Renaming Mashonaland, Matebeleland and Manicaland Provinces of Zimbabwe

Mashonaland should be renamed Northern Region, Matebeland renamed Southern Region and Manicaland Eastern Region. Provinces named after tribes will not unite Zimbabwe in any way. They only make the idea of imaginary divisions stronger. 

The modern economy knows no tribe. Business is business no matter what tribe one originates from. Consider the case of the industrialized world. Industrialized nations growth was spurred by attracting the best people from around the world to become cogs in the fast paced machinery of rapid advancement these countries embarked upon. I say embarked upon because often there is a misconception that industrialization just happened by accident in these countries - but that is not the case. Development was a result of an intentional effort by organized society to advance to a higher level of advancement economically, technologically, socially, and politically. Advancement never occurs by chance - it requires effort. If advancement occured by chance the poverty stricken backwaters of Singapore in the 1950s would still be waiting for that chance today. If advancement occured by chance maybe the Democratic Republic of Congo would be the richest nation on Earth because of its mineral resources.
Another misconception is that there was no 'diversity' in industrialized nations until non-caucasian races were introduced. There was a lot of diversity in Europe and America from very early on as communities were made up of the English, Scots, Irish, French, Germans, Italians, Dutch, Norwegians, and even the Greeks from their far flung corner of Europe. European and American cities were a melting pot of diversity.
Today within the burgeoning nationhood of Zimbabwe it is commendable that a foundation for national unity was laid by President Robert Mugabe and Vice -President Joshua Nkomo. In many cities and towns of Zimbabwe we hear no tribe and speak no tribe - we hear and speak as one people in any language we choose to communicate with each other. However the melting pot is not hot enough! Why must provinces be named after one tribe or another? The names of Mashonaland Province, Matebeleland Province and Manicaland Province only serve to develop a mental frame of imaginary divisions which do not exist at all in Zimbabwe. Furthermore these names were only colonialists idea to tell one natives place of origin from anothers. There was no Mashonaland, Matebeleland or Manicaland until those without knees arrived - vasina mabvi vakarehwa! What existed were real names of places based on a peculiar geographic feature, nature or the name of a chief. There was no Mashonaland but there was 'Nharira', 'Mhondoro', no Manicaland but 'Marange' and 'Chipinge'.
In this modern day Zimbabwe there is a need to reconsider naming Mashonaland Province Northern Province, Matebeleland Province Southern Province and Manicaland Eastern Province. This cause will unite the people of Zimbabwe and foster the diversity of interactions which create an advanced society. The path to industrialization needs intentional effort to advance. Creating richer Zimbabwean communities is one of many such intentional efforts to advance our nation to a higher level.

Gilbert O'Neil Mushure
A Zimbabwean Academic who is an expert on field of Management.

Harare, Zimbabwe. My only love..

@Harare Sports Club - Cricket - Zimbabwe v England

Visit my other blog: www.southernafrican-insingapore.blogspot.com

Other music Zimbabweans listen to...

Zimbabweans' love affair with Jamaican Music

International music Zimbabweans really love is Jamaican music. Reggae/Ragga/Dancehall artists from Jamaica are popular and often have shows in Harare. These include Sean Paul, Sizzla, Beenie Man, Capleton, Mavado, Popcaan -

Popcaan - System

Perhaps Zimbabweans love affair with Jamaican music has its roots from the very day Zimbabwe was born - Bob Marley sang a song he wrote especially for the day at Zimbabwe's Independence Celebrations on 18 April 1980 - this song is called  Zimbabwe

Bob Marley - Zimbabwe

This Jamaican music culture resulted in a local Reggae/Ragga/Dancehall music industry which is very vibrant. The most popular artist of this local genre to date has been Winky D

 Winky D - Musarove Big Man

Zimbabweans love music from the region. In addition to local "Urban Grooves" (a local genre of hip hop) music which is widely popular amongst youths, House-Kwaito Music from Botswana and House Music from South Africa is also popular.

Slizer and Vee from Botswana.

 

House Music from South Africa - Popular DJs are DJ Cleo, Oskido who visit at regularly and DJ Tira, Big Nuz

Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders

Zimbabwe is the host of the 2013 United Nations World Tourism Summit. Zimbabwe recently launched its new international tourism campaign named Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders

Zimbabwe is back, and on the rise! Watch Video.

Introduction to Malaysia

Malaysia is a middle income country, with GDP purchasing power parity of 447 billion, ranked 30 in the world according to GDP purchasing power parity (whatever that is!), with the European Union countries grouped into one and ranked 1 in the world, followed by USA, China, India etc... According to this ranking it is one place ahead of Nigeria and 4 behind South Africa. Population is 29 million, GDP per capita ranking 77 in the world..South Africa is 104 in the world, whilst Botswana is ranked higher at 72. (CIA World Factbook Malaysia 2/3/2012)

Malaysia's culture is a mixture Malay, Chinese and Indian culture, and these are the three main groups of  people in terms of population. (CIA- The World Factbook Malaysia 2/3/2012)

The Malaysian Flag (Pictured in Seremban)

The dominant religion in Malaysia is overwhelmingly Islam, though there is a good level of religous tolerance in personal life...

Road around Mantin

The infrastructure in Malaysia is well maintained, though not necessarily new. For example a visiting Dubai one notices that everything is new, and of course well maintained, but in Malaysia you notice that the roads, streets, railway system and some buildings are old, but they are generally in good working order. In my view, an opinion on how well a country is doing should not be made simply on the level of development in the country's business/political capital city, but rather on an assessment of the level of development all around the country. It is with this view I commenced writing this blog before a visit to Kuala Lumpur CBD to avoid this kind of bias. My first visit was to a regional capital of a state (province) close to Kuala Lumpur called Negeri Sembilan, Seremban, and to Mantin a small town within this state enroute to Seremban; something like Chivhu in Njanja as an example...er erm...being a Sinyoro you know :D, both of which are close to the university campus where I live. 



Mantin town, which is enroute to Seremban. No potholes or dust is sight, but maybe its because it rains 9/12 months everyday so there is green grass everywhere. But then how do you explain the absence of potholes when it rains like that?

Seremban, the capital of Negeri Sembilan State

The only noticeable thing to dislike in the general urban environment is litter. Where I have travelled there is a serious problem with littering, used plastic bags, cans, bottles everywhere, which is not good. In this vein I notice how cleaner my beloved little rural hometown of Chivhu is compared to Mantin because in Zimbabwe we do not use as many plastic bags as they use here. If you buy for example one burger, it will be put in a box, then into a plastic bag, if you buy a 1 litre of Ceres fruit juice it will also be put in a plastic bag. And the plastic bag is not durable enough to use twice, and neither is it big enough to use a store of anything for some time. Now I understand why Francis Nhema had a law passed against free plastic bags in supermarkets, and the quality of the plastic bags. It goes a long way towards a good environment... er erm, i know some Zimbabweans are used to complaining every second on the clock and nothing can ever be done right by our government...time to appreciate eh.. next, culture shock...