‘Each generation must, out of
relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it.’
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| Franz Fanon |
The above words by the great
thinker and proponent of human liberation, Franz Fanon many years ago still
remain relevant as they did those many years ago, and better still, will remain
relevant for many more years to come. However, their relevance is more profound
for us, the younger generation of the day. This is so, because to a greater
extent, the older generations, our fathers and those before them have managed
to discover their mission and managed to fulfill it, though the extent to which
they have done so may be a question for debate. More so, the words are a
chilling reminder to the young people of contemporary Zimbabwe of the reality
we have to face as a generation, given the outright obscurity which we have and
continue to face especially since the turn of the millennium and more
specifically over the last decade.
In our Zimbabwean context,
contemporary social and cultural norms and values as well as economic and
political realities consign us, the young people of the day to a position of
extreme marginalization and insignificance in terms of the national
developmental discourse. The truth is that the older generations continue to
dictate the pace of this development, or lack of it, and it is their views on
how such development should unfold that carries the day. To a very pronounced
extent, the older generation in our country, the bulk of whom constitute the
current ruling elite had their mission cut out for them. Having been born at a
time when colonialism and imperial occupation of Africa was a reality, the
immediate and main task for them was to exorcise and rid their countries and
the continent at large of the evils of white colonial settlement and restore
the right to self-determination to the black majority.
The eventual fall of colonialism
in Zimbabwe, having been preceded by its fall in other African countries and
the few after it, meant that from relative obscurity, the generations of our
fathers and those before them had managed to fulfill their immediate
generational mission. The next task for the country (and they as the leaders) obviously revolved around consolidating the
gains of the liberation struggle that had been fought to rid the country of
colonial rule: this in essence meant fulfilling the various factors which had
formed the basis of the waging of the liberation struggle – the land question,
wealth disparities based on skin colour and universal suffrage and the right to
self-determination, essentially being able to elect, through free and fair
elections, a government of the people by the people.
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| Harry Houdini - famed for his death-defying stunts. |
It is however worth noting that it is with
regards to this consolidation of the gains of the liberation struggle that our
erstwhile liberators have fared very low, in fact they seem to have gotten
drunk on power to the extent that they forgot all about consolidating these
gains for close to 20 years after independence was won in 1980. And it was only
after the formation of the biggest opposition party to emerge post-independence
Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change, that they were jolted into action
and tried to do a ‘Houdini act’ of implementing what they had neglected or
failed to do during their first nineteen years in power, to save them from the
jaws of a glaring electoral defeat in the 2000 general elections, randomly
unleashing rogue elements amongst the war veterans and youth militias onto the
farms where they forcibly evicted white farmers and their farm workers. At
times, callous murders, rape and other forms of torture were committed as the
Zanu PF administration launched what it termed the ‘fast-track land reform
program’ – their main aim not being to genuinely redistribute land and correct the
injustices of the colonial regime of Ian Smith but to reclaim their waning
support amongst the electorate and in so doing, setting up a patronage system
that to this day forms the greater chunk of those that continue to vote for
them to this day. What followed in the ensuing decade plus two years to today
now forms part of the worst period in the living memory and history of our
beloved country’s citizens, post 1980.
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| A queue for sugar at the height of the economic crisis. |
The challenges that we have faced
as citizens over the last twelve years and the precarious position that the
young people of today find themselves in is a direct result of this gross
dereliction of duty by our erstwhile liberators and further confirms the fact
that the prophetic words of Franz Fanon are still alive today. Young people in
Zimbabwe today remain not in relative obscurity, but in almost absolute
obscurity, thanks to outrightly exclusionary policies propounded by our
government. Again, this obscurity has become entrenched not only where
government is concerned but even where political formations are concerned.
Worse still such exclusion has become all too evident even amongst civic
formations who are supposed to be the torch-bearers of the democracy that we
all yearn for, the democracy that so many of the gallant sons and daughters of
Zimbabwe – the youth in their day – sacrificed their all – soul and limb – to
ensure that the dream of a democratic Zimbabwe remains alive.
The misgivings of our erstwhile
liberators and those that occupy positions of authority today have indeed
helped to define the mission of the new generation, those who count themselves
amongst the youth of today. One can easily identify that entrenching democracy
and good governance in our country forms the basis of what should be the
mission of today’s youth. And this is not just about having free and fair
elections, but it is essentially about building a new political culture in
Zimbabwe, based on the equality and tolerance of one another, cognizant of all
our differences, and more importantly our ability to defend our national
sovereignty, not in the narrow and parochial sense of Zanu PF, but genuine
patriotism and love for country, itself a result of the genuine recognition of
each and every citizen’s rights, the defense, promotion and upholding of these
rights.
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| Kwame Nkrumah |
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| He has been accused of holding onto power. |
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| Africa continues to be blighted by civil wars. |
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| Police brutality is common within autocratic regimes. |
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| A dilapidated classroom. |
Secondly, another great challenge
that confronts us today is the issue of education on a continent which lags
behind in terms of actual development, but boasts of so many of its sons and
daughters who have and continue to drive industry and overall development in
the developed world. With the old and new challenges confronting the African
continent, Africa need a new breed of educated individuals and ‘cohorts’ to
address the various challenges confronting a new world with ever-changing
challenges, including climate change. In Zimbabwe, a country that used to boast
the highest literacy rate on the continent, thanks largely to liberal education
policies of the 1980s, the education sector is in shambles, driven by an
unstable economy, poverty, corruption and high levels of unemployment which are
demotivating a lot of potential learners. As young Zimbabweans, we face a
reality of being called a ‘lost generation’ because there has been so much
disinvestment within the education sector so much to the extent that our
schools and tertiary institutions are failing to satisfy the demand for learned
professionals to not only fill into existing industries, but also innovative
entrepreneurs to create the much needed employment in economies like Zimbabwe
which obviously have not that much industry to talk about. It then becomes one
of our key challenges to proactively advocate for the revival of the education
sector, safeguarding academic freedoms and students’ rights, including the
right to organize.
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| Democratic Alliance youths march in support of the youth wage subsidy. |
Lastly, it is eminent that as
young people we work towards demanding and then safeguarding our right to
economic empowerment. While government still has the greatest responsibility of
building the future of citizens, this cannot be done without young people’s
involvement in the economic affairs of the country. The recent COSATU and
Democratic Alliance debacle in South Africa though regrettable, illustrates
that at least there are various players within that country who have time to
think about the lives of their young people. That COSATU chose to bring out
their other darker side on this issue of the youth wage subsidy should not be
condoned. My point here is that such efforts by the Democratic Alliance should
not be misconstrued or taken along partisan lines but should be viewed solely
on merit – addressing the plight of millions of young South Africans who face a
bleak future of poverty and unemployment. The same is also true in our
Zimbabwean context where young people face an even bleaker future than their
counterparts in South Africa. Various government and non-government initiatives
aiming to economically empower youth are most welcome, and if administered
well, can go a long way in according young people economic independence which
may translate into greater autonomy and capacity to make informed and
progressive decisions on their own, without manipulation and abuse by elderly
politicians.
Once again, I maintain that the
onus is on the youth to organize themselves so that they are able to claim the
space to positively influence development in their various spheres and
countries. This should of course start at the level of organizing ourselves
within our various organizations, including political, so that we begin to
define our generational mission as history prescribes it. For as long as we
remain divided along superficial lines, perpetuated by an elderly gang
hell-bent on self-perpetuation, then we will definitely be counted as a
generation who betrayed a generational mission and mandate. There can be no
better time than now to, ‘out of near-absolute obscurity, discover our mission,
fulfill it and not betray it…’
