So yesterday some government officials reached out to me to say fighting sanctions is team work, it’s not an individual achievement.
Then I asked them why it’s only team work when it’s civil society organizations (that were never assisted by government) claiming their achievements? But when government is taking credit for all sanctions successes, they call it reengagement, without ever saying it was team work and then give credit to all “team players”: government, civil society, anti-sanctions activists (local and foreign) and business people involved in fighting sanctions?
At least when I give credit, I give it to all civil society organizations that were involved in getting us here and I also take credit for ZASM’s work that everyone on social media knows is ours, because for years they thought our fight was insanity because we stood alone with no team on our side.
They even thought our appeal to the UN and our case in South Africa were fool’s errands, but now that there is progress, those who thought we were mad, appreciate the results.
Many politicians have advanced their careers off the work, write ups and strategies of people like me and many others. And they don’t hesitate to take those ideas to cabinet and to sell them as their own, for promotions. But I have never heard them acknowledging the people behind the ideas and work as team players in their contribution. Why?
And why is it a problem when I take credit for mine or ZASM’s work (which I can prove is mine) which is getting people promotions? Many politicians seek recognition for mine, ZASM’s and the work of many other Zimbabweans?
But we don’t want recognition, all we just want is the right to claim what we worked for and achieved, as part of our personal profiles.
If need be, we will provide V11s of proposals we wrote and who they were sent to and more importantly, boardroom decisions reached in banks over the past few months, because we have directors in those institutions and the minutes to meetings where decisions were reached to work with Zimbabwe.
By Rutendo Bereza Matinyarare
