Why there is no development journalism in Zimbabwe

Bonjour mon amies welcome back. Anew day anew beginning and a new topic to discuss about.Last time we discussed l about the extent to which there is development journalism, this time there about l want to explore with you why there is no developmnt journalism in Zimbabwe.Let me rephrase l will look at why development journalism is lacking in Zimbabwe and why it is not the best or most conjusive place to promote or explore development journalism.

Developmentjournalism demands that the media should allow open debate on development enable circulation of diverse opinions and ideas, extend frontiers of freedom to public, further connecting and bridging the gap between government and the public and mobilising the public in support of development agendas. It assigns the media the fourth estate role and echoes the philosophy of the public sphere concept. The above demands are the responsibility of journalists and the media in making sure they are met but however in a nutshell the media fails to promote development journalism due to factors such as commercialisation, ownership and control, gender stereotyping, competition, lack of funds and envelope journalism. 

.

Ownership and control of the media is another factor disturbing the promotion of development journalism. Those who own and control the media are the elite who tend to use the media to push up their political and economic agendas instead of buttressing development communication. Reporters for Government run media such as the Chronicle and Star FM cannot provide checks and balances of the government because no owner can monitor themselves. The private media tried to question the Zimpapers group for rewarding its staff in helping ZANu pf win the elections in July but the private media forgot to monitor itself that the agenda behind this was political and not in the interests of the people. Zimpapers group CEO, Mutasa even argued saying “After all, the so called independent media is not so independent….they stand for foreign interest,” where most of their funding and control originates.

The commercial imperative of the media has also led to journalist killing the reporting of development stories and settling for more marketable leads. Sreshthaputra 2010 calls this opportunity cost of stories ‘the nature of the beast’ where the notion ‘where it bleeds it leads’ is still valid in most media houses. Development journalism is a non-profit driven theory but with most media firms in the industry to make money they find it difficult and irrelevant to run stories that will not generate any income or be money friendly to them. As a result this has led to journalist discarding development journalism or rather skewing development journalism to fit the profit motive. Alpha media holdings for instance is pioneered by the profit driver where only what is reported are stories or advertisements that will increase their bank balance and make sure their sales increase.

Millenniumdevelopment goal number three demands the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment. The idea is that development journalism should be inclusive of women with the gender and development approach arguing that women are agents of change. Mommsen 2004 further argues that development journalism should be inclusive of women if not then it should ‘prepared’, ‘baked’ and ‘distributed’ having included women. However the practical case is that the media is still very masculine saving the needs and interests of male against the notion that development exclusive of women is not development. The questions should come to our minds as we consume development journalism products are: who is talking, are women voices present, are women represented, how are women potrayed.Sadly the answers to all these question are negative hence gender stereotyping is another major issue  enshrining development journalism. In Zimbabwe stories to do with economics and politics are always male dominated with dominant voice and the sources masculine as well as the language and diction which are not gender friendly. In the Chronicle article about the increment of tollgates, there is no evidence of women either participating or having affair share for their voices to be heard. All comments come from a male Dr Obert Mpofu clearly suggesting that the story is not gender sensitive.

Envelopejournalism and corruption also undermines the media’s ability to promote development journalism. A psychologist, Dr Price even argues that everyman has a price and can be bought. This is to say that even journalists can be paid to cover stories in a certain angle or not cover them at all. This is the envelope journalism and corruption where journalists accept bribes and incentives to have a certain angle on a particular story. On the 26^th of October marked a new era where the New express reporter, Chen Young Zhou agreed to accepting bribes of about RMB500000 to report negatively on Zoom lion heavy industry science and technology, China’s second largest manufacturer of construction machinery. This crippled relations between China and their international traders causing the Chinese economy to lose at least RMB 1 400 0000 worth of revenue that could have contributed to the gross domestic product of china.

The legislative system can also cause the disturbance of development journalism. The government may craft draconian and repressive laws to ensure this result.Acccording to Thussu 2006:11 “where independent journalism exists in third world countries, the media’s freedom to critically examine state policies is severely restricted by the government’s indirect editorial control by introducing draconian censorship laws or threatening to stop newsprint supply.” These are mainly applied on the private media that does not necessarily have a bedfellow relationship with the government. In the Gukurahundi era Zimbabwe saw the government put into power the emergency powers declaring places like Tsholotso as no go area to prevent journalists from reporting the atrocities of the government. Even today the documentation on this era is very little with most people not knowing what really was happening during that time

It is with these explanations given above that l rest my case after presenting some of the factors undermining development journalism. As a result what we see to be development journalism is not up to standard and lacking. Furthermore there are other factors that can also lead to the enshrining of development journalism such as advertising pressure and the digital divide.

Development Journalism in Zimbabwe

We meet again fellows but this time on a different matter. l am sure you have all heard about the animal development journalism if not dont worry l will explain it a bit soon. But am not just giving you a lecture on development journalism but as fellow journalism student am giving you my critical thinking of the extent of development journalism in Zimbabwe.Here we go take note we about to venture on the path of development journalism in Zimbabwe

What is lacking in Zimbabwe

Development journalism is the kind of journalism aimed at providing complete, accurate, objective, balanced, fair and diversified information on development for community consumption. It is what we can term layer two or layer three reporting which diverts from the basic layer one reporting which simply require one to report on the facts provided by the source. Instead, following Thussu2006: ‘s definition of development journalism, “this journalism claims to pursue a news agenda different from the mainstream media, steeped in so called ‘coups and earthquakes’ syndrome and investigates the process behind a story rather than merely reporting the news itself.” It therefore seeks to report why something happened, how something happened, the consequences and implications of what happened with the reporter verifying facts and engaging in investigative reporting. Thus giving more depth on the story, comprehensively and fully informing the reader. This however is not widely the case in Zimbabwe with most development stories being reported in a poor manner, diverting from the original demands of development journalism.

Having given you these definitions now lets venture into today's real business.The major issue prevailing in Zimbabwe is how the journalists reduce development stories into just but a mere event. They do not give that punch that priorities development and the motive to improve standards of living in Zimbabwe. They do not provide critical question that show the relevance of the story as a develop journalism story but merely does layer one reporting providing the basic information from the sources. An example is how the media reported on the President donating computers to schools. The masses did not see the implications and the reasons behind that move as the journalists simply embraced that action without questioning further.

Thedigital divide is another problem affecting development journalism. As Gale notes “The issue of reaching the people is problematic in Africa. The rural area makes up by far the greatest portion of Africa, and the infrastructure is non-existent.” Development journalism is supposed to create and support public discussions. These are mainly there in the digital media such as social network sites but they only reach a limited number of people, those in urban areas, neglecting the larger proportion in the rural areas mainly due to the fact that they are not literate to use the internet and some have no computers or network to access the net.

Commercialisation and the surge to make profits have also weakened development journalism in Zimbabwe. Because these media organisation are already in this industry to make money, it has become difficult for journalist to actually deliver sufficiently on development stories. This is to say that the journalists skew the development stories to fit their profit driven motive. Thussu 2006:11 even argues that “In a market driven news environment there is a discrimination against news that cannot be ‘sold’, resulting in a distorted presentation of events to make them more marketable. Alpha media holdings is in the business for profits therefore it cannot settle to cover a development story instead of a juicy story that could make them have more sales. It is just but the concept of profit maximisation and business survival.

Still on the need to generate money, some media organisation may not skew development journalism on choice but due to other forces. To put this into context, development journalism is a non-profit making motive but however it still needs to generate some money as working capital, the daily life blood of business operations. If this working capital is not there then development journalism seizes to exist completely. As a result, without adequate funding, journalists are forced to be dependent on their aiders who mostly turn out to be foreign organisations such as the International monetary fund or advertisers or even the government. The problems emerge from the idea that this funding does not just come but it has some invariably attached strings. Econet being the major advertisers in the Daily news can exert pressure for their advertisement to be published instead of a development story because they fund Daily News in terms of money for advertisement.

a factor affecting Development journalism

According to Mcphail 2002:31, part of the demands of development journalism is to “encourage indigenous media and discourage reproduction of Western media models, which debase or marginalize local and traditional cultures.” Though there have been laws designed to enforce this demand such as the broadcasting services actthat demands 75% local content, promoting local media in taking a larger stand in their local communities, their application however diverts from the development journalism need to pursue and serve the need of the masses. Instead these laws tend to serve the needs of those in power or those owning the means of production as the Marxist theory

argue. Tawanda Hondora 2003:23 even asserts that the “BSA is an instrument testifying to the fear within government. It only serves to allow ZANU pf to churn out propaganda in its efforts to retain political power.” To illustrate this point let’s consider the three journalist from the community radio station Kwelaz who were arrested and charged under contravening the BSA. T

 Inefficient communication seems to be another problem buttressing the insufficient development journalism in Zimbabwe. Ank Linden even points out, “governmental authorities in the third world countries [Zimbabwe inclusive] often seem to be more interested in maintaining the status quo than in strengthening the communication capacity.” With development journalism demanding “the use of communication to promote development and empowerment” [Dralenga 2008:46] it entails that there has to be interactivity, participation and two way communication between the top management [government] and the mass population [the community].This is however not the case with Zimbabwe which seems to adhere to the modernisation paradigm which according to its principles infringes and shrines development journalism. Instead of that interactivity and the two ways communication to be present there is one way communication with the elite exercising the authoritative voice by merely dictating the development that needs to take place instead of the government and the people engaging in talks to pursue the development that the people need and want.

However one could argue that development journalism is pretty sufficient in Zimbabwe. Mcphail 2002 defines development journalism as a media theory that encourages a press committed to government set priorities and objectives whose efforts work in unison to support national goals. In the case of Zimbabwe that is exactly what is happening. The Zimbabwe democratic institute argues that the media so far has help Zimbabwe in achieving the goal to ensure that Zimbabwe’s development trajectory is supported by locally generated information and knowledge

My fellow friends it is with the many few reasons l have discussed above that l argue that our Zimbabwe is truly lacking on developmnet communication/journalism.Our thirst for money among other things does not fully permit us to fully practise development journalism.Till next time when l give more insight on another issue arios amigos.

A critical thought of the Zimbabwe media legislative sytem

he gave birth to AIPPA and POSA

Welcome back freinds.Today l would like to shed light on how the Zimbabwe media legislative sytem has safegurded monopoly in Zimbabwe.It, comprising of laws such as Public Order andSecurity Act[posa],Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act[aippa],ZBC Commercialisation Act and the Broadcasting services act[bsa]  has highly  safeguarded the monopoly of the states’ broadcasting. These laws are effective in doing so by creating the impression that their presence is to advance the media interests and or restrict the dissemination of information genuinely in the interests of the public.

Communication being defined as the activity of conveying information through any medium, POSA bans the communication of statements which can be offensive in certain respects to the Zimbabwean state or the President or which may endanger public order regardless of whether the information is true or false.With this isnt the law depriving the people of Zimbabwe their right to freedom of speech or to criticize the government where they feel its lacking? Are they saying, as the Ndebeles would put it, sifele ngaphakathi njengentambo yekhandlela 

As a result this control of information passage eliminates debate and criticism as one ideology is being spoke out in favor of the president who leads the state. In turn this will entail that whatever the masses are be fed as information is only the fundamental thinking capacity of the state only through the president.

Under this act, it is not clearly stated what is ‘likely to cause alarm and despondency’ within the public.Chiweshe et al [2003] further postulates that “it is difficult to foretell whether a statement is likely to result in public disorder”. Therefore this creates a culture of fear where reporters tend to self-censor themselves and or practice what Geoff Nyarota labeled as sunshine journalism in the early years of independence. As a result what will be broadcast to the public are ideas of the state as the reporters tend to give the public information that the government wants to hear or view but not what the viewers have to know.

The ZBCcommercilisation act further guarded this monopoly as evident from subsection three of the act which states that ZBC, being divided into a signal carrier company and a broadcasting company, “shall give priority to serving the needs of the state” [Chiweshe et al 2003:59].The needs of the state are to instill the hegemony of the government into the people to maintain their power. As a result, this reduces the broadcasting industry to a state apparatus catering for dissemination of the singular based views of the government.it can even be witnessed from the colonial era as a case study where the Rhodesian broadcasting company was state controlled transmitting propaganda and belittling of the citizenship and nation building.

Webster Shamu

According to McQuail [2000] the idea of public service broadcasting is publicly funded and operated in a nonprofit way and required by law to meet various informational needs of all citizens. However due to this act, the Public service broadcasting is change into a profit making organization being funded and controlled by the government. This gives the state too much power to control the broadcast media on what they can and cannot transmit thus potentially serving the needs of the government but not the public as identified by the public broadcaster definition. Thus this limits the ZBC to a state broadcast company.

Another bodyguard to the states’ singular view in broadcasting is the AIPPA through the appointment of the majority of the board members of the Media commission. It requires that the minister of information and publicity appoints the members after consulting the president.With the notion that whoever can appoint can also disappoint, it cannot be ignored that the two prominent people can abuse their power by appointing people who are loyalist to the state’s ruling party. In addition, due to the fear of being disappointed, the appointed will in turn make sure they serve the interests of the appointers by making sure that only their ideologies flourish within the broadcasting sector, killing diversity. An illustration is that of on September 30^th 2009 when minister of information Webster Shamu appointed a new board of directors with Cuthbert Dude as chair ,Doreen Sibanda wife of Misheck Sibanda who was principal secretary to the president and the cabinet as deputy chair and most of the rest of the members being army generals.What can be noted is that almost all members have a link to the majority ruling party meaning ZBC was controlled by the state which comprises of the majority sector being occupied by ZANU-PF.

Furthermore this gave rise to the accreditation of local and foreign journalists as well as media houses whose licenses can be terminated at any time as deemed by the Media Commision.This allows the state to control and monitor who, how and what can be reported. Because this law makes it a crime to report without a license  and journalists need to report to save their fourth estate role and to carter for their basic needs as identified as Abraham Maslow, they tend to oblige to what the needs of the state whom when wronged by promoting diversity or counter hegemonising can terminate their licenses.

In addition this act clearly states that when reporters and journalists apply for information it has to be released by the head of bodies within the government. Take not that when we unveil the veil of ignorance in analyzing this the state is the only body with the authority to release information through the Head of bodies such as Minister of mines Orbert Mpofu, Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, etc. who are all government axeman.Thus in practice they could manipulate this power granted to them in releasing information for broadcasting by being selective on whom and what they release hence ensuring the watchdog role of a monopoly.

AIPPA also allows the government to suppress the publication or broadcasting of any subversive statement or false story capable of causing alarm and despondency

.The government is granted too much power on the broadcasting of information. As a result we note that if the government can control what can be broadcast they can also use the same power to instill monopolism.

A hater of sunshine journalism

According to the Broadcasting services act of 2000 the Minister of information is the sole broadcast licensing authority[Chiweshe et al 2003:62].This proves problematic as the minister may abuse his power by not granting licenses on vendetta basis or in other context such as ensuring monopolism. Radio dialogue radio station with slogan ‘giving you’re a voice’ has not been granted a broadcast license since 2000 though they have made attempts to apply several times. From their slogan it can be argued that the minister fears the radio station might give rise to diversity through the aim to enable all sections of the Zimbabwean community to engage in aspiring for a well informed and more developed Zimbabwe.

Though it was good move that a statutory body be formed to regulate the broadcasting industry that is the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe [BAZ], the tight control in flourishing the monopoly was the power awarded to this body to set restrictions on the content of programs to be aired [Media under siege 2002:24].The members of this authority are appointed by the Minister of information which means they tend to be answerable and accountable under the minister for attaining these positions. Thus what they will allow to be disseminated through the radios and the televisions is what the minister tells them to do who in turn is answerable to the president hence a single idea being enforced to the masses.

In light to the economic situation in Zimbabwe, very few Zimbabweans have the funds or finance to establish a broadcasting station with competent enough programmes.Taking advantage of this, the state through the BS act enforced that only Zimbabwean citizens or a body whose controlling interest are held by Zimbabweans are eligible for a license [Chiweshe F G 2003:63].The notion seems to have grown from the poor relations between Zimbabwe and most of the countries. The government is suspicious of what foreign funded or owned broadcast media might disseminate. Thus they ensure the elimination of counter hegemony through the indirect force and limitation of a variety of broadcasting stations. Take for instance the way the government has labeled Studio 7 as a pirate radio station funded and saving the needs of the whites to recapture Zimbabwe in repetition of history as a colony.

Furthermore, under this draconian act only one other national license can be issued to an aspiring broadcaster to provide broadcasting services [Chiweshe FG et al 2003:63].This simply limits the platform of information dissemination to a monopoly state by promotion of one voice and elimination of competition. Critically, Chiweshe et al 20003 even postulate that people are force-fed information which is clearly manipulated to advance the interest of those in charge.

Still under this law, the provision of 75% of all programs content of broadcasting stations based in Zimbabwe being local[Media under siege2002:24], limits what can be produced. The broadcasting industry in Zimbabwe is facing a downfall with very few entertainment companies having the funds to produce programs let alone those of good quality.

However though these laws enforce and protect monopolism of the state’s broadcasting, it is not their literal that grants this monopolism but the way the states’ axe man carry out the provisions of these laws. The only way for these laws to safeguard this monopolism is if the initiators such as Minister of information and the president take the initiative of protecting and instilling their views only to the masses.

In a nutshell, these laws are pregnant with assumption and interpretations which allows the state to effectively prosecute the accused to their advantage. This clearly illustrates the negative attitude of the government towards the concept of broadcast freedom. Generally l argue that there is no political will to create a diverse environment for the press to exercise their duties most effectively. As a result the broadcast media is impartially functioning in the interest of the state for survival.

The aguable foreign element of human rights

 Back with a bang my friends but this time talking about if human rights are a foreign concept. Am sure you have heard thousands of debates if human rights are universal or another means by the west to curb our freedom as the 3rd world countries. I do hope by the time you finish reading this you are not only emancipated but equiped to also understand and debate on human rights being or not being a foreign concept.

Henkin 1991 defines human rights as

“claims, which every individual has, or could have upon the society in which he lives…they are universal…..they know no geographical or history, culture or ideological, political or economic system or state of development….they need not be earned or deserved…they are more than aspirations or assertions of the good but claims of entitlements and corresponding obligations”The  argument  here  is  that   all  people, regardless  of  their  race, class, gender  and  so on  have  one  thing  in  common,  that  they  are  human  beings  hence  they  all  need  human  rights. However their origins can be traced and tracked back to the western roots with the first instrument in which many states committed themselves to preserving human rights was the universaldeclaration of human rights in 1948  There has been debatable belief is that they are not of our origin or universal but a means to control the non-western population and nurse the interests of the west. It is the literature piece to follow that will attempt to address human rights as not necessarily a foreign concept even if they are of western origin.

Postcolonial critics argue that universal human rights are expressive of Western cultural particularity and contest the idea of rights as universally applicable . The debate often turns on the idea that, though rights are said to have universal validity, they originate in the west and mostly express western interests. From a historical point of view,  human  rights  date  back  to  the  establishment  of  the  American  Bill  of Rights  in  1791  and  the  French  Revolution (1789) and the slave trade which was mainly imposed by European colonialists. These  are  considered  by  many  scholars  as  landmark  events  that  culminated  in  the  Universal  Declaration  of  Human  Rights  of  1948

There are political reasons that some African and Asian governments   use as a basis to argue   against human rights universality. Their arguments seem too vague to justify human rights as a foreign concept. Most notably they hide behind theories of imperialism and indigenous culture to argue against human right as a foreign concept. Thomas 2012 notes that there is neither pure Western ideology nor a pure indigenous Asian ideology but each country has to welcome the notion of globalisation and the fact that cultures are inter-exchanging and rotating globally. By 2004 China had not signed the United Nations political and civil rights documentation,  justifying  its  reluctance  to  sign  the  document  to  “Asian  Cultural Values”  such  as  the  absolute  superiority  of  the  state  over  the  individual. In  this  case,  China  refused  to  recognise  the  rights  of  its  people  due  to  a  mindset  that  believes  that  accepting  human  rights  might  lead  to  Western  imperialism. The argument here is not of human rights being a foreign concept but that of power struggles between the west and the rest thereby diminishing human rights as a western concept.

Some African countries such as Zimbabwe grossly argue against human rights universality in the name of sovereignty yet they themselves abuse these on others. For  example,  the  initial  stages  of  the  implementation  of  the  Land  Reform Programme  in  Zimbabwe  was  characterised  by  gross  abuse  of  human  rights.  Human  rights  activists  from  Non  Governmental  Organisations (NGOs)  such  as  the  Legal  Resources  Foundation  which  is  based  in  Harare  have  reports  that  suggest  that  the  way  in  which  former  White  colonialists  were  evacuated  from  their  former  farms  was  marred  with  violence  and  attacks  on  civil  society  hence  in  the  process  violating  human  rights. Western  nations  such  as  Britain  and  America  resorted  to  imposing  sanctions  on  Zimbabwe. This  move  by  the  West  is  largely  criticised  by  African  leaders  such  as  President  Mugabe  who  argues  that  the  imposition  of  sanctions  to  African  countries  for  violation  of  human  rights  is  a  clear  sign  of  how  human  rights  are  being  imposed  upon  them  hence  it  is  another  way  of  enforcing  regime  change  in  Africa. Ironically they argue that they are being deprived of their human rights yet they abuse them. This becomes apparent that they are not a foreign concept but each country only wants to use human rights if and only if they benefit them.

Again, African  countries  are  allowing  culture  to take  precedence  over  human  rights  and  when  the  United  Nations  attack  them  for  violating  human  rights  their  argument  is  that  human  rights  are  meant  to  separate  them  from  their  culture. Human  rights  organisations  such  as  the  International Convention  on  Economic, Social  and Cultural  Rights (ICESCR)  have  condemned  the  mutilation  and  circumcision  of  girls  in  Sudan  considering  this  as  violating  the  right  to  sexual  reproductive  health  hence  it  is  an  oppressive  practice. The  International  Human  Rights  Law  contains  a  number  of  provisions  to  protect  reproductive  health  including  the  right  to  conceive. The  argument  here  is  that  culture  is  part  of  the  structural  forces  that  African  countries  are  using  to  justify  their  violation  of  human  rights  and  in  the  process  claim  that  they  are  a  foreign  concept  imposed  upon  them  by  foreign  governments.  It  is  therefore  not  valid  to  use  culture  as  an  excuse  to  violate  human  rights.

There  are  conflicting  human  rights  principles  such  as  gender  equality  which  are  not  easily  applicable  to  most  African  nations  as  they  are  a  patriarchal  society. This  complicates  the  implementation  of  human  rights  in  Africa  as  a  result, Non  Governmental  Organisations  such  as  the  Legal  Resources  Foundation  which  is  based  in  Harare  recruited  its  members  to  teach  on  human  rights  and  gender  equality. For  example, in  Zimbabwe,  in  the  late  1990s  there  was  a  Provision  of  Non-Formal  Education  for  Human  Rights  Programme  which  was  carried  out  throughout  the  country  as  a  way  of  offering  Zimbabweans  free  education  on  human  rights. This  shows  that  in  a  way,  the  shortcomings  of  democracy  in  Africa  have  allowed  developed  countries  to  intervene  in  African’s  domestic  issues. It is for this reason that the challenge in applicability to the African context has allowed for the blossoming of human rights as a foreign concept.

According to Cook, human rights are not a foreign concept in Africa. He argues that “the charter of human rights and people’s rights is a relative concept fettered by international standards both of regional and international scope.” He points out that human rights contain regional standards of conduct by African states and therefore cannot be a foreign concept. The idea presented here is that human rights are generally accepted worldwide even if they are contained in other foreign charters.

Furthermore, human  rights as a necessity to the human race cannot be considered  a  foreign  concept  imposed  upon  Africans  by  foreign  governments. Scholars  realise  that  human  rights  can  be  linked  to  development  and  good  governance  cannot  be  there  unless  human  rights  are  observed  and  enforced. In  Africa  there  are  existing  social  and  gender  injustices  in  water, land  and  other  natural  resources  in  distribution  of  these  resources. Of  great  concern  in  Zimbabwe  is  the  gender  distribution  of  farming  in  Mhondoro  and  other  Zimbabwean  communal  lands  whereby  the  most  cash  generating  crops  such  as  tobacco, cotton  and  maize  are  mainly  allocated  to  men  as  they  are  considered  breadwinners. This  leads  to  lack  of  development  as  women  are  not  empowered  enough  to  contribute  to  the  undermineddevelopment  of  the  Agricultural  sector  in  Zimbabwe  and  most  parts  of  Africa  as  democracy  is  .  Therefore  human  rights  are  not  a  foreign  concept  but an essential thesis in  promoting  good  governance  and  development  in  all  nations  whether  African  or  not.

According to the Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai:

                         “Human rights are not a foreign concept that was imposed upon

                          The country by foreign countries but all human rights are informed

                          By the values of each and every Zimbabwean. ‘

                          http://thezimbabwean [Accessed 24 February 2012]

 
He  further  argues  that  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the  liberation  fighters  waged  a  war  against  the  former  white  colonialists  (Britain), to  ensure  that  all  Zimbabweans  enjoy  their  human  rights  regardless  of  their  differences.  His  argument  here  is  that  human  rights  are  generic  by  virtue  of  being  a  human  being  and  he  also  observed  that  every  community  has  a  sense  of  human  rights  hence  they  cannot  be  labelled  a  foreign  concept  because  they  promote  democracy.

For  the  purposes  of  argument,  it  is  valid  to  consider  some  of  the  issues  that  African  leaders  assume  are  a  sign  that  human  rights  are  a  foreign  concept imposed  upon  Africans.  For  example,  the  debate  of  cultural  imperialism  being  facilitated  by  human  rights  can  be  considered  as  critical  because  human  rights  originated  in  Europe  hence  they  present  the  values  and  norms  of  Europeans  and  they  even  promote  individualism  and  homosexuality  amongst  other  values  that  are  shunned  in  the  African  society. Some  scholars  even  argue  that  human  rights  are  an  imposition  on  Africa  because  Africans  are  forced  to  abandon  their  values  and  norms  in  a  bid  to  fit  in  the  international  sphere  and  women  are  the  most  affected  group.

Hellum  argues  that  the  way  in  which  human  rights  are  implemented  is  different  from  the  way  in  which  Africans  themselves  observed  human  rights  making  the  illusion  that  they  are  a  foreign  concept  yet  they  were  already  there  but  were  observed  in  a  different  way. The  argument  here  is  that  human  rights  are  not  a  foreign  concept  imposed  upon  Africans  but  how  they  are  implemented  resembles  and  imitates  the  ways  of  living  of  the  Europeans.

Analytically,  there  is  a tendency  to  doubt  the  universality  of  ideas  in  human  rights  because  the  cultural  values  and  norms  of  African  countries  are  different  from  those  in  the  West, that  is, what  might  be  acceptable  to  Africans  may  not  be  acceptable  to  Europeans. Gawanas notes that human rights can be considered a foreign concept as they ignore the very different cultural, economic and political realities of the non-western countries. Africans  believe  in  that  the  community  has  more  power  than  the  individual  hence  an  individual  should  conform  to  the  expectations  of  the  community  first  before  he  or  she  is  considered, they  believe  in  fellowship . On  the  other  hand, Europeans  believe  in  values  such  as  individualism  whereby  the  individual  is  given  more  preference  than  the  community  from  which  he  or  she  comes  from. It  is  for  this  reason  that  some scholars  argue  that  human  rights  cannot  be  applied  universally  due  to  the perceived ignorance on the cultural standpoint of non-western countries.

To add on, there is an argument that human rights are a foreign concept which the West uses to control, colonise and penetrate the non-western world. Gawanas argues that they benefit the West who in turn uses them to cover for western intervention in the affairs of the developing world as mainly a means to divide the developing world so that it can easily be penetrated for ruling. The general argument is that ever since they have been drafted they have never been redrafted or revised to carter for the developing world.

Undeniably the  concept  of  human  rights  is  indeed  rooted  in  Western  values  and  they  have  a  Western  background  but  l think they  have  to  be  observed  because  they  promote  democracy  and  development  in  all  nations.  It  becomes unfair  to  claim  that  they  are  a  foreign  concept  imposed  upon  Africans  because  Africans  themselves  had  their  own  way  of  observing  them  through  great  emphasis  on  respecting  the  human  race  deeply  rooted  in  the  spirit  of  Ubuntu/Chivanu.  The  only  difference  now  is  that  they  are  documented  through  the  Universal  Declaration  of  Human  Rights,  an idea  which  the  Africans  did not pioneer. So l wonder is the argument on the human rights or we just tring to create a fight in midst of rights which a neutral to all?