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Newspaper Columns ~ Financial
Gazette
The Interview You Never Heard.
Gwinyai Dziwa
9/12/02 1:02:52 AM (GMT +2)
MICHIGAN-Gwinyai the journalist
interviewed Gwinyai Dziwa the
socio-political analyst recently
in Michigan about the situation
in Zimbabwe. Here are excerpts
of the one-hour interview.
Gwinyai the journalist (GJ):
Thank you for allowing us to
talk to you one on one. It took
us three years to get this
interview. We were always told
that you are very busy. Now we
hope you are going to shed light
on a number of issues in your
life as a writer and the
Zimbabwean situation.
Gwinyai Dziwa the analyst (GA):
Thanks for inviting me for an
interview.
GJ: How did you become a writer?
GA: Well it developed naturally.
I had the desire to express
certain things that I noticed.
GJ: What's your philosophy in
life really?
GA: Well, my guiding philosophy
is that do unto others, as you
would want them do unto you.
GJ: Do you have any role model
in life?
GA: (laughing) My grandfather
has always been my role model.
He was also a great raconteur.
He firmly believed that serious
human development can only take
place when peace and justice
prevail.
GJ: Did any of your white
American friends ever ask you
about the tension between whites
and blacks in Zimbabwe?
GA: Yes and I was frank with
them. The reality is that the
forefathers of the white farmers
in Zimbabwe were intolerant and
greedy. But the other reality is
that most of the contemporary
white farmers in Zimbabwe are
true Zimbabweans by birth and
some can speak Shona just as
good as Murombedzi Kuchera or
Tafataona Mahoso. Therefore they
must be treated as our cousins.
More so, they have contributed
immensely to our agro-based
economy through food production,
employment creation and foreign
currency accumulation. Probably
excess and underused land needs
fair redistribution rather than
the violence we have witnessed
across the country.
GJ: We understand you heavily
condemned the violence on farms.
In fact you likened violent war
veterans to "coves who flushed
all traces of human integrity
into the toilet, then in
self-abasement traipsed from one
farm to the other causing untold
mayhem on humans and property"
in the government-controlled
Sunday Mail?
GA: Yes I did.
GJ: How did you manage to do
that in the Sunday Mail?
GA: Well, I was trying to
exercise freedom of speech and
also they published it because
they knew it was the truth.
GJ: So what do you think about
the isolation of President
Mugabe? How has that happened?
Why has Mugabe's popularity
waned, a man who was a hero?
GA: The truth is that Mugabe has
to appreciate what the people of
Zimbabwe and his ancestors have
done for him over the years. I
blame the people for the crisis.
First, people made Mugabe what
he is today because they did not
give a constitutional limit to
the number of terms an
individual can serve as a
president, which is the worst
blunder of all time in modern
political dispensation. This is
because it compromises one of
the basic tenets of
democracy-change! On 18 April
1999 I mentioned in the
government-controlled Sunday
Mail that if Mugabe has become a
dictator "it is people who have
given the president those
excessive powers through the
Presidential Powers Act. I am
aware that the president did not
draft the constitution, but his
acolytes did."
GJ: You wrote that in the Sunday
Mail too? Where was the
professor when that appeared in
the Sunday Mail and what's the
way forward?
GA: I think the professor
admired my courage secretly, but
said nothing. Like I advised
before President Mugabe should
retire.
But he should not retire because
other nations want him to but
because he is very old. If he
really wanted the country to be
led by someone with war
credentials he should have
allowed young people such as
Sydney Sekeramayi to contest
presidential elections after his
ten years in office. The problem
is that Mugabe is being misled
by his close aides who view him
as their meal ticket. Some
people can not make it without
him so they would rather see him
die in office. In addition, he
may be afraid of harassment
after leaving office, but he is
willing to give up. He is tired
and needs
peace of mind.
GJ: Can you tell us your views
on globalisation since Mugabe's
apologists link globalisation to
Western imperialism?
GA: The truth is that there is
clear division between those who
want to spread the ideology of
capitalism against those that
preach socialism. That's why
some people complain that
globalisation is imperialism.
It's not about the spread of
Western civilisation as such
because those who dislike
western imperialism send their
kids to Europe and America for
education and fly to Europe to
buy Gucci shoes and Armani
suits.
They import customised vehicles
from Germany and speak in
English everyday! When they get
sick they seek treatment in
Europe, ignoring their local
doctors. They seem to contradict
themselves.
Anyway, my own model of
globalisation is fusion of
cultures, technology sharing and
economic co-operation motivated
by love, compassion and
tolerance rather than hegemonic
motives. This is exactly how I
responded to a question directed
to me by a professor at Brown
University after I had delivered
a public lecture in 2001.
Additional Financial Gazette Articles
by Gwinyai:
When Fashion Trends Boggle the Mind
Friends,
neighbors
come in all shapes, sizes
The
Interview You Never Heard
Health Care Deliver Can Be Revived
Human Beings are no better than animals
Is Electronic Surveillance Invasion of Privacy?
From Rural Rhodesia to Citadel of Global Capital
Emerging Leaders of a Techno-Century
Tuku Carries Zim's Cultural Torch
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