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(NEWZIMBABWE BLOG) None more insane than Canning, none so patriotic than Kasukuwere

None more insane than Canning, none so patriotic than Kasukuwere
By Psychology MaziwisaBusiness, Companies, Politics Last updated on: November 30, 2010

WHEN Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere explained at a business conference in Harare last Wednesday that applications for investment from foreign investors — including and especially those from Britain — would be treated with circumspect, he was being responsible not populist.

He said what any other patriotic minister in his position would have said. He made the right statement for right now — a statement that prudently takes into account the history and future of this country.

No buts about it, the British Ambassador’s expression of ‘disappointment’ at Minister Kasukuwere’s perfect explanation, the only sensible explanation in the circumstances, was a show of utter and complete madness. It confirmed and re-affirmed that Britain is prepared to resort to anything, including revealing the emotional and mental instability of some of its officials, in order to retrieve the now irretrievably dented regime change agenda.

Disappointed or not disappointed, the reality is that people like Canning would do themselves a great deal of good appreciating and embracing the policy on Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment for what it is — a policy crafted and drafted to empower and elevate not foreign vested interests but hitherto disadvantaged local Zimbabweans.

It is a policy, too, that should and will take due account of the pedigree and history of those from beyond our borders who are unashamedly quick to display their inimitable passion for our resources yet slow to show compassion for our suffering people. Be in no doubt, dear reader, Minister Kasukuwere’s pronouncement was not only responsible, it was also fair.

Fair because Britain’s deadly intent is clear for all to see. It continues to fund and advise the Movement for Democratic Change — a satanic project whose survival in politics is dependent solely and exclusively upon the infliction of unspeakable suffering on millions of innocent Zimbabweans. Through the imposition of sanctions whose effect, by the way, has been anything but targeted, the British have clearly demonstrated that they are prepared to kill in order simply to replace our President Robert Mugabe with their Morgan Richard Tsvangirai. Make no mistake, our affliction is the very oxygen the MDC inhales for survival.

Kasukuwere’s stance was also fair because Britain’s hostility towards Zimbabwe knows no boundaries. To be fair, the Bible teaches us that, ‘if a man slaps your cheek, offer him the other cheek to slap’. But theology and politics are not one and the same. In politics, tit necessarily invites tat.

Fair also because if yesterday they viciously condemned and even inhibited any kind of foreign investment in Zimbabwe to the point and extent of punishing those of their own citizens suspected of doing business with Zimbabwe, why must we only now welcome them and welcome them blindly at that? Just because Canning says we should? Forgiving and forgetting is not as easy as it sounds.

In any case, what has changed? The MDC still is and always will be an opposition party. Robert Mugabe still is and still will be President of Zimbabwe for the foreseeable future. There can only be one possible explanation — diamonds.

Apparently Canning is not as cunning as one would suppose. Quite the contrary, he is clueless, out of touch and does not get it. Chiadzwa is not for foreign exploitation. However, when foreign investors are engaged, laws of Zimbabwe, not of the jungle, apply.

The fact is that unlike MDC officials who can and will sell their country for forty pieces of silver, those of Kasukuwere’s caliber who, by the way, work frantically hard even on the Sabbath Day risking for the common good and for the national interest, their chances of entering the Kingdom of Heaven cannot and will not be persuaded by considerations of cash. I know no-one more determined, more principled, more passionate and more patriotic than Saviour Kasukuwere. National interest means everything to him.

Moreover, the effect of foreign investment on a country’s economy is overstated. While it might be one of the many ways to boost a country’s economy, it is not the only one. Certainly not the most significant. The ‘much needed foreign investment’ mantra should thus be dismissed for what it is: a toxic lie.

China is where she is today not because of foreign investment but because the people and government of China pulled together, came together and worked together for the good of their nation. Foreign investment was not primary but secondary. What Zimbabwe needs is to invest in its people and for its people in turn to invest in it. What Zimbabwe needs is to move from the dependency syndrome to self-sufficiency. Foreign investment will not do that. Indigenisation will.

In any event, being choosy about who to do business with even at a time when one’s country needs it most is a virtue not a weakness. Even in the most difficult of times, difficult decisions have to be made and Kasukuwere is making them. But the cynics can say all they want, however many times they wish. The fact is, to quote the wise words of Kasukuwere, “Whether you like it or not, nothing will stop this process (indigenisation) from going forward.”

Before and after our independence, there was a lot of talk about what needed to be done in order to empower indigenous Zimbabweans. It was all talk. But the time for talk is over. In politics, you cannot evade difficult choices forever. Sooner or later, a decision has to be made.

President Robert Mugabe has refused to sit back and watch millions of his people remain on the sidelines. During Ian Smith’s reign, we had absolutely nothing except water to drink. Independence brought us milk. Today President Mugabe is giving us yoghurt. Today he is giving us everything. It took him several years of proper planning, several years of proper preparation, to get these progressive policies going. And these are the same policies Canning wants changed just like that? Never ever ever!

At times a government must take tough decisions if it cares about its people. President Mugabe has done just that. Kasukuwere is doing just that. In fact, if there is one area where the difference between Zanu PF and the MDC is most pronounced, it is here.

Of course, the cynics will expect them to back away. That sort of behavior is consistent with cynicism. It is to be expected. All the more reason to confound the doubters. All the more reason to press right ahead. All the more reason to disappoint the pessimists. They can go into depression for all we care. Canning can go hang too. The chance for absolute empowerment is within our reach and we have to seize it- even if it means someone dying of depression in the process.

Meanwhile, as so-called independent newspapers make as much partisan noise as they possibly can, let our focus not be on the headlines but on the horizon. It is just wrong, so wrong, that Canning and his backslappers in the MDC can play politics with something as crucial, something as critical, as the law on Indigenisation. Protecting the interests of the nation as Kasukuwere so capably demonstrated last Wednesday, is not irresponsible, it is responsible and we should say so.

Labels: INDIGENIZATION AND EMPOWERMENT ACT (ZIMBABWE), SAVIOUR KASUKUWERE

posted by MrK @ 8:25 PM