Localisation of economic, political, and humanitarian interventions in Matabeleland is a context relevant, just, and fair cause that needs our full backing; we must not waiver, any sign of self-doubt is a welcome gift to our enemies.
We must be unwavering in our calls for localisation of solutions. The process must begin with a deliberate move away from the political tone that wrongly condemns targeted promotion of local knowledge, culture, norms, and values as tribalism. This is self-projection from tribalists within the government of the contemporary Zimbabwe.
Years of socioeconomic and political sabotage and suffering in Matabeleland in the hands of mainstream politics of Zimbabwe are the reason behind growing calls for localisation of economic and political solutions; this is out of a desire for justice and fairness for all who call Matabeleland home.
We are victims of centralised governance systems, and we believe localisation of socioeconomic and political decisions will be crucial for stronger communities and by extension, an even stronger nation.
The longstanding argument against contemporary Zimbabwean institutions is their centralist, tribal perspective, and grossly disproportionate representation of Matabeleland communities in governance.
Contrary to mainstream politics mechanisation and attempts at deflection, our calls for local solutions do not come on the background of tribal supremacist leanings but a desire for freedom; we have endured tribalism, on the back of that experience, we condemn all forms of discrimination and believe such practices should not be given any leverage in our political space.
To conflate localisation with tribalism is a diversionary tactic that only protects selfish Mashonaland interests; we understand localisation to mean empowering of locals to lead and deliver required services. It aims at strengthening the capacity and resources of local organisations to respond quicker to needs and promote long-term sustainability.
We strongly reject the derisory accusations of discrimination levelled against Matabeleland individuals and organisations promoting localisation because there is nothing discriminatory about putting local communities at the centre of responses to local challenges; we believe in local empowerment and support those who promote interventions that recognise the importance of local knowledge and cultural understanding in providing effective and culturally appropriate services to improve the relevance, efficiency, and impact of humanitarian and political interventions.
Haters will weaponize your vulnerabilities, reshape your imagination to create self-doubt; they will slyly withdraw your rights and create artificial needs that only them can supply, make you believe they are doing you favours and that without them and their ‘support’ your circumstances could be worse; they craftily deny your independence by ‘giving you everything’ for you to be the best within a very narrow corridor determined by them while denying you access to a wider range of resources and opportunities thereby restricting your capabilities.
We have the responsibility to break free; specialising in excuses will not address Matabeleland’s problems. We risk becoming an epitome of what becomes of a nation and its goals once excuses are habitually given a comfortable reception. It is a slippery slope to never accomplishing anything. As it is, we are digging deep for reasons why we cannot support local individuals and organisations espousing local focused solutions; we have entertained the false notion that localisation is discrimination.
Following on our twisted interpretation of fairness and justice, we have subordinated our local interests for the interests of an imaginary single identity nation of Zimbabwe where nation is synonymous with Mashonaland; in that context, we have been hoodwinked to believe the only viable and right solutions should be national in nature, but we argue that one must have strong local presence to be of good use nationally; arguably, a strong community makes for a better nation.
If the national agenda does not reflect you, you will be the fool to subordinate your interests for the national interests. To fix the political problems we are facing, people need to understand who benefits from the nationalisation of local issues first, and not who are the victims of such an approach.
We want policies to be more responsive to the needs and priorities of local actors and communities and embrace their ideas for how to address the different challenges. Zimbabwe’s challenges are context-dependent, vast and complex, but they are also inherently local, and so are opportunities to address them. We believe an honest collaboration with local actors over where, how, and why interventions are required is the route to greater equity, effectiveness, and sustainability.
The quest for localisation is justified; we are convinced localisation is the future for solutions to what are context-dependent challenges; Matabeleland needs a set of internal reforms, actions, and behaviour changes whose objective would be to ensure government policies put local actors in the lead, strengthen local systems, and are responsive to local communities. We need to nurture locally baked solutions and give back control to the community, where it rightly belongs.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 