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A philanthropic spirit encompassed with an entrepreneurial mind, I am passionate about technology and the things technology can help people to achieve.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

A Response to Diana Jeater's Tweets on Nelson Chamisa


I feel pity for most black people especially Africans like Zimbabweans, we tend to feel for the white person more than our own, if it was Caesar Zvayi who got this roasting we wouldn't even bat an eyelid. If we see a white beggar we feel like crying, see a black one feel like running them over with our car. I believe Professors should distinguish themselves, if they write like Zvayi they will be smashed onto the curb. Racism & putting down black people has become hidden and subtle, indeed we are ridiculed then come out clapping for these people. Here is what I think of some of the views expressed by Diana Jeater in a series of tweets aimed at Nelson Chamisa the young presidential aspirant. Diana is someone who has deep understanding of Zimbabwe so she is not speaking from a position of ignorant outsider:

Diana says: "I like the call for Big Ideas not Big Men. But I didn't get a strong sense of the transformation #Chamisa promises. Much of the programme seems reactive & retrogressive, boiling down to 'we're not Zanu'.

Maybe I am not great with English language but how much of a change is it to move from politics of personalities to that of ideas? I think it is huge but Diana says this is weak. Continues to say this is retrogressive but how so? In moving to politics of ideas we are going backwards? How does a shift towards ideas become "we are not ZANU"?

Diana says: "A call for Big Ideas is not in itself a Big Idea. #Chamisa's only Big Idea seems to be changing the government. There were a lot of technocratic fixes, but most of them are in Zanu-PF's programme as well."

Diana is being naive, she knows Zimbabwe intimately, she knows our problem with ZANUPF has been living up to the promise, it boiled down to implementation since the 1980s. So does it matter if MDC has some of what ZANUPF has? What we are looking for is implementation, she deliberately feigns ignorance like Stephen Suckar.

Diana says: "Value Added. Yes, it makes sense. Don't export raw, but process. Mining, specifically. But this has been Zanu policy for a decade! And Zanu's 2011 ban on chrome ore exports was lifted in 2015 because there wasn't processing capacity & the sector collapsed"

Here is the hidden rebuke towards Chamisa, the same shown by Stephen on HardTalk, when Africans dream big, it seems to offend white people especially the British in this case. Diana is saying Chamisa better not try, look your fellow countryman failed at it, you have no capacity. Of course at the heart of it is what the British want out of Zimbabwe, resources after leaving EU. If we restrict our exports we hurt them bad, South Africa another major exporter is moving to nationalise mining & the British are heavily invested the Anglo-American head office is testament. Stephen went at Chamisa as well for these dreams, if you thought it was about a fast bullet train think again, it was about being offended by a dreaming black person. Of course we are colonised in our minds we don't think beyond the surface hence we have heroes like Sankara, Lumumba, Luther who we celebrate after death. In this moment we do not see what Chamisa managing gold processing will do for Southern Africa.

Diana says: "Produce more within the multi-currency system (unclear how) & focus on technology to develop 'smart' agriculture. Means what? As I observed to Chinamasa at #CHAfrica last year: if it's not serious about climate change, any new agricultural policy will fail."

Diana might not know how we do the business of farming, with hoes and animals. What can technology do for output and ease of farming? Bringing tractors in every village is smart agriculture. Where you need 6 cattle, 6 people working from dawn to 2pm you have one person finishing a whole field in 30 minutes. She somehow thinks if it does not address climate change then it is not worth it. Who created the problem of climate degradation? Is it not the western capitals eating beyond what is necessary? Africa is vastly raw but somehow we are being told to address a problem that is created far away. Our carbon emissions might be less than London alone. So where are our priorities to be?

Diana says: "Revisit all existing partnership deals with government to make sure they are not 'shady'. 'Shift relationships with foreign investors'. Yes, but speak *carefully*. Mishandled, this sounds like 'Chinese Go Home'"

Imagine in UK they discover that something is not right about a Chinese deal, what will they do, speak in hushed tones or go megaphone and prevent the Chinese products? Is there any quietness on the UK's desire to send many Africans back home? Has it impacted them in any way? In other words we must accepted being raped by Chinese and give them vaseline in the process. Hidden in this seemingly smart advice is the desire to allow other dirty deals, if Chamisa is to go after the Chinese he will soon scrutinise the British deals. Does it make sense to pay $9 billion to former white farmers urgently for a country having $4 billion revenue? Have we been paid for colonisation and resources that were plundered?

Diana says: "...get migrants in UK back working in Zim health sector. But it's presented as a voluntarist aspiration, not a strategy. How will MDC create these jobs? AND replace lost remittances?"

How is bringing back our people in NHS not a strategy to bring efficiency into our health sector? These are people exposed to advanced healthcare, know how to better treat patients and run hospitals. She asks how will MDC create these jobs? I am just an economist and thought jobs are already there. What is our nurse to patient ratio? Somewhere around 1000 citizens per nurse, for doctors this is worse. Ideally we need to cut the number down to about 1 nurse per 200 citizens. That would mean employing at least 30,000 new nurses. Then she asks about remittances, she somehow thinks people back home are mostly reliant on remittances. If the people come back they will starve to death. But an economy that is functional does not need remittances for upkeep.

Conclusion

Other points like rigged elections have precedence in history so there is no need to repeat here. Overall she says a lot of bullshit, some points are designed to show us as incapable. We must not try to do things our own way because we lack the capacity. Unfortunately most of us are trying to fit in with white people. Tendai Biti used have this mindset raving about IMF/WB. Now at least he has been disabused of that notion, he believes in the ability of our people. When Chamisa takes power those who think it is not possible can wait and watch, some of us are raring to go with an enabling environment. If you talk of Smart Agriculture we have young men like Tony Togara who have been dreaming and scheming since like 2016. Many of our people cannot think outside the box but watch out for the smart who are quiet and have ready business plans seeking an environment that is not greedy like ZANUPF. Many of you will see young billionaires emerge and think how foolish we were to think their dreams were wild.