In business you fight: Buyanga

At a symposium held at the behest of the Zimbabwe Youth in Tourism at the just-ended Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo 2015, Zimbabweans had the rare opportunity of looking into the mind of young and reclusive businessman Mr Frank Buyanga.

At the event, attended by Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief operating officer Mr Givemore Chidzidzi, Mutare South House of Assembly representative Mrs Irene Zindi and industrial relations consultant Mr Memory Nguwi, the 34-year-old tycoon hazarded his opinion on political leadership, Zim-Asset and the country’s value system. He also spoke about controversial episodes in his life.

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MEDIA-shy businessman Mr Buyanga — who has interests in property, finance and construction — believes that entrepreneurs have to be self-propelling if they are to make a mark in the world of business as pinning hopes on third parties is risky.

At the recent symposium, Mr Buyanga indicated there was critical need for budding entrepreneurs to use their own creative power and also respect the political leadership in order to make meaningful progress in business.

He added that education should not be misdirected and used to unjustifiably attack leaders in any sphere of life.

“I represent economic interests in diverse fields. I would like to thank His Excellency President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. As a people, we rally behind those that go before us, for these people that go before us are the people that have made us the people that we are today.

“As you may recall, one of the greatest agenda’s of Independence was education. A lot of us are here, speaking in our capacity, standing in our capacity, are doing so because of the education that was afforded to nearly all of us after Independence. It’s a bit unfortunate, however, sometimes that when we do get educated we seem to forget where we came from and we become judgemental about those who assisted us in our path and those who assisted us in being here today.

“We need to understand that we have people who rule us in the manner that they do and they are justified in doing the things that they do . . .

“But it is not new that there is conflict. Someone said I was a rich man. I have never borrowed money from a bank. I here people always say we need funding; I hear about Youth Fund and this and that (sic),but as an individual, you need to be self propelling; as an individual, you need to be creative. We understand from the book that is the biggest seller of all time that we have dominion; that we have creative powers and with those creative powers I don’t see that we have a problem.

“But we spend quite a lot of time analysing and not quite getting into programme,” said Mr Buyanga.

The businessman has over the years enjoyed a fare share of controversy, including allegations of fraud and extortion, a development that he believes to be normal in the world of business where many agendas are moved by financial interests.

Three years ago, Mr Buyanga — born Tawanda Buyanga — was accused of changing his name to hide his identity from Interpol.

In 2011, he relocated to South Africa after he was charged with defrauding more than 45 people in Zimbabwe through Hamilton Property Holdings. This forced him to step down as a director of Hamilton Property Holdings on the basis that his company was now attracting the attention of the police and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

He was, however, acquitted by the courts.

“Zimbabwe is a very precious nation . . . and that is why we continue to have conflict and that is why we continue to have problems and that’s why we continuously fight. We fight because the dream that we have with us is a dream of true glory, it is a dream that is above many dreams in this world.

“But we have to be fought. As I stand before you here today, I have been summoned to many investigations in various countries, not only in Africa and, you know and various investigators and various allegations, which are not necessarily true. We need to understand that this is the life we live. You have to understand that in business you have to fight.

“So, why do I agree with the President? I realise the fight be has been through . . . You have a man who has been in prison for 10 years. Jesus Christ, the great prophet, was attacked because people said he didn’t know what he was talking about.

“However, I need to make it very clear to you that in the world that we are living, an economy is a game of interests, financial interests.

“In the economy, we are only seeking financial interests. The world is formed on financial interests . . . We, in business, we realise that not so long ago, there were no borders between us and Zambia, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo; this was only 1870.

“But its only a few years that we now have borders. We now here of xenophobia. We here of so many things. These things are part of economic rights. The African National Congress in 1955 sat, as we are sitting today, in a town called Cape Town and they had a Freedom Charter, which said that all Africans that are living in South Africa, shall all be a subject of that nation. It also said that they shall be free and protected.

“We don’t seem to see that happening, but these are the fights that I am talking about. As human beings we need to persevere. We need to be able to realise that we need to be self propelling . . . Problems will always persist,” he explained.

The entrepreneur opined that Zimbabweans need to rediscover themselves and believe in themselves in order to add impetus to Government initiatives to spur economic growth. It is believed that without such a belief all efforts will come to naught.

Added Mr Buyanga: “If we do not identify with our genetic co-efficient as Zimbabwe and rise beyond our challenges, then we will continue to go round and round in circles. History is what brings us to where we are today and takes us forward. Zim-Asset is the economic blueprint that we look at today.

“It is not the first blueprint: We had Zimcodd in 1980, which was to do with reconfiguring our nation. We have had Zimprest, ESAP, which was the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme.

“We have had all these programmes, but up until and unless as a people we begin to realise and understand who we are as Zimbabweans, we may find it difficult.

“Today, the whole world know what Zimbabwe is and they may know what Zimbabwe is for all the wrong reasons.

“Our biggest tourism market is in the Diaspora. I plead with those people that when you speak about your country you become an example about the people in your country. Steve Biko spoke about black consciousness, black awareness. It may not exist within us today. If we realise who we are, we can then make others realise who we are.

“But before we realise who we are it might then become difficult . . . Once we realise who we are as a people and understand who we are lets us then optimise on that. Let’s optimise the rule of law, let’s optimise property rights and lets optimise respect. We need to have mutual respect for value.”

He further spoke about the American revolution and how America was 95 percent rural in 1600 before disagreements emanated between the British and the American settlers.

“The settlers had to fight their own Chimurenga in the 1700’s after they felt cornered by their British masters at the time. They fought against the British in all 13 colonies and won. He went on to emphasise that the biggest pandemic is forgetfulness. “We forget”.

He spoke further reiterating the need to protect property rights, respect tourists and have unity of purpose.