The quest for learned politicians in Zimbabwe
By William Muchayi
Zimbabwe’s current socio-economic and political nightmare while it can be attributed to a number of factors can hardly be removed from the country’s drought for seasoned and learned politicians.
Those who lavishly occupy strategic posts in the corridors of power might swiftly dismiss my assertion, but the truth of the matter is that Africa and Zimbabwe in particular has its destiny shaped by narrow minded and selfish individuals who at best are educated but never learned.
Of late this bandwagon has been joined by professors and academics, for instance, Jonathan Moyo, Tafataona Mahoso, Lovemore Madhuku, Arthur Mutambara , just to mention a few.
The sitting incumbent himself Robert Mugabe is renowned for having at least not less than six degrees while his cabinet is crowded by several PhD holders. If education and productivity had anything in common, then Zimbabwe would have been among the fastest developing nations in the southern hemisphere.
Didn’t Constantine Chiwenga, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces make headlines in several newspapers recently after graduating with a master’s degree and not forgetting Obert Mpofu who has joined the elite PhD holders in the current cabinet?
Equipped with this rote education, our politicians are of the opinion that they hold the key to the country’s socio-economic and political emancipation. Is that true? What then is wrong with having these self proclaimed highly educated politicians as shepherds as we wander in the socio-economic and political wilderness?
I have studied governments the world over, from developed to developing nations. From Cape to Cairo, Accra to Nairobi the story is identical to Zimbabwe’s, countries run by educated but not learned politicians.
The bulk of these educated politicians enter into politics not to serve those they lead but, to enrich themselves. They are not servants of the people but use their portfolios to line their pockets. To be a servant of the people, one doesn’t necessarily need a PhD, but if it is available, it is just an incentive and not a necessity.
There are few if any PhD holders in the current British government let alone in any other government in the developed world whose economies are stable. George Osborne, the current British Chancellor of the Exchequer holds a bachelor’s degree in modern history while his boss David Cameron only has a bachelor’s degree as well.
Many politicians and leaders in the developed world are no longer inspired by the need to be educated but instead cherish to acquire learning. Instead of dragging themselves boasting about their academic achievements they aspire to be knowledgeable and to be masters of their portfolios rather than being viewed and known for their book achievement .
Gordon Brown, the former British Chancellor of the Exchequer and prime minister, one of the best finance ministers of the century on the planet is not a PhD holder. It is one’s mastery of his/her profession and the ability to deliver the services that are enshrined in their job description for the advancement of humanity’s needs that differentiates an educated politician from a learned one.
An educated politician is one who has developed knowledge to acquire, analyse, synthesize, evaluate, understand and communicate knowledge and information. Usually the educated just memorise taught information for a short term objective but rarely go beyond that to apply what has been internalised.
That is the level where most of our politicians reach but rarely go beyond that, hence a crowded cabinet of PhD holders who embarrassingly believe that they can harvest pure diesel from a rock. In contrast, a learned person has the knowledge and can put it into practice. He/she has the concepts of education in their finger tips and they can be trusted and relied upon unlike the educated.
Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe’s current Information minister is a professor but isn’t he the architect of POSA and AIPPA? The same applies to Tafataona Mahoso, who in spite of his PhD is dubbed the media hangman in Zimbabwe. When education fails to translate into wisdom to advance mankind’s interests but that for a minority, that education ceases to be useful in society.
A learned politician acknowledges failure and responsibility when he fails to achieve objectives laid down in their job description. It is an educated politician and not a learned one who does not resign when standards spiral so low that urban areas are turned into rural communities where residents queue for hours to fetch water from boreholes.
A learned politician would resign when he/she fails dismally to the extent that their subjects survive on sewage contaminated water as is the case in most urban areas in Zimbabwe today. For a learned politician, the struggle of their people is theirs as well. When a learned politician falls sick, they seek treatment where their subjects are treated for they are one of them.
They seek treatment at Gomo, Parirenyatwa and Mpilo hospitals for that is where their subjects get treatment and not catching the first flight to Singapore for a cataract check up on taxpayer’s money. Neither do they send their children to Michigan State University for education leaving the University of Zimbabwe, NUST or Midlands State University behind rotting.
Informed leadership by a learned politician would aim to raise the standards of local institutions to world class so as to benefit their subjects. Nelson Mandela of South Africa is a breed of his own in Africa. Unlike his educated counterparts like Robert Mugabe and others, he gets treatment in his own country among his people with whom he spent 27 years fighting for liberation. He is one of them for their tribulations are his as well.
In contrast, Robert Mugabe catches the first flight to Singapore for a check up leaving Gomo and Parirenyatwa behind where his subjects are treated without even running water to drink let alone to flash toilets.
Because the country is run by educated individuals whose vision does not transcend above their shadows, the Chinese end up benefiting more from the diamond proceeds at Chiadzwa than the local people. The subjects are given the impression that they are being empowered. Who is empowering who, when and how? Toll duties are collected daily from the roads but are rarely ploughed back into the system so as to improve the infrastructure.
Instead, the educated masters and doctorate holders blame the British and the Americans for imposing punitive sanctions on the minority elite. Does education in such a context anything to be proud of? In spite of their doctorates and masters degrees, most of our legislators still have strong beliefs in traditional remedies, take for instance, the Rotina Mavhinga’s diesel fiasco in Chinhoyi.
It is only educated and not learned politicians who believe that they can get pure diesel from a rock. Didn’t we hear about the arrest recently in Kadoma of two Zanu PF aspiring council candidates in the just ended harmonised elections who kidnapped two innocent minors for ritual purposes in a bid to enhance their chances of winning?
Unless and until Africans rise above the barrier of being book consumers but become users of acquired knowledge for the betterment of their lives, their education is null and void. Soon almost every African will be a professor, but, still the people of the continent will remain poor and poorer in spite of their education. What Zimbabwe desperately needs are learned citizens and not those with rote education.
The country needs visionaries like Strive Masiyiwa and not the bunch of PhD holders who crowd our parliament.
William Muchayi is a pro-democracy and political analyst who can be contacted on [email protected]
