Africans across the continent and the Diaspora are celebrating Africa Day. Commemorated under the African Union’s theme “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investments in Youth”. Takura Zhangazha discusses that while being a young African is important, it is not enough if one is not only historically and politically conscious of the many progressive struggles that have brought the continent to where it is today. The ideas that drove the liberation movements remain valid as they were in the past, as they are today and as they will be tomorrow.

South Africa’s Police Minister Fikile Mbalula’s recent controversial comments that former Zimbabwean soldiers are illegally entering the country to rob and kill have caused a storm. Mbalula’s recent comments are against what we as Southern Africans and Africans in general, consider an organic and post liberation progressive Pan Africanism, writes Takura Zhangazha

Zimbabweans go to the polls next year for general elections, which are scheduled to be held on or before 31 July. Takura Zhangazha explores six key tasks for Zimbabwe’s opposition parties for 2018 elections and beyond.

The government of Zimbabwe has changed its education curriculum. There was no public debate prior to this far reaching policy change. The teachers unions, have gone apoplectic over this new curriculum, while there has been a muted response from parents of school-going children, not clear on the matter, and its potential effect on their children’s education.

The American comedy show, ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL) has been having a decent go at President Donald Trump. In a comedy sketch featuring Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump and Robert Mugabe portrayed by Kenan Thompson, ‘Trump’ calls the Zimbabwean ‘president’ and tells him, ‘This is the new sheriff in town’. Takura Zhangazha looks at the meanings of the Trump/Mugabe comparison and the various perspectives on the relationship between Zimbabwe and the U.S.

Ecowas vs SADC? Against the backdrop of the key role played by Ecowas in The Gambian crisis, which led to Yahyah Jameh eventually leaving office and going into exile, Takura Zhangazha makes a comparison of Ecowas and SADC, two very different African inter-state organizations.

And yes we read the biographies, watched the movies, documentaries and even witnessed a handshake between Raul Castro and Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. We saw the continually negative coverage of Cuba (as will be the case during Fidel’s memorial services) in the now global media and argued over why his socialism wrongly curtailed freedom of expression.

‘Capital’ in Zimbabwe is largely controlled by those in political power, those with inherited businesses/wealth, those linked to the political elite and their collusion with global actors often without democratic local context or pursuit of a modicum of economic equality writes Takura Zhangazha

What is however required in the short and long term is a new popular African approach to off shore accounts and deals that hide the movement of money and avoidance of tax via illicit deals. This is because it is our political and business elite that are involved with a level of impunity that indicates that they do not see themselves getting into any sort of trouble if they are caught.

The avoided truth of the matter is that biometric voter registration or voting is not a panacea to arriving at a truly democratic electoral process. It gives an impressionable veneer of sophistry and technological advancement but does not replace the importance of the active citizen who casts their vote in free and fair political context.