Rejoining Commonwealth Is A Retrogressive Move, Says Linda Masarira
Labour Economist and African Democrats (LEAD) president Linda Masarira, has castigated the Zanu PF government for going out of its way in trying to rejoin the Commonwealth.
Joining the commonwealth group has been a major part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa‘s re-engagement strategy.
Zimbabwe pulled out of Commonwealth many years after former President Robert Mugabe and his lieutenants were slapped with sanctions for human rights violations
Commonwealth is composed of Britain, its former colonies, and a few other countries.
Last week a Commonwealth delegation was in the country for a second assessment to see if Harare had made progress on the conditions needed to rejoin the group.
However, Masarira had no kind words arguing that it is a useless adventure that does not bring any benefit.
“My heart bleeds when I see the Zimbabwean government making efforts of rejoining this useless Commonwealth of nations which is just a mere post-colonial club.
“The Commonwealth still serves only to bolster Britain’s sense of importance in the world and to make it appear that its outdated stiff upper-lipped monarch still has a role in the modern world. We should never be comfortable of joining groupings that have no tangible benefit to the people of Zimbabwe. The Commonwealth is not a free trade body like the EU, or a unified defence group like NATO, or even an international quasi-legal body like the UN.
“It does not seek to do anything much, other than vaguely demanding that members be at least nod towards democracy. The nod of democracy which is defined in British terms which I find quite absurd,” she said.
Masarira added that Zimbabwe should focus on entrenching Pan-Afrikan values than joining the Commonwealth.
“Zimbabwe should be focusing on entrenching Pan-Afrikan values, interests, and principles which will enable native Zimbabweans to own and control all the means of production in our quest to make Zimbabwe an economic powerhouse. Zimbabwe will never be an economic giant using foreign currency and allocating key critical mining concessions to foreign investors.
” We need to be able to encourage more Local Investment, champion wealth creation within native Zimbabweans, and strengthen the Zimbabwe dollar which again should be renamed to a wholly Zimbabwean name, rebranded, and given a strong lease of life.
“The economic stability strategies which should be implored should start by dumping all the eurocentric economic models that we are using which destroyed our economy. We should define our own economic models and start doing things the Zimbabwean way to benefit Zimbabwean people. Where there is a will there is always a way,” she said.
The Commonwealth team met with government, civic society organisations, and human rights defenders such as Hopewell Chingono and Citizens Coalition for Change among others.
All stakeholders agreed to Harare joining the group, but insisted on strict conditions that should be met.
It remains to be seen if Harare will be willing to meet some of the demands.
Rejoining Commonwealth Is A Retrogressive Move, Says Linda Masarira
