The Hare & The Elder Statesman

By Cde Chewukai Chiremba 

 The title could easily have been, "Cheers as President Mugabe delivers speech at Fort Hare".

This week fifty three years ago, the 32 founding states of Post Colonial Africa put their names down to what became the Organisation of African Unity.

A few days ago, a leader identified as a champion of Pan Africanism by friends and foes alike was given a chance to share his views on a range of topics to a mainly African audience at the University of Fort Hare's centenary celebrations.

In an auditorium with the Who's Who of Africa, President Mugabe did not disappoint. Within minutes he was describing the "hare" in Fort Hare as clever, intelligent and witty. He could easily have been referring to million of Africans who have had to adapt and reinvent themselves in a world that sees the black skin as less equal. Having listened to 45 minutes of the speech twice, one can conclude that this will go down in history as one of the greatest speeches on equality.

Guests were given a history lesson littered with profound and at times comic references to relationships, politics, economics and good old fashioned resilience. As usual, the best bits were off the cuff, unscripted. 

 EQUALITY OF THE SEXES

 President Mugabe reminded listeners what it was like being a black woman in colonial Rhodesia. Families often preferred to send only boy children to secondary school and leave the girls to wait for marriage, often at young ages. Boy children would be given higher respect than their widowed mothers.

The ZANU PF government has outlawed child marriages and continues to thrive for equality of the sexes from the cradle to the grave. In the next few weeks, parliament will put in place a law recognising paternity leave - still a novelty in most Western countries. This law doesn't only tell the world that women are of equal status but alerts men to their responsibility in raising children. Fathers can and should be more than bread winners.

After the ground breaking affirmative action of the 1990s more females enrolled onto university courses, increasing their chances in life exponentially. Only three decades after independence, the country's premier university has a 50:50 enrolment gender balance. The effect of this has been more women at the highest levels of the public and private sectors. 

 EQUALITY OF THE MINDS 

The president referred to the previously held belief that blacks lacked the intellectual ability to analyse and grasp abstract terms. They were supposed to avoid subjects such as law (probably to stop them defending each other at courts such as those at Rivonia where Nelson Mandela was found guilty).

Decades later the world views blacks differently. Equal in ability, still separate in opportunity. This desire to reduce such inequalities led to the government investing heavily in building schools, training teachers and increasing the number of universities from the UZ with just 2000 students in 1980. He stated the figure had risen to 14 institutions across the country. We boast of a workforce sought the world over. Nurses trained at schools such as Mpilo are able to work at the best hospitals in England after just a six months adaptation! The NHS has hundreds if not more UZ trained doctors. Graduates from our Polytechnic Colleges easily whizz onto second year courses at the most prestigious Engineering schools in Europe.

It's possible to go on and on about Zimbabwe's gifts to the world. Some will rush to say that President was just a cog in a well oiled machine. No! He has been the driver of that engine that has ensured national stability and growth - despite economic attacks from within and outside the country. 

 ECONOMIC EQUALITY  

"Equality is not just political equality, it is also economic equality." No explanation is needed here. ZANU PF has made great strides towards a more level economic playing field, however Africans are yet to gain full ownership and management of their resources. 

We are progressive enough to criticise the government record on economic equality when necessary. A quarter of a million small businesses were created by the land reform programme even if you factor in the multiple ownerships the opposition trumpets in about. We have effective (often misunderstood) indegenisation programmes that are seeing the country having black people entering into fields traditionally reserved for white people and foreign investors. A lot has been achieved in putting business into black hands, the next stage is to increase accountability in our institutions. The soon to be enacted Public Sector Corporate Governance Act will go a long way in ensuring that happens.

These are very few points from a speech worth listening to by those who seek to understand an often misunderstood great son of Africa. As we need Africa Day, it's worth remembering where we have been as a continent and the sacrifices our leaders made. 

Amandla