Zimbabwe sets up an ‘intellectual desk’
This caught my eye today, via zwnews.
Zimbabwe seeks to reverse brain drain
Zimbabwe has set up an “intellectual desk” tasked with reversing the brain drain affecting many sectors in the economy, Harare’s Herald newspaper reported today. Its website said the desk, under the ministry of higher and tertiary education, was expected to start operating early next month. “We want to bring back the manpower into the country to offer expertise on a short-term basis in fields like medicine, mining, education, engineering and others,” said Washington Mbizvo, the education secretary. We are creating a website after we approached the United Nations development programme and the website would be explaining to Zimbabweans and other people outside that come to Zimbabwe, the country is kicking and alive.” (From SABC News, 9 October)
The country certainly is ‘KICKING’, just ask the trade unionists who were recently assaulted by the Zimbabwean police. The animated sequence of images below clearly illustrates the violence used (via kubatana.net).
You don’t have to be an ‘intellectual’ to know what’s going on in Zimbabwe, you just need to live there. And the sheer obviousness of all the problems facing people in our country is the simple reason why so many of our skilled people vote with their feet and leave the country.
It is this type of short-sighted stupid response to the many crises in our country that brought us to this point in the first place. Until the government recognises that the country is a mess, and until it acknowledges its own complicity in the problem, we will continue to see our friends and family forced to leave (taking their skills with them) to find a place where they can survive.
Fact is that we have the the fastest declining economy in the world, amongst the highest HIV/AIDS statistics in the world, and a nation in desperate need of food aid. We also have a corrupt inept inefficient government that uses violence and intimidation to oppress its people, a government that disrespects the rule of law, and has contempt for individual human rights to free expression, political association and free speech. This is what the government has to face up to if it is serious about addressing these problems.
I personally think the education secretary would do better if he set up a website designed to attract people with some intellectual abilities into the government – starting with a new education secretary perhaps. Really, the idea that the ‘brain drain’ in our country can be solved by setting up a desk designed to persuade academics and skilled people that the country is thriving and a good place to work is hilarious to me. Only in Zimbabwe!
Although I suppose, to be fair, I should take note of his caveat: the secretary did say the site was designed to “offer expertise on a short-term basis“. I guess even he realises that those who may be persuaded to come will want to leave pretty soon once the scales fall from their eyes.
