyone has skeletons in their cupboard.
An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.
The African Union, at the recent 30th Assembly of Heads of State and Government, categorically stated the need to eradicate corruption under the banner, “Winning the fight against: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.”
This comes at a time our country has just entered a new exciting era, to bring an end to the evil of corruption.
On his ascendency to office, President Mnangagwa defined the fight against corruption as one of his key policies.
The AU was to articulate in a statement that: “Corruption continues to hamper efforts aimed at promoting democratic governance, socio-economic transformation, peace and security and the enjoyment of human rights in the AU member states.”
Just like our own country, the rest of Africa is locked in a desperate struggle against the effects of corruption, an ulcer born out of dependency syndrome.
There is need for a co-ordinated effort by member states to fight graft.
We cannot successfully achieve this goal without a conversation with the founding ideals of our independent nations.
To go back to the fundamental values of Pan-Africanism will help us to turn to a new chapter for our people.
During Guinea-Bissau’s struggle against colonialism, Amilcar Cabral said: “Always bear in mind that people are not fighting for ideas, (or) for the things in any one’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, (and) to guarantee the future of their children.”
In a large number of African countries, Cabral’s dream has not yet materialised.
Dictatorships, corruption and primitive accumulation are contrary to the ideals and objectives of Pan-Africanism.
It is the kind of change opined by Pan-African revolutionary Thomas Sankara when he said: “If we maintain a certain amount of caution and organisation we deserve victory . . . You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.
“In this case, it comes from non-conformity, the courage to turn your back on old formulas, the courage to invent the future.”
The new dispensation, given its tenets, is the ultimate vessel to the cherished land of prosperity; a land of living dreams, where upright men drive nations forward.
Attempts by the G40 cabal, now calling itself the New Patriotic Front, to blemish the image of the new era by dragging us back to a dark past should not be tolerated.
To G40, NPF or whatever the criminal coterie calls itself, in this new dispensation there is no room to hallucinate about heydays of an era mortalised by the people last November.
The international community has joined the people of Zimbabwe in embracing a new formula for prosperity.
Christine Largarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund, acknowledged that her engagement with President Mnangagwa was fruitful as they shared genuine ideas on how to revive Zimbabwe’s economy for the benefit of all concerned parties.
Given that the new administration has hit the ground running, there is much hope that our country will once again become a model for Africa’s progress.