OPINION: Zimbabwe is the last country on the alphabet but attracts disproportionate global interest and attention. 

What is it about Zimbabwe that its citizens’ normal activities in the face of daily challenges attract the attention of even President Obama who on November 23 singled out co-founders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement Magodonga Mahlangu and Jenny Willians as recipients of the 2009 Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award for their inspirational work and willingness to expose themselves to intimidation and physical abuse in the name of nation building.

I was born in Zimbabwe and like many of my compatriots we decided to challenge what it means to be African by acquiring the citizenship of another African state in the hope that through our own choices we can stimulate a new conversation on what kind of Africa we want to see.

Who am I? Am I a Zimbabwean-born South African citizen? Or am I a South African? Can I ever be considered to be in the diaspora by virtue of the fact that I voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another African state?

I am aware of the civil society conversation taking place next week in Cape Town under the theme: “Engaging the Diaspora toward Zimbabwe’s Economic Reconstruction” that seeks to map issues for diaspora participation in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe.

I was requested to prepare a paper for presentation at the dialogue focusing on the following issues: “What and where is the Zimbabwean Diaspora? Where are its interests in Zimbabwe’s recovery? What conditions can attract the Diaspora in economic recovery? What opportunities exist for Diaspora assistance in Zimbabwe’s recovery within and outside of Zimbabwe?”

To the extent that the issue of identity in Africa is a complex and confusing one, I can understand why I was asked to contribute my insights to issues that should ordinarily occupy the minds of people who have agreed to be bound by the Zimbabwean social contract. 

What do we mean by diaspora? Why should this class of people be treated any differently from a citizen of a foreign state that wishes to invest in Zimbabwe?

We know, for example, what a Chinese looks like? However, the face of an African is somewhat confusing let alone the face of a Zimbabwean. 

In Greek, a diaspora is any movement of a population sharing common ethnic identity.

The use of the word whose first mention is found in Deuteronomy 18:25 that states: “thou shalt be a dispersion in all kingdom of the earth” began to develop from this sense when the Hebrew bible was translated into Greek and the word was used to refer to the population of Jews exiled from Israel in 607 BCE by the Babylonians and from Judea in 70 CE by the Roman Empire.

Like Jews, Zimbabwean-born persons have dispersed in all kingdom of the earth. 

However, unlike Jews, people who share the Zimbabwean heritage have failed to forge a common platform in advancing the interests they purport to have with respect to the future of their motherland. 

When you get 10 Jews in any geographical space it is not unlikely that a synagogue will be built. 

They are alive to the power of networking and they build thriving institutions where they call home without forgetting that their real power lies in organisation. 

With respect to Africans, it is not unusual that disproportionate amount of time is devoted in discussing what is perceived to be wrong with Africa and less time is spent discussing how people in the diaspora can be the change they want to see in Africa. 

To the extent that most Zimbabweans like many Africans are disorganised institutionally in their host countries they rarely make the impact on the policies of the countries that they live in. 

It is, therefore, not surprising for instance that South African foreign policy towards Zimbabwe in not informed by the views of the people who pay taxes in South Africa but call Zimbabwe home.

In terms of interests, many of the people in the diaspora behave like they live in a silo and they interact with Zimbabwe at the retail level because we have not been able to create wholesale institutions that can be used to lobby the people that host us to see Africa the way we want to see it. 

Although we are part of the social contracts of the countries that host us, we are unable to influence, the pension funds, that we contribute to every month to direct our involuntary savings to our home countries. 

Many of the people in the so-called diaspora are living under difficult conditions and lack the necessary savings to make an impact as individuals to what is taking place in their home countries.

If one is living from pay cheque to pay cheque then such a person cannot be expected to make a meaningful contribution to his/her home country. 

The only power that people who do not have power is the power to organise and therein lies the challenge. 

We rarely meet and even when we want to we cannot finance the venue let alone the travel and subsistence.

Even if, for example, the South African government were to consider consulting Zimbabwean-born people living and working in South Africa where would they start? 

How many of the Zimbabwean-born South Africans have seen merit in becoming part of the South African institution building blocks like joining the political parties from whom state power is derived?

Many live in the diaspora but have mentally not departed from Zimbabwe. They spend time discussing Zimbabwean politics instead of focusing on how their income collected as taxes is being used against their interests. 

Zimbabwe can best be promoted by an organised group of people. 

Opportunities do exist in the diaspora but what is necessary is that an investment is made in building institutions that then will provide a reference for what is possible in Zimbabwe when people come together and invest in the kind of civilisation that promotes progress and development. 

Zimbabwe belongs to people who choose to be part of its social contract. 

Those that have elected to be outside the social contract can only play a catalytic and supportive role. 

The power players in Zimbabwe have to respond to the people who choose to be part of Zimbabwe by surrendering part of their income for taxation. 

We all can learn from the experience of other nationalities that have chosen to be citizens of foreign states and see what they have had to do to be relevant in their host countries while being able to be a factor in their home countries. 

Yes we can but we need to invest in what it means to be African. 

One does not need to be resident in Zimbabwe or let alone born in Zimbabwe, for example, to be relevant to the development challenges that are faced. – ZimOnline