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Tobaiwa Mudede & Richard Hondo Correspondents
Continued from yesterday…

The myth of “small population, greater prosperity” needs to be exposed for the mirage that it is. One of the problems we have as a country is that we have so many “book” economists who believe that economic solutions proffered by the authors of the books they read, which may well have worked in the author’s country overseas, will solve the problems of an African country’s economy.

They believe that the economic blueprint of the United Kingdom, for example, can be congruent with that of say Angola without consideration of the vast differences in national and cultural values.

Experience has shown that this just does not work. We had the classic example of Esap, which was a monumental failure because the people could not relate to it in terms of national and cultural values. People could not buy into a “chikwambo” and sacrifice themselves for a mirage.

In simple language, the projected benefits were unattainable, and were designed to be so.

You cannot escape one stubborn reality that people are the ones who create wealth as they possess the necessary skills to turn ideas into prosperity.

Nigeria is a typical example in Africa.

It was one of the first countries in colonial Africa to win their independence from Britain in the sixties, with a population of about 15 million at the time, the population growth having been retarded by the same vice of family planning drugs like the ones we are grappling with here.

Nigeria did one thing which we have not yet done.

It freed its women from the yoke of birth control drugs quite early in its independence. Today, after more than 50 years, the population of Nigeria has increased about seven and half times, to above 100 million, and the spin-off arising from this increase in population is that its economy has become the largest in Africa. Even The Herald newspaper alluded to Nigeria’s success a couple of months ago.

At this junction, it can be understandable if Nigeria were to legislate, like China has done, for limiting the number of children per family. They are sitting on the crest now. They have arrived.

In the case of Zimbabwe, roughly the same physical size as Nigeria, with a population of about a tenth of that of Nigeria, the economic picture is vastly different.

Our miniature population is being shelled from all sides to make it infinitesimal in order to stimulate growth. It sounds a bit weird. Our population, as at year 2014, is less than the population of the capital city of the United Kingdom, London.

In enforcing population control measures, who are we making room for? Our population does not yet have the depth to produce needed skills to exploit the abundant resources we have.

We have to rely on foreign nationals to provide the skills, and these are only too eager to ensure that the status quo prevails.

Is this what we really prefer, to enrich others at our own expense? What people really need is an economy that serves their interests, not an economy that puts foreign interests above theirs. Where else in the world do you see this phenomenon of “Chidembo tambatamba muswe ndakabata” at play like in Zimbabwe, in which the locals are made to work and the economic strings are being pulled by foreigners?

We seriously need to wake up. Let’s not forget that increased population translates to an increased market for goods and services.

We have given you the background on which our thinking is based. What we would like you to do is to analyse the argument we are raising here and make your contribution freely. We would like you to avail yourselves to official statistics of deaths arising from HIV and Aids, natural deaths, deaths arising from traffic accidents, and loops of citizens to other countries for economic reasons. These losses are making our population growth negative, yet greater emphasis is being placed on curbing births through the agency of birth control drugs. Look at the statistics of drug- induced diseases and side effects induced ill-health among our women. Combine all these ravages on our population and see whether the price we are paying as a nation is worth the economic mirage that is being projected.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that the carrot that is being dangled to encourage depopulation is a mirage. By being forced to reduce our population, we are being forced to make room for foreign needs. The millions of dollars in foreign money that is propping up birth control programmes in developing countries have a price on them.

They are not charitable gifts. If we have to find an answer to this menace, it will require like-minded people to demand a change of direction from those of us who are charged with the responsibility of looking after our national interests. It is about the welfare of our descendants tomorrow. We have no right to spoil things for them by bequeathing a subservient economy.