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Ranga Lovemore Mataire The Reader
“Dialoguing Land and Indigenisation in Zimbabwe and Other Developing Countries: Emerging Perspectives” (2015) is a groundbreaking text that deals with the issue from a multi-disciplinary standpoint. Unlike other texts dealing with the same subject, “Dialoguing Land and Indigenisation in Zimbabwe and Other Developing Countries: Emerging Perspectives” uniquely separates itself from the traditional technical rigors of dichotomising the land issue the rough the adoption of multi-layered perspectives of history, culture, religion, linguistics, security and or conflicts.
In other words, the voices that come out of the book are multi-dimensional whose common repository is the exposition of the relationship between man and his land. Ruby Magosvongwe and Zifikile allude to this richness of perspectives in the introduction by highlighting the fact that the book “harvest emerging perspectives on what some critics would view as too sensitive a subject matter to be critiqued, especially given the fact that the unfolding processes of land redistribution and indigenisation could be fairly perceived as being in the infancy in comparison to the century-old systems and injustices that they seek to redress”.
Right from the first section of the book, it is apparent that its purpose is not just to present demographical or historiography of data on land but seeks to explore opportunities for sustainable human and social development, expose psychological and ideological distortions in some instances as well as cover the multiple dimensions that constitute land as a subject.
Magosvongwe pre-empts any aspersions that the reader may have in stating that the book’s narratives are rooted within the Shona philosophy of humwe/ togetherness/oneness/inclusivity and reciprocity. She says the book also derives its motivation from the common African adage that knowledge is like a baobab tree with no single man putting his hands around it. She posits that in African philosophy, the sky is so vast that all birds can fly without colliding, a view which succinctly expressed by Aime Cesaire (1995) that in the African worldview there is no monopoly of knowledge but a place for all at the rendezvous.
“The multi-pronged nature of threats and opportunities surrounding land redistribution cannot be left to one section of society to successfully deal with. It is by pooling the multiplicity of ideas focusing on land as a multi-disciplinary and complex subject that the ‘best uses’ of Zimbabwean land can be amicably achieved,” Magosvongwe says.
Indeed, land has always been a hotly contested subject from time immemorial. In Zimbabwe, we have had the ignominy of having our narratives about land being written by foreigners who have authored hordes of books denigrating our quest for ownership of our God-given resource.
It is out of that consciousness that Magosvongwe felt it critical to convene a conference on land which formed the foundation to the book collection and its subsequent publishing.
In a foreword, University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Professor Levi M. Nyagura says publishing the book was part of the institution’s initiative to contribute towards the country as the breadbasket for the region, if not the entire continent, and even beyond through the identification of land as the key natural resource, and indigenisation as the core driver of the programme.
“Land is at the heart of the country’s economic endeavours because on it and within it are humans, minerals, animals, forests, mountains, flora and fauna, water and other sub-soil recourses. The country’s sustenance is entirely anchored on the land, hence the now popular but critical adage, “Land is the economy and the economy is the land”.
It is without doubt that a lot of people will find this book enriching in understanding the dynamics behind land ownership, redistribution and contentious issues surround land. It is the first of its kind to come from the discipline of arts studies.
Online Reporter