Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Stephen T. Maimbodei
20 October 2008
opinion
Harare — A few weeks ago, readers and television viewers were awed by the story of Zimbabwean-born David Mwanaka residing in the UK, who is making a living through small-scale maize farming.
However, his attempts have hit some snags lately as he had to come face-to-face with not only the law, but racism.
A fool sounds very knowledgeable by keeping his mouth shut because he would not have exposed his ignorance.
On the other hand, a knowledgeable man also has a deep well of wisdom, which you have to search for and fish out by way of discernment.
A wise person also does not have to comment on anything and everything.
I am not sure whether this makes politicians wise when they answer, "No comment".
As a promising entrepreneur in the Diaspora, David Mwanaka has to jealously guard against his knowledge.
He gives away too much forgetting his competitive advantage, while at the same scoring cheap points by thinking that demonising President Mugabe is a good marketing tool.
It is common knowledge that if Zimbabweans in the Diaspora were to be honest, they say it was not benevolence that made countries like Britain and the United States open their doors to them at the height of the land reform programme, which the Anglo-Saxon world have tried to reverse through illegal regime change.
The immigration process of the past decade was a political and economic statement used to denigrate Zimbabwe.
Being an MDC activist became a means of getting a visa to enter, stay and work in those countries.
Each time there were threats of deportation, the name MDC was invoked and used as a badge to avert repatriation to Zimbabwe.
We can safely conclude that although 90 or so percent of them refuse to be branded economic refugees, this is what they are and not victims of political repression which many want to conveniently use when seeking to stay abroad.
Some of them display a very pretentious and equally dangerous attitude towards Zimbabwe and its leadership in their newly found comfort zones -- an opening created by the Land Reform Programme.
Their arrogance is such that they display an attitude of double standards which says that if it were not for MDC, Zimbabwe would be history, and tongue-in-cheek, Zimbabwe is now history because of the anti-Zimbabwe sentiments they propagated in the international arena in the past decade.
What brings about this ire?
It is an attitude of disdain and selfishness that fails to realise that there is a well-meaning leadership and other people working very hard to ensure that Zimbabwe's economy and people's lives are improved.
No one begrudges anyone for seeking "better fortunes", but they have to realise that each time they trash Zimbabwe or its leadership, they are adding many more impoverished on the list of poverty statistics.
Their hostility towards their motherland sometimes surpasses that of the Anglo-Saxons who are Zimbabwe's real enemy.
That the whole Western capitalistic machinery rallied together in a short space of time to try and save their economies from the credit crisis means nothing to them.
They have failed to see the importance of unity of purpose among issues considered sacrosanct.
And one such Zimbabwean Diasporan is 42-year-old Leictershire-based David Mwanaka who is reportedly one of only two black farmers in England, and who of late has achieved something of a celebrity status since his brush with the law.
Last weekend, Mwanaka was featured in British radio magazine programme African Perspectives where he spoke about the formidable task of not only being one of two black farmers in Britain, but also the challenges of growing maize in a temperate zone.
At the end of the programme, the journalist asked him that now that there is a political agreement in place, would he return to Zimbabwe to put into practice his farming skills especially at a time when the country is facing serious food shortages.
Mwanaka hesitantly said he would not return to Zimbabwe because of President Mugabe's economic policies, and he also claimed that his efforts would be like throwing money into a hole.
Come on! If those economic policies were like Mwanaka claim, would he have had the educational and professional skills he is now using in England?
Skills that he got in Zimbabwe's schools under a Mugabe Government!
I wondered why it was so difficult for Mwanaka to purely state that he would not return to Zimbabwe because he felt that he was doing well financially in the United Kingdom, farming on his six acre leased plot running a grocery store?
Why use the so obvious Mugabe bashing to justify his stay in England?
Mwanaka is entitled to say whatever he thinks about President Mugabe but this was an unwarranted response that displayed more arrogance and ignorance than anything else.
Mwanaka was just trying to score cheap points because he knew that this was the kind of answer that African Perspectives and its sponsors would like to hear coming from a black Zimbabwean.
Many listeners of foreign radio stations usually wonder why it is Zimbabweans who are in the forefront of trashing their own country.
In the same way, it was black Zimbabweans themselves who went first and foremost to call on the West to impose illegal economic sanctions on the people.
It was also surprising to note how Mwanaka glossed over and made much ado about nothing about the naked racism that he is being subjected to.
Reports in the past weeks reveal that Mwanaka spoke of his exasperation after police questioned him three times in a week over suspicions that he was stealing food.
However, Mwanaka did not attribute these actions to racism, but preferred to call it ignorance on the part of people who have been calling police accusing him of stealing his own maize crop.
Why this protectionist attitude? And, why does he also credit them with what they are not and what he is: ignorant?
Racism is racism and it can never be known by any other term.
Black people have lived in the United Kingdom for more than a century now, and there is no excuse whatsoever that he should allow himself to be subjected to this kind of malicious and racist behaviour by people who claim to be champions of human rights.
In this Hollywood style - Obama-mania - when Barack Obama's image should be transforming racist perceptions, it is difficult to understand Mwanaka's response to The Times: "I do not want to blame people for being racist. I think it has more to do with ignorance. The problem would be if it was the same people calling the police, then I would think it is malicious."
On one occasion four police cars turned up while he was harvesting his maize crop, and he conveniently wants to call their actions "ignorance".
Each time he had to convince police that he was a genuine farmer, and would be forced to prove his personal identity and ownership of his (own) vehicle.
He was also made to call the white farmer from whom he rents the six acres where he farms, before police were satisfied that he was not stealing food.
So, who really is ignorant now if we may ask?
Mwanaka also sees nothing wrong when Leicestershire police remark that they have a duty to respond to calls reporting a suspected crime.
And he still calls this ignorance, ignorance that seems to have permeated the whole community, including law enforcement agents.
If Mwanaka is comfortable with the racism he is subjected to, that is okay, but how will he transform these insidious attitudes towards him and other people of colour, especially his three young children?
How will he deal with this kind of labelling where black people are treated as second rate, and where black men in particular are viewed as criminals, drug addicts, fit for the slammer, irrespective of social standing?
How also will he transform mindsets similar to that of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain who when asked about the current financial meltdown by an Africa-American, a holder of an MBA degree, gave a ridiculous answer that the meltdown started with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, names which the black man might have never heard of -- subtle and racist implications that black people have no business in economic issues?
How also is Mwanaka handling the naked racism displayed recently where someone was shot at for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt?
Does he still consider it ignorance?
That his six-acre farming in Britain is viewed as unusual also says a lot about the race issue in that country, and very little about his farming.
Since he has worked against all odds to grow white maize in a harsh climate, it is not surprising that they think that it is an exotic adventure by a black man.
It also qualifies under the "exotic" category because Mwanaka is not growing food for the British.
All he did was to take advantage of a money-making venture where he realised that if he succeeded, he had a sizeable market among the Southern Africans scattered all over the UK who are the consumers of maize.
Why should he also rent six acres in the United Kingdom, which would put him in the communal farmer category in Zimbabwe, when Government is allocating land for free, and where young and promising farmers like him would actually be producing for the nation at a larger scale?
Who is he trying to pacify?
Is this trying to prove them wrong on their long held view that black Zimbabweans do not need land because they are incapable of utilising it meaningfully?
Why also go through the difficulties and challenges of trying against odds to grow white maize under harsh weather conditions as if he were a maize breeder and as if maize is the staple diet for the British?
Why also waste skills and knowledge, which the British do not want, but would be of use in Zimbabwe?
Mwanaka's response to African Perspectives also shows that he is not in touch with what is going on in Zimbabwe, despite the fact that some of the products he is selling in his grocery store are coming from Zimbabwe.
Why he should just factor President Mugabe when the inclusive Government is supposed to comprise three political parties is surprising.
Why also President Mugabe's economic policies, when what the inclusive Government is looking at is economic turnaround, meaning that policies implemented will be about Zimbabweans and not political parties.
There are, however, many successful black Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, in different professions and some of them have been in these countries before independence, meaning that with some of them, their Diaspora experiences outlive the current political situation which the Western media wants to paint as unique.
Notwithstanding, many Zim-bashing Zimbabweans in the Diaspora need to be reminded that Zimbabwe will not allow itself to be side-tracked since land is at the core of our survival.
Neither will we forego our sovereignty because we think that bread crumbs are good enough for us.
Rather than complain and accuse President Mugabe they should come back home and work with us all to resuscitate the economy so will-fully destroyed by sanctions called upon the country by some in our midst.
They should also stop blaming while at the same time they are benefiting immensely from the window of opportunity opened for them by the Third Chimurenga.
The sad bit also is that the socio-economic and political discourse in Zimbabwe has been so badly skewed in favour of the enemy, and all that we end up doing is muckraking each other in a bid to have access to the bread crumbs falling from the enemy's high table.
Nevertheless, I congratulate Mwanaka for his adventurism and the very promising entrepreneurial skills in farming and retailing which he is showing.
It is also quite commendable that Mwanaka's adventurism is opening his eyes to issues that face farmers the world over especially poor farmers, which include access to loan facilities; markets; quality control; weather patterns; competition, etc.
We hope that such issues as food security, poverty elimination, agricultural subsidies and the goings on at the World Trade Organisation will also preoccupy him so that farming also becomes big business in developing nations like Zimbabwe.
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