A UNIVERSITY lecturer and political analyst has said Zimbabwe is suffering from acute paranoia and this was stalling development in the country.
Linda Chinobva/Ronald MOYO
Midlands State University lecturer Nhamo Mhiripiri told the second edition of the Back to Pan-Africanism conference organised by Leaders for African Network (LAN) at Hope Centre in Bulawayo that everyone in the country, particularly visitors were treated with suspicion.
“We have a situation whereby we are too vigilant,” he said.
“I think this is because of the history of this country, but sometimes you need not be too vigilant.
“Every visitor who comes to this country from the West is viewed with suspicion.
“It is normal, but we should consider that some Western countries played a role in the liberation of this country, they even have well documented history about the liberation of this country.”
In his presentation, Mhiripiri — a lecturer in the media and society department, said politicians had failed the country as they were paranoid and sometimes turned a blind eye toward potentially beneficial relationships with some Western countries.
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Mhiripiri questioned the definition of “Africanness”, saying it was not necessarily one’s race that determined whether one was African or not.
The political analyst went further to warn against the use of Pan-Africanism as a tool to justify abuses of other races.
In his speech, Richard Mahomva, the LAN founder, said the annual conference helps to revive the spirit of Pan-Africanism and remind the upcoming generations of where they are coming from and the task at hand.
“As LAN we believe that all approaches applied to evaluate the successes and failures of our state and the government over the years have been premised on wrong methodologies,” he said.
