Zimbabwe: Putting Zim First - If Not Now, When?
by Bishop Trevor Manhanga
Published in The Herald (Harare)

TWO incidents took place this year, a couple of months and two
continents apart, yet interrelated in that they revealed the battle
we Africans, and indeed Zimbabweans encounter in the face of the
stereotypical, and downright racist attitudes and opinions some in
the white west have about us, as we strive for economic empowerment
and emancipation.

The first incident took place in Dakar Senegal on July 20 2007 and
relates to the speech given by the President of France Nicolas
Sarkozy at the Cheikh Anta Diop University.

In what can only be described as a most unfortunate revelation of the
inner feelings of a very high standing public figure, Sarkozy had
this to say of Africa and Africans, in part: "The tragedy of Africa
is that the African man has never really entered history.

"The African peasant who for centuries has lived according to the
seasons, whose ideal is to be in harmony with nature, has only known
the eternal renewal of time via the endless repetition of the same
actions and the same words.

"In this mentality, where everything always starts over again, there
is no place for human adventure nor for any idea of progress...this
man never projects himself into the future, it never occurs to him to
break free from the repetition and invent a destiny for himself.

"This, if you will allow a friend of Africa to say it, is Africa's
problem.

"Africa's challenge is to enter history more fully.... Africa's
challenge is to stop forever repeating and going over things, and to
free itself from the myth of the eternal renewal. It is to realise
that the golden age that it always harks back to will never return,
for the simple reason that it never existed.... Africa's problem is
that its present is permeated with nostalgia for the paradise lost of
its childhood.

"Africa's problem is that it judges its present according to a wholly
imaginary notion of original purity that no one could ever hope to
revive.

"Africa's challenge should not be to invent a past, however mythical;
to make the present more bearable, but to invent a future with the
means it has at its disposal.... For Africa has a right to be happy
just like all the other continents of the world."

The deafening silence from the African continent and its leadership
in allowing Sarkozy to make such a derogatory speech not only on
African soil, but also at an institution of higher learning, and get
away with it has been most disturbing.

How can the collective leadership of the African continent, have
remained silent in the face of this very provocative and insulting
opinion of Africans? Sarkozy's synopsis of Africa and its people is
without empirical validation, downright condescendingly racist, and
must be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.

One would have expected at the very least a rebuttal of Sarkozy's
racist remarks from none other than the AU, or other regional African
bodies such as Sadc or Ecowas. I have been surprised at the lack of a
groundswell of rebuke from continental and Diaspora Africans.

If there has been a response, then perhaps I have not seen it. Voices
of indignation against Sarkozy's racist diatribe have been few and
far between, and among the few I have encountered is one in the
October issue of New African magazine, where the editor Baffour
Ankomah in response to Sarkozy's speech said:

"I don't know about you just now, but I am doing my utmost to calm
down! For we are dealing here with a confused man with a confused
speech. Africa has no glorious past? What were our ancestors doing in
Egypt then? And Nubia? And all those glorious empires of yore right
across the continent? When our ancestors had built the great pyramids
in Egypt and Nubia (today's northern Sudan), Sarkozy's European
ancestors were still living in caves. They didn't know what a window
was! And he has the temerity to insult us and our ancestors?"

There is doubt that Ankomah is livid and rightfully so, because such
outright disdain for Africa and its people cannot be left
unchallenged.

What Sarkozy needs to ask himself is how many of the descendants of
these "African peasants who live by the seasons" were part of
France's World Cup winning team, when France hosted the soccer
showcase? If my memory serves me right, the team looked like a
typical African Cup of Nations team, with a couple of Caucasian
faces. So much for people who are supposedly locked in a time warp
and prisoners to the "seasons" according to the gospel espoused by
Sarkozy.

The second incident took place in the USA, and relates to an article
written by an eminent scholar and Nobel laureate James D. Watson.
Watson, who up until his retirement on October 25 2007, was the
chancellor of Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory on Long Island New York,
USA, resigned after controversy erupted over comments he made
suggesting black people are less intelligent than whites.

Watson (79) who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for discovering the
structure of DNA, joined Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory as director
in 1968 and helped build it into one of the world's leading genetics
research institutes. His problems, which led to his retirement, arose
from comments he was quoted as having said on October 14 in the
Sunday Times of London, that he is "inherently gloomy about the
prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the
fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- where-as all the
testing says, not really."

To their credit, Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory through their
president, said Watson's comments have no connection with research
activity at the lab, whose faculty members "vehemently disagree" with
Watson's statements.

The lab moved swiftly to suspend Watson's administrative
responsibilities as chancellor leading to his subsequent resignation.

Why do I make reference to these two incidents that have taken place
on two continents by two different people, under two different
conditions?

Reference must be made to them, because they reveal the underlying
hostile and racist attitudes we face as Africans in dealing with the
global village of the 21st century. Sarkozy and Watson are not
ordinary run of the mill, intellectually challenged people. On the
contrary, one is the president of a key industrialised Western
European nation, the other an eminent Nobel laureate and respected
scientist.

The question must be asked then, if people of such high standing and
respectability in western society have such a deprecating opinion of
Africa and Africans, then the problem we face is much greater than we
ever imagined.

Theses were not off the cuff, slip of the tongue comments. On the
contrary, the comments were well thought out and delivered, and even
if there is ever an attempt to withdraw them, the intended damage has
been done, and cannot be retracted, no matter how vigorous an attempt
to do so.

I mention these two incidents in relation to Zimbabwe because it is
imperative that there is an understanding by all of us, that we
should work to prove that the two gentleman, and others who may share
their sentiments are wrong. We must not conduct ourselves in a manner
that provides them with ammunition, to buttress their racist
stereotypical opinions.

There are three things I believe we need to do as Zimbabweans that
will serve to counter Sarkozy and Watson's bigoted opinions.

The first is to ensure that the agricultural season currently upon us
yields the fruits we anticipate and desperately need.

It is not too late to make the clarion call to all those on
agricultural land whether they be beneficiaries of the land reform
programme, or have always been on the land, A1 or A2 farmers, to
fully use every inch of available arable land, and make this
the, "mother of all agricultural seasons." We must prove people
wherever they may be, who harbour the same thoughts as Sarkozy and
Watson wrong.

We must show that we can use the land we have. We can make use of the
farming implements that have just been delivered to some of our
farmers. We owe it to ourselves and indeed our African compatriots,
to show that we are not lesser mortals, that we are industrious,
responsible people.

We must be constantly aware that there are many more Sarkozy's and
Watson's who firmly believe that we are incapable producing the kinds
of crops, (both qualitatively and quantitatively), that the white
former farmers used to. It is for this reason that we must turn to
the rallying cry of the war of liberation, when those who fought for
the emancipation of the nation reminded each other in the face of a
well armed and intransigent enemy: "Iwe neni tine basa (we are duty-
bound)."

That is the reality we face today and every one of us must not flinch
from the task ahead.

The second is to ensure that the up coming national elections are
conducted in an atmosphere free of violence, and in an open and
transparent manner.

Those who cannot bring themselves to face the reality that
Zimbabweans can solve their own problems, (and we are well on our way
to doing that), will leave no stone unturned to find reasons to try
to isolate us.

For this reason every political party and candidate that will contest
next year's election must realise that the elections are more than
just electing a President, a Member of Parliament, a Senator, a
Councillor, it is about Zimbabwe.

It is about putting Zimbabwe first, and that means ensuring that we
conduct the elections in a manner that will unify the nation, give us
all the opportunity discover what unites us (and there is much more
that unites us than divides us), rather than add fuel to the fires of
division.

Not only must the elections be conducted in an atmosphere free of
violence, but there will also be a great responsibility on the
electorate to elect those who unite not those who divide, doers not
sitters, people who have a vision for a great and prosperous
Zimbabwe, not people who cannot see beyond tomorrow.

It is important therefore for all political parties that will present
candidates to the electorate, to assist the process by putting
forward credible candidates, who will be a credit to both their
party, and their nation if elected.

Zimbabwe has a plethora of intellectually astute, morally upright
people who have a well-documented track record.

These are the people who should be put forward before the electorate,
and that will give the electorate a group of topnotch candidates from
which to choose those who will spearhead the turnaround and take off
of our nation.

Finally, we need to unite, from all sectors in the nation, in a call
for the lifting of sanctions. We need to collectively begin the
campaign now for the lifting of sanctions, of whatever form,
currently imposed on the nation and some of our leaders.

Those who have imposed sanctions of whatever form on us need to be
told, we are of one mind on this issue -- they must be lifted.

The sanctions are neither smart nor targeted and have run their
course. We need not wait for the completion of the electoral process
next year, to begin the rebuilding of the nation and its economy, and
part of the rebuilding process starts with the lifting of the embargo
that has been placed on the nation.

Regardless of one's political affiliation, or of ones previous
position on the issue of sanctions, we must all agree that sanctions
have no use right now, other than to perpetuate the suffering of the
people of Zimbabwe.

The church community must speak for the lifting of sanctions, the
business community must do the same, those in civic society must join
the call, and finally the political parties must unite and pass a
resolution in both houses of the legislature for the lifting of
sanctions, so that the entire world knows that the people of Zimbabwe
are speaking with one voice, and that voice declares that sanctions
must be lifted.

If these three things can be done I have no doubt that we will be
well on the way for the take off we so desperately need.

The beauty of what needs to be done, is that it is all well within
our powers to do so. We can work the land and ensure a bountiful
harvest. We can prepare for, and conduct elections in an atmosphere
free of violence and intimidation.

We can unite as a nation, and present a common front to the world on
the issue of the lifting of sanctions. We can do all of these things.

The question is, will we rise to the challenge and do them? Only the
people of Zimbabwe themselves can answer that question, but I have
great faith, that reason will triumph over unreasonableness, hope
will triumph over despair and love will triumph over hatred. We can
do it, I know we can.

lBishop Manhanga is the Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal
Assemblies of Zimbabwe and the Chairman of the Heads of Christian
Denominations. He writes this article in his personal capacity.
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