2010: Africa, arise and shine!

The Herald (31/12/09)

THE countdown to 2010 is finally over. Tomorrow heralds an historic year, which is not just another New Year.

2010 is the year that will mark the end of the first decade of the 21st century — a century whose beginning was marked with so much hype.

The Arena salutes 2010 with hope and confidence that everyone will realise their dreams, and for those that religiously do New Year resolutions, may 2010 be different from the other years where you never went beyond the first one. This is the year when all resolutions should be realised.

Make that commitment that it is too special a year to leave things undone or unfinished, for you are part of the outfit that will make Africa arise and shine.

We reminisce not only the passage of an eventful year, 2009, but go down memory lane remembering many unforgettable moments of the past decade from a global perspective, simply because Zimbabwe is not an island.

We remember those moments that defined you and me; defined history; defined the future - events that cannot simply be ignored.

They are too many, so we do so randomly, and in some cases haphazardly. Leaving out some does not in any way diminish their relevance in shaping this decade.

We also go global because Zimbabwe will soon join other global citizens in celebrating 2010’s crowning moment, that moment when the beautiful game of soccer comes to Africa and lights up the continent. As the football fraternity descends on host nation South Africa in their thousands for the showcasing of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the whole of Africa will be with them.

Time will tell whether this soccer extravaganza will be the raison d’être in Africa’s reawakening.

Will the Fifa World Cup prove that Africa is the world’s last sleeping giant? Will other members of the international community learn a thing or two from the so-called “dark continent”?

Lest we forget, this first decade of the 21st century was marked initially by the Y2K (year 2000 compliancy) bug that obsessed many.

Most of you readers remember the scare – computers, banking or airline systems just coming to a standstill, after failing the compliancy tests and crash landing everything in the process.

But nothing of the sort happened. Life went on almost normally, although it became increasingly obvious that the 21st century was being reconfigured, by the very element feared by many – ICTs!

Apart from compliancy of electronic gizmos, it emerged that even people were supposed to be Y2K compliant. This meant a total overhaul in the way we view or do things in order to be fully operational in the new millennium.

Entering the 21st century was a milestone, but the transition from one hundred years to another century was a major challenge that has been felt in all spheres.

A decade later, as The Arena reminisces it does so with more questions than answers. Have we achieved compliancy not only for 2010, but for the next decade and beyond? How do we deal with future challenges? Is the global village now a reality and how can you and me be better citizens in that village?

Will it also take that village to raise the global citizen, and who decides on the modus operandi?

In Zimbabwe, it is not possible to talk about 2009 (milestones and failures alike), without looking at the year 2000, when the most revolutionary programmes initiated by Government kicked off in earnest — the land reform programme.

It was a programme that put Zimbabwe on a collision with its former colonial master Britain and its Western allies.

This single factor defined the Zimbabwe of the 21st century - politically, economically, culturally, socially and religiously. The major spin off was the imposition of illegal economic sanctions by the United States and other Western nations in 2001.

So much happened between then and now, but Zimbabwe has stood firm on its principles although the punishment was unbearable. It is also a matter of interpretation on how you and I understand the sum total of the countless events in the past decade.

Despite the relative peace and tranquility achieved after the formation of the inclusive Government early this year, sanctions remain a destablising factor on the Zimbabwean landscape.

The partial dollarisation and use of multiple hard currencies introduced at the beginning of the year also stabilised the economy slightly improving people’s living standards.

However, more tangible effects of this policy move still have to be realised, especially the revival of industrial and commercial sectors.

The Arena also hopes that everybody will throw their weight behind efforts by various sectors to depolarise our society and create an atmosphere of tolerance where everybody will fully utilise their potential to the maximum, and make Zimbabwe prosper.

The Arena also wonders whether the Fifa World Cup tournament will kick-start under the hostile sanctions regime, since Zimbabwe hopes to fulfill the mandate it made to South Africa – assist as best as possible so that the tournament is a successful African story.

The dawn of the century also saw Zimbabwe holding a referendum on a people driven constitution. When the “No” vote prevailed, Zimbabwe went back to the Lancaster House constitution, but with 2010 only hours away, it is hoped that current initiatives to come up with a home grown constitution will succeed, despite constraints.

Zimbabwe also celebrated its silver jubilee in 2005, and at one of the gatherings, music maestro Dorothy Masuka announced how happy she was to be finally back home.

But, the biggest surprise of the first decade was the discovery of diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange after which the daring descended on the diamonds fields: panners, “buyers” and many more, until efforts were made to create order out of the chaos. The past decade also saw Zanu-PF nominating for the first time since independence a woman to its presidium, Cde Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru, who proceeded to become the first woman Vice President.

When MDC-T became part of the inclusive Government it also followed suit and elected Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe.

However, these high powered appointments have not seen women participating fully in major decision-making bodies. Like Shylock who demanded his pound of flesh, women want proportional representation in all key positions.

In the past decade, we have also celebrated exploits made by the likes of. Kirsty Coventry, Cara Black, Kevin Ulyett, Benjani Mwaruwari among others, who have done the nation proud on the international sporting arena.

Musicians like Oliver Mtukudzi have also been Zimbabwe’s true ambassadors, taking our songs in otherwise unfriendly arenas and in the process mellowing them.

This in no way diminishes achievements by everyone who played their part in positively telling the Zimbabwean story.

During the first half of the decade, Zimbabwean security forces foiled an attempt by mercenaries led by Simon Mann, to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea.

The past decade has also seen Zimbabwe losing some of its founding fathers and mothers. Among them were Vice Presidents Simon Muzenda and Joseph Msika; Mama MaFuyana, late Vice President Joshua Nkomo’s wife; and many more war of liberation heroes and heroines.

Zimbabwe also lost many notable personalities including Mrs Susan Tsvangirai, PM Tsvangirai’s wife, who died in a tragic car accident, barely three months after the formation of the inclusive Government.

We also lost many sporting and entertainment personalities; professionals in various disciplines and the rank and file of Zimbabweans.

The HIV and Aids pandemic has continued to claim more lives despite the awareness campaigns and the availability of anti-retroviral drugs, resulting in more children being orphaned and having more vulnerable people in our midst.

As the economic challenges worsened, many service delivery sectors were adversely affected, especially water and sanitation, resulting in thousands of deaths due to the cholera epidemic. Cholera and other diseases continue to pose serious threats countrywide.

The past decade also saw a sharp increase in cases of domestic violence and cases of child abuse, especially rape of minors. It is hoped that the new constitution will adequately protect all citizens from such people, especially sexual predators.

However, one of the major causes of untimely deaths in the past decade are the countless traffic accidents that continue to claim hundreds of lives, whose causes are numerous, including drunken driving, unroadworthy vehicles and pot holed roads.

The poor state of the nation’s road network is a major cause for concern. Together with power and energy supply, this is an area The Arena hopes will be prioritised in the reconstruction programme, since Zimbabwe is a major gateway to other regional trading destinations.

Zimbabwe has also not been spared by the climate change phenomenon, and the past decade has seen the nation experiencing one drought situation after another, a situation that has seriously affected the agricultural sector, which is supposed to be the backbone of the economy.

This has exacerbated poverty among various classes of people with vulnerable groups mostly affected. The net effect has been a heavy dependency on humanitarian assistance.

After three decades of investment in education and skills training, Zimbabwe lost a large majority of these skilled people to the Diaspora that continues to offer better remunerations.

Every sector has been seriously affected by the brain drain, especially the education sector which is the foundation of a well trained skills base.

Despite the closure of most companies where thousands lost jobs, schools continue to churn out youths whose chances of securing viable employment is bleak, unless Government and key stakeholders make deliberate efforts to resuscitate the industrial and commercial sectors.

From an international perspective, the single most important event that has defined this first decade is the September 11 2001 terror attacks in the United States. It is an event that is increasingly becoming a threat to international peace and security.

After the 9/11 attacks, the US redefined its relations with the rest of the world, as President George W Bush openly declared a “war on terror”, and put new meaning on “them” and “us”, a policy that has polarised nations in this post-Cold War era.

This was followed by the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and the execution of Saddam Hussein for allegedly possessing weapons of mass destruction.

Peace and security have remained fragile in the Middle East, even after the death of Chairman Yasser Arafat. There is also instability in most parts of the world, especially after the global economic meltdown of 2008.

After the arrest last Friday of the 23-year old Nigerian on terrorism charges, it now remains to be seen whether US President Barack Obama’s talk on terrorism will take a different tone from that of his predecessor.

Although terror attacks have occurred on African soil, with some of the perpetrators having lived in Africa, it is the first time that an African has made such a daring move.

The decade also witnessed one of the most catastrophic natural disasters, the December 2004 tsunami that left more than 250 000 people dead and millions more homeless. More devastating national disasters followed, and climate change has continued to be blamed.

In 2008, the Sadc region also mourned the loss of Zambian President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. And, that voice that entertained thousands for decades and campaigned against the evil apartheid system also fell silent in 2008.

Miriam Makeba or Mama Africa who could probably have been a major attraction at the soccer tournament suffered a heart attack while performing in France, and died shortly after.

But it was the death of pop icon Michael Jackson in 2009 that topped the bill. Single-handedly, MJ almost caused the collapse of the Internet, and this just goes to show how “bad” he really was. The best entertainer Hildegarde has ever known.

Changes in governments — in some cases through violent means took place in various parts of the world, with Africa remaining in the spotlight because of armed conflicts.

This decade also saw former Cuban President, Commandant Fidel Castro stepping down from office due to ill health. President Vladmir Putin did the same, but has remained in the Russian government as Prime Minister.

Four hundred years after black people landed in the United States as slaves, in 2008 the US finally elected Barack Obama as its first black president — and, he completes his first year in office in a few days time, under the shadow of terrorist threats.

Two decades ago they celebrated the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union which also ended the Cold War.

Two decades later, there has been a shift with the emergence of new economic and political power houses — Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC), minus the ‘-isms’. The power shift has been felt more this decade.

In golf, as the Tiger entered the Woods, dogged by sexual scandals, Usain Bolt continued to rule the roost in the athletic arena, while the Maputo Express, Maria Mutola, has slowed down.

The decade had also many weirdos. Before leaving office, President Bush had some nasty experiences with some members of the public, with one of them throwing a shoe at him.

But maybe Italy comes tops. Barely a month after Prime Minister Silvio Belusconi was seriously attacked by a member of the public believed to have psychological problems; then on Christmas Eve, a young woman attacked Pope Benedict XVI, while he was saying mass. And the initial claims were that she also had mental problems.

The 2008 financial meltdown is also one of the biggest events of the past decade, whose far-reaching impact is still being felt, and whose end seems to be nowhere near.

No one has been spared, and millions on all continents are jobless, and facing a bleak 2010.

However, even in my sleep, I would not hesitate to tell you that the Internet is the most revolutionary invention that has really shaped the first decade of the 21st century.

After getting acquainted to it in 1992, I never doubted that this was an invention that would reshape the 21st century in a manner that would defy odds.

The Internet hopes to be everywhere, used by all and sundry for all sorts of things: the good and the bad. It is creating virtual communities that act differently from the face-to-face communities we are used to.

Not only is it a computer mediated communication tool, but it is the world’s largest repository of information organised and stored in multi-media formats, and disseminated at great speed.

It defies, time, space and boundaries, and even legislations. It threatens all other technologies before it. It will continue to beat its own record, until another block buster invention comes up.

Indeed soccer is 2010’s major stimulant, but there is a lot more to this season of hope that is required in order to achieve the unrealised dreams of the past decade.

As The Arena looks forward to 2010, let’s not forget that the past decade was a decade of sorts: the beautiful and the ugly; the pleasant and the unpleasant.

It was a decade where Zimbabweans will remember pain and suffering, a decade characterised by lack of basics and one which some would love to describe as a lost decade.

But against all odds, they triumphed because of that intrinsic will power.

Woza 2010 and a happy New Year to you all!

lFeedback:tendai.manzvanzvike@zimpapers.co.zw