CONSIDER 1963. It was a hell of a year — not in the literal sense, though.
It saw fundamental changes in politics in Africa, including Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), which was then part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland — also made up of Malawi and Zambia — before its dissolution on December 31, 1963.
It was a year when 32 African countries, which had become independent, took the consequential decision to establish the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, a day that we commemorated yesterday.
It was also a year when the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was founded, on August 8, at Enos Nkala’s house in Highfield, helping to reinvigorate the fight against the colonial white settler regime, especially after a period of political stasis that had been precipitated by the ban on the Joshua Nkomo-led Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) under the Unlawful Organisations Act on September 20, 1962.
Julius Nyerere
Further, it was also the year when Dynamos Football Club, the purported home of more than “seven million souls”, was established in Mbare, the country’s oldest high-density suburb. Its success became cathartic, especially for most blacks who lived in a country that was sweltering in the heat of racism, oppression and injustice.
Political intrigue
At the time African leaders established the OAU, we were in the throes of a political struggle to upend colonialism. Nationalists, who had begun to coalesce after the formation of the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (ANC) on September 12, 1957— the predecessor of later political formations such as the National Democratic Party (NDP) and ZAPU, respectively — were increasingly ratcheting up pressure against the colonialists.
But before the watershed May 25 indaba in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, political events that would ultimately shape the country’s political landscape and the founding of our teapot-shaped Republic were beginning to unfold.
It is believed sometime in April 1963 — at the instigation of Joshua Nkomo, who claimed Julius Nyerere and other African leaders wanted to meet with them in Tanzania — the entire executive of ZAPU, including Cdes Ndabaningi Sithole, Robert Mugabe, Jason Ziyaphapha (JZ) Moyo, Leopold Takawira, sneaked out of the country to Dar es Salaam.
In his book, “The Struggle for Zimbabwe (1935-2004): Eddison J.M. Zvobgo”, Chengetai Zvobgo claims, when the entire executive assembled in Dar es Salaam on April 12, 1963, President Nyerere summoned them and told them bluntly that he was surprised to see them.
It became tricky for some nationalists such as Cde Mugabe, as they had breached their bail conditions and were thus considered fugitives from justice by the colonial regime.
Splits within the movement were beginning to emerge, as Nkomo’s motives were questioned. Be that as it may, Nkomo managed to persuade Ndabaningi Sithole, Robert Mugabe, JZ Moyo, Leopold Takawira and Washington Malianga to accompany him on visits to several African countries before the Addis Ababa conference. In fact, Moyo, Takawira and Malianga attended the Addis Ababa conference together with Nkomo.
“(At the conference) they lobbied hard for financial and moral support for the party (ZAPU) and for a government-in-exile. Several Pan-African leaders, however, told them to go home and fight the struggle. The leaders of Ghana and Algeria were particularly critical of the exodus,” writes Chengetai Zvobgo in his book.
“The OAU promised them financial support provided they returned home to wage the liberation struggle in the country. The executive had a brief and inconclusive meeting while at Addis Ababa on the question of leadership and decided to discuss the matter fully at a meeting after returning to Dar es Salaam.”
By then, the die had been cast, as opposition against Nkomo’s leadership had begun to crystallise.
Bishop Lazi has intentionally chronicled this elaborate tale to show how our independence is inextricably linked to developments at that Pan-Africanist May 25 meeting.
As would later turn out, especially during events between July 6 and July 7 in 1963, ZAPU began to split, setting the stage for the birth of ZANU. And the rest is history.
Critically, it is also the OAU Liberation Committee — formed under the leadership of Brigadier-General Hashim Mbita and hosted in his native Tanzania — that helped to forge the continental decolonial project, which ended with the independence of South Africa in 1994.
The struggle continues
But 30 years after the last African country achieved independence, we still find ourselves as beggars on a beach of gold.
Although our continent is fabulously rich, our people are still desperately poor.
A few hard, cold facts will suffice.
You see, according to the World Bank, about 40 percent of Africans (around 430 million) live on less than US$1,90 per day, which is considered extreme poverty.
In terms of access to electricity, we are still literally considered the dark continent, as 600 million people lack access to power.
It is also embarrassing that the continent accounts for 20 percent of the US$600 billion global second-hand clothing market, as we are content with dressing ourselves with apparel handed down from the rich West.
We are also still struggling to feed ourselves.
Enough is enough!
We can no longer be considered the scum of the earth and the posterchild of poverty in the world.
Thanks to sanctions
Here at home, sanctions, occasioned by the epochal land reform programme at the turn of the millennium, have made us all the wiser.
Through them, we have seen the sacredness of land, itself our birthright, but, more importantly, the primary factor of production.
They have opened our eyes to see how the world, as currently configured, is rigged against our success as Africans.
Sanctions have also made us innovative and reinforced the liberation creed that none but ourselves can create the country, continent and world that we want.
Armed with this wisdom, President ED has ushered in a golden era that history will record as the beginning of Zimbabwe’s economic miracle. The Bishop always tells you that to understand ED’s works and his ordained generational mission, you have to look at the developments that took place during Deng Xiaoping’s reign in China.
He is laying the foundation of a future glorious Zimbabwe. Today, though the country finds its feet manacled and its hands tied behind its back because of sanctions, it is performing better than its peers.
As confirmed by the International Monetary Fund, it now stands as one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.
Zimbabwe is now well on its way to achieving sustainable food security, as the authorities race to put more than 350 000 hectares under irrigation by next year. Community irrigation schemes are being resuscitated at a scale unlike at any other time in recent history, helping boost incomes and lift households out of poverty.
The manufacturing industry is recovering.
And though imperceptible in the beginning, the face of our towns and cities is undergoing radical transformation, as construction projects in the public and private sectors pick up pace.
The Bishop once told you that those in Harare initially found it difficult to reconcile claims of economic growth with their own lived experiences, especially against the backdrop of a decaying capital.
But the extensive roadworks currently going on are changing the narrative.
They, however, crucially show the capacity of the reinvigorated State to fundamentally change the face of Harare and other cities as well.
For perspective, Bishop Lazi would like you to reflect on ex-ZANU PF member Margaret Dongo’s words to journalist Trevor Ncube in 2022 when she said: “Talking about where the country is today, between you and me, let’s be honest here, more than 30 years had gone down the drain. If what is happening today, which is only three years, had been done in 40 years, would we not be a Dubai?”
Sure, after more than two decades of stagnation, the work that still needs to be done is huge.
Basa richigere kupera.
The train, however, has already left the station. The same way we won our political independence is the same way we will win the economic war.
Aluta continua, vitória é certa!
Bishop out!