When I was in Zimbabwe for Christmas, I was asked by a very high official, why, with the resources we have, Zimbabweans feel impoverished.
The answer is very simple.
The Zimbabwe government has not made up its mind whether the natural resources we have belong to the natives or whether they belong to Chinese and European extractive companies.
This problem is not new. It is the bone of contention between Iran and Venezuela and the foreign exploiters.
In her book, Dead Aid (2009), Dambisa Moyo showed beyond doubt that foreign aid sponsored by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund has in fact impoverished African countries.
In 1991, the United Nations commissioned a report aimed at ridding Africa and the Third World of poverty in 30 years.
In Zimbabwe, scholars are now quietly confessing that the colonial economy of Ian Smith (1963-1980) provided for the needs of the natives much better than that run by the black brothers.
The question is very simple, and has been answered already in Iran, Saudi Arabi and the Emirates. In the Muslim countries mentioned, the national policy is that national resources belong to the natives and that the mining companies are contractors on behalf of government.
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South Africa’s Julius Malema says that if there are wicked white post-colonial exploiters, who ship our diamonds and lithium to Dubai, they do so with the co-operation of blacks.
The new colonial masters in Zimbabwe are Chinese-but read the sentence above.
In my second life, the Commonwealth Office found me a job at Makerere University to teach English.
One of the towering figures at the time was Ali Mazrui, dean of political science, who, as fate would have it, became my external examiner when I found myself at the University of the West Indies.
Mazrui argued that the common idea that foreign influencers, such as the US secret services, corrupt African leaders with secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Dubai is misplaced.
The typical example given is that of Congo’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Mbanga waMbanga (an alpha male rooster) It was Mobutu who gifted president Richard Nixon with a diamond worth US$33 million.
It so happened that the Congo became a very large borrower and leading customer of the World Bank. Dambiza Moyo says:
“We (Africans) have all the gold and diamonds in the world. How is it that you come to us with your paper and say that we must borrow from you?”
Mazrui has argued that the real issue is the racial complex of the African-his sense of worthlessness, or inability to appreciate his own value. All the white man has to do to bribe an African, is to invite him to Buckingham Palace.
We now know that the high light of Robert Mugabe career was his stay at Buckingham Palace and his acceptance of a knighthood.
The insignia of the Knight Commander of St. George and St. Michael is an image of St. George placing his foot on a savage-from which savagery Mugabe was no longer a part.
It was here that Mugabe promised, like a civilised native, not to interfere with the land issue.
Fidel Castro revealed that soon after expelling Chicago sex tourist mafia with hotels on Cuba’s pristine beaches, he was approached by Americans wishing that he abandons his former friends (communists) in favor of the very capitalists who ran sex tourism in Havana.
Robert Mugabe according to Joice Mujuru, divided the Marange diamond fields into three, one for himself, placing the Chinese company, Anjin in charge, the second went to the Mujuru family and the third to the military.
Mugabe confessed that between 2002-2012 well over US$15 billion in revenue was lost. I can share only a snippet of what happened.
The story is well documented in the Zimbabwe Hansard which reported on the oversight committee headed by Edward Chindori Chininga.
The Zimbabwe military was sent to protect Chinese companies, in the event, killing 11 natives who refused to leave their domiciles. In one incident Zimra estimated that US$130 million in taxes was due from the Chinese company, Anjin The company said that it had paid that sum, but treasury had not received the check.
In addition, South African newspapers reported that a Zimbabwe Colonel, working for Mugabe, was popular in Durban among real estate companies. He was alleged to possess a bag full of money (US$43 million in cash).
It is clear, from Chindori-Chininga’s investigations, that the Chinese companies operated outside the legal system of Zimbabwe.
Revenues owed to government never reached the treasury, and an attempt by Chindori-Chininga to investigate resulted in his being “taken out” by means of an assisted traffic accident.
The externalisation of profits by these Chinese companies is the result of an agreement with government. Similarly, Glencoe company in the Congo, operates own air-fields, engage in semi-military operations and operate outside the legal framework of the state.
The Iran revolutions (1953) and (1979) revolved around the ability of Anglo-Iranian oil company and Exxon (US) being independent of the native country from which they operated.
These two companies refused to allow prime minister Muhammad Mossadegh access to their books.
With help from UK’s secret service (and US CIA) Mossadegh was imprisoned for life. His foreign minister was sentenced to death.
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Congo-Zaire and Iran face the same question. If the resources belong to the people of the country, extractive companies should open their books for scrutiny.
The profits are shared (not taxed) according to negotiated percentages.
In the United Arab Emirates, two arrangements exist side by side. Natives are encouraged to buy shares of equal value and receive annual dividends.
Secondly, foreign companies are contracted by the National Oil Company (Adnoc) and are paid for services rendered. Contracts can be terminated when term expires.
*Ken Mufuka is a Zimbabwean patriot.
