The Sunday Mail
Kurai Prosper Masenyama
In less than two weeks’ time, the nation will be celebrating 34 years of independence attained after a protracted struggle that culminated in the people’s victory delivered to Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980. Thirty-four years after President Robert Mugabe delivered the emphatic victory speech to an ecstatic audience that packed Rufaro Stadium, Zimbabweans have every reason to celebrate, following the implementation of numerous empowerment initiatives that certainly changed their lives for the better.
Foundations of empowerment
The first form of empowerment that the people of Zimbabwe got from President (then Prime Minister) Mugabe and the Zanu-PF-led Government was political empowerment embedded in the “one man, one vote” concept, giving all the eligible citizens the right to choose their leaders.
Zimbabweans were given the exclusive right to live and work wherever they wanted; the freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and guaranteed observation of human rights. This freedom remains to this day, with the nation having gone to the polls to elect their leadership almost eight times at five-year intervals since the momentous 1980 election.
Currently, the nation has opposition political parties exercising their democratic right to associate, speak and oppose without any hindrance.
At independence, Zimbabweans were also empowered socially and culturally.
By giving the people the various freedoms and sovereignty popularised by the term “kuzvitonga kuzere” — complete self-rule, indigenous Zimbabweans regained their dignity that had been stolen by racist and discriminatory policies implemented by the colonial regime.
Now people have freedom of worship and can engage in religious or cultural practices of their choice.
After independence, Government continued to lay the foundations of empowerment by initiating and financing a large-scale mass education programme. Hundreds of schools, colleges and a number of universities were built to give access to education to as many Zimbabweans as possible.
Adult literacy campaigns and programmes were implemented to encourage and give older persons access to education facilities that had been limited for indigenous Zimbabweans in the colonial era.
In line with former South African President Nelson Mandela’s famous statement that, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, thousands of Zimbabweans went on to use their academic skills for the benefit of the country, Africa and beyond.
One of the most fundamental issues that inspired thousands of Zimbabweans to wage a liberation struggle was the land question, which the Zanu-PF Government under President Mugabe answered in emphatic fashion by redistributing land from the hands of a minority white 4 000 commercial farmers into the hands of more than 350 000 families.
For the record, land resettlement started as early as 1981 with resettlement areas being set up in areas like Zowa, Musengezi, Silobela and Hoyuyu. However, the programme was accelerated after the passing of the Land Acquisition Act in 1992 and its revision after the referendum in 2000.
The positive impact of the land reform programme is beginning to show with the emerging indigenous tobacco farmers dominating the sector that contributed close to $US700 million to the economy in 2013.
Current empowerment trends
Despite the negative impact of economic sanctions and destabilisation attempts by agents of regime change over the past 15 years, the last decade can be aptly labelled “the indigenisation and economic empowerment decade” following the initiation of a number of empowerment projects, especially after the passing of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act of 2007.
The programmes include the launch of Community Share Ownership Trusts, where rural communities are beginning to tangibly benefit from the activities of resource-exploiting companies in their vicinity.
A lot of infrastructural developments — including construction of schools, clinics, roads, boreholes and other infrastructure — have taken place in areas such as Bindura, Gwanda, Zvishavane, Mhondoro-Ngezi and Shurugwi, among others.
A number of Employee Share Ownership Trusts have been launched to give workers a voice and a share of dividends in most companies, which was unheard of before Independence.
Furthermore, empowerment funds with no collateral required are being made available to youths so that they can run their businesses.
Other notable empowerment initiatives include various Women Empowerment Funds, Sedco loans to small to medium-sized businesses, small-scale mining fund and Presidential Agricultural Inputs Scheme, among others.
Furthermore, the Government has enhanced empowerment initiatives particularly in urban areas by availing manufacturing and marketing space as at “Siya So” in Mbare and the Glen View furniture complex. Thus, at present, there are a lot of avenues for empowerment available to Zimbabweans in different economic sectors.
Empowerment into the future: Anticipated trends under Zim Asset
With some analysts having labelled Zimbabwe “the last frontier of Africa’s economic development” and some predicting that Zimbabwe’s economy will move into Africa’s top 10 economies and indeed be one of the world’s best performing economies, the country has to be both optimistic and strategic going into the future.
Furthermore, the country has adopted the Zim Asset blueprint as the guiding framework for economic development in the next five years.
The bottom line in the positive predictions and Zim Asset is that Zimbabwe’s economic development can only be anchored on the sustainable exploitation and use of its natural resources including diamonds, platinum, coal, gold and gas, among others.
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has given impetus to the project by constituting a Minerals Promotion Corporation to spearhead exploration issues and quantifying the mineral base of the country.
Furthermore, the Minister, Cde Walter Chidhakwa, has directed mining companies to submit plans for value addition and beneficiation that will increase the value of mineral products, thereby increasing revenue flows into the national coffers.
Zim Asset also calls for the setting up and financing of the Sovereign Wealth Fund through which future generations will benefit from the existing natural resources.
In the final analysis, Zimbabweans can celebrate the 34th anniversary of independence with both satisfaction and optimism, satisfied that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF have delivered on key economic questions like land reform and black economic empowerment and optimistic that the future lies ahead with huge opportunities for the country.
As we celebrate the historic occasion, it is imperative that we reflect on the past with satisfaction, revel in the present with thankfulness and look ahead to the future with positive anticipation.
Zimbabweans should rally behind Zim Asset and the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Programme, “our chosen path to full sovereignty”, as highlighted by President Mugabe.
Kurai Prosper Masenyama is the Director of the Zanu-PF Department of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment.
