Notes from Harare

Mere months after becoming the leader of a newly-independent Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe visited Pakistan in May 1981. This was among his first official acts. Pakistani President General Zia ul Haq had also been present when Mugabe took his oath of office in 1980. Those were the days when Mugabe represented hope and aspirations of millions in a post-colonial world. His stock was high. In 1980s, and even in the 1990s, the sense of hope remained, though it continued to gradually decline with increasing repression, corruption and intimidation of the opposition, intellectuals and free press by his army and intelligence. The worst was yet to come. The land reform acts which were, in principle, designed to empower the local communities, reduce inequalities and correct the historic wrongs of colonialism became a tool of thuggery, vigilantism and rewarding cronies in the party. The economy — which up until the speeding up of land reforms was among the better performing ones — collapsed. Hyperinflation reached a point that people stopped measuring it altogether. Mugabe became increasingly paranoid and senile and eventually was forced out in 2017.

Today, Zimbabwe is struggling once again. I landed there last week, only to witness yet another run on the bank. There was widespread confusion as the government that up until that point had been considering US dollars to be a valid legal tender, banned it overnight. No one knew what was the price of anything. There was no local currency. Only an electronic cash system (with no real currency) and a bond note, which the banks were unwilling to provide. In the midst of this, I had my own challenges trying to buy anything in the market. The merchants were just as confused.

Yet, in the midst of all these challenges and crises — there is a ray of hope. When I first started working in Zambia nearly a decade ago, some of the sharpest, most thoughtful scholars and practitioners were Zimbabweans. As I visited the university, the hospital and the primary health centres, I could not be more impressed. The primary healthcare system, despite the enormous challenges, continues to work. The work ethic is outstanding, and the quality of researchers is impressive. The discussions I had about research, in primary healthcare clinics and at the University of Zimbabwe, were based on evidence and substance, not hyperbole and bizarre conspiracies. The health indicators on issues where we have nothing to offer, Zimbabweans can teach us a thing or two. The antibiotic consumption, for example, is among the lowest in the region (and well below what is the case in Pakistan). Antibiotics, even in rural areas, are purchased almost exclusively with a prescription (again, nothing like that happens in Pakistan) and the drug regulatory system works remarkably well.

Things are far from perfect here in Harare. There is acute shortage of power. Electricity is available only from 10 pm to 5 am. Water infrastructure is not working well either. Yet there is a palpable sense of working towards a better future among the dozens of Zimbabweans that I met in taxis and shops, at hospitals and hotels, at clinics and restaurants.

I am not a fan of Mugabe or of Zia ul Haq, but our ties to Zimbabwe go back to the time of independence of the country. There is an opportunity to engage, to help and to learn, to build ties of trade and people-to-people connections. Engaging with Zimbabwe may offer our businesses new opportunities in Africa, a continent where our engagement remains nascent. It may also help us recognise the warm spirit of people in other parts of the world and teach us a thing or two about Africa (eg that Africa is not a single country). Who knows it may help with our racism issue as well. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2019.

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