I was lucky enough to be part of a workshop on Equipping Young Leaders organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in conjunction with Jakin ‘He Establishes’ and this article is inspired by what I have learnt at the workshop. The workshop was one of a kind, and in my entire life I have never attended a workshop of such magnitude in terms of content and practicability. The most important lessons I have drawn from the workshop and would want to share with you all are what I call the concept of success and leadership. A challenging question that came out of the discussion and deliberations at the workshop is a question of what does the future look like for my generation five years from now and I hope this article will unpack how as young leaders we will make a difference, a change, a transformation for Zimbabwe.

The seven words of resurrecting the African Spirit (image and identity, principled leadership, responsibility, stewardship, accountability and discipline); are going to make the basis of my article supported conviction for the future and the ten points of leadership. Image and identity-there is need for African leadership to understand who we are and create an African brand of leadership that understand and have a shared vision for Africa. Civilization began in Africa, in fact humanity began in Africa, and research has shown that the oldest human fossils are found in Africa and it is so embarrassing today, that Africa is still referred to as the Dark Continent and a source of chaos and anarchy. Directly linked to Image and Identity is Principled Leadership, which refers to leadership that stand on values, pure African values and virtues. People want to know where as a leader you are taking them to, so there is need for leaders who stand for the African values. It is so sad to note that the current crop of leadership in Zimbabwe, be it in the ruling part or the opposition, lacks principles and it takes young leaders like me and you to be principled leaders that will correct the ills that our forefathers and the current leadership have committed. In Africa today, leaders make promises they break with no conscious at all and this need to be corrected so as to save the next generation.

Of importance is the virtue of responsibility, as leaders we have lost common sense to shocking levels and it’s equally self destructive. We have always played the blame game, no one wants to take responsibility and say the buck stops at me. The MDC would blame Zanu PF for the challenges this nation is facing, Zanu Pf would blame the western countries and the sanctions and as young people we have been blaming the government of the day for the challenges we are facing without actually taking any action. The workshop has transformed me from a person who just blames failure and challenges and takes no action about it, and this article is a manifestation of the transformation that has taken place in me. From today onwards I am going to speak out against the injustices, corruption and many social ills that are taking place in my country today and thus setting up a strategy for a new Zimbabwe. A challenging metaphor that was given by the facilitator is that of meandering roads in rural areas where he stated that the shortest way of connecting point A from point B is through a straight line, but we end up having meandering roads because if a tree falls on the road no one wants to remove the tree but to go round it. This shows lack of responsibility and as young leaders and the youths we need to develop the virtue of responsibility so as to save the next generation and create a better Zimbabwe.

The virtue of Stewardship goes hand in hand with the virtue of Accountability and I am going to give the two virtues equal importance in this article. Stewardship is all about handling resources on behalf of another add value to what you have been given and account for everything. Statistics have shown that 39% of Africa’s GDP goes to foreign banks, Africa account for 40% of the world’s platinum deposits, 30% of the world’s diamond deposits, 50% of the world’s gold deposits, making Africa the richest continent in terms of mineral resources. Unfortunately Africa depends on aid from the developed countries and millions of Africans are the poorest in the world, living below a dollar per day. Coming home, the Chiadzwa diamonds in Manicaland have a potential of contributing USD800 billion in ten years to the GDP and the fiscus has always been complaining that they are getting nothing from the diamond sales. Tendai Biti, the former Finance Minister in the GPA era has been constantly complaining that the country is not benefiting from the diamond mined at Chiadzwa and it has been attributed to him being from the opposition and he was often dismissed as lying and trying to tarnish the image of Zanu PF. Now we have Patrick Chinamasa singing from the same hymn where ‘poor’ Tendai has been singing from. Nigeria can supply 50% of the United States’ fuel requirements and today there are fuel queues in Nigeria. One wonders what we have become as Africans; every leader has become accountable to himself. We need to resurrect the African spirit that is based on good stewardship and accountable and it begins with you and me. We need to take action to ensure that we build a better future and a better Zimbabwe for the next generation, where leaders are accountable to the people they lead.

It seems like African have parked their brains somewhere, because there is lack of creativity. We always wait upon others to solve our own problems, who said Africans cannot solve their own problems? The facilitator at the workshop emphasized that naturally we are born creative, put a child in a room where there is a jar on the table and you will find the jar on the floor. That is creativity born within, but the problem is that we have decided to park our brains as Africans. We need to come up with think tanks that brainstorm and come up with African solutions to African challenges and problems, Zimbabwean solutions to Zimbabwean problems. In Zimbabwe we boast about the highest literacy rate in Africa, and what have we done to transform ourselves through that literacy rate? What we have been good at is flee the country and expect someone from outside to solve our problems. One person who has been mocking us in South Africa, said, you don’t need to go to Mashonaland to see a Shona speaking Zimbabwean, all you need to do is visit central Joburg. We have all ran away from the problem and wait upon someone and an event to solve our problem. At one time we have been waiting for President Thabo Mbeki and SADC to solve our problem, Mbeki is gone and the problem is still there, we waited upon Zuma, he has done his part but the problem is getting much bigger, we waited upon the Constitution, now we have the constitution, the problem is still prevalent. We then said let’s wait for July 31, maybe after the election our problem may be solved, nine months after July 31, we find ourselves on the highway back to 2008. ‘Maybe let’s wait for President Zuma to win the election in South Africa!’ We need to be creative as leaders and come with lasting solutions to the challenges we face as Zimbabweans, Martin Luther King Jnr once said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” Enough is enough! The seventh word is discipline. Africa needs disciplined leaders! There is no difference in time between America and Africa, a minute in Africa is a minute in America. A good leader needs to be disciplined and time bound and thus resurrecting the African spirit and preparing a new strategy for a new Zimbabwe.

One thing that struck out of the workshop and worth sharing about leadership in Africa is conviction of the future that we want to be as leaders and as Africans. Without conviction all the above virtues is vanity! Conviction refers to a fixed, strong, firmly held belief of something, and our greatest limitation is not the leadership above us, but the spirit within us. According to the workshop, conviction is a call to conscience; the facilitator quoted Martin Luther King Jnr.

‘The greatest sin is not the few who have destroyed, but the vast majority who have sat idly by’

It is a call to commitment! Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances. Sometimes silence is the greatest betrayal. As leaders we need to speak out and prepare ourselves for a time in jail if we are to build a better Zimbabwe. A good leader needs to ensure victory over self. There is no greater obstacle to your desired future than yourself. Don’t be a nothing doer, always waiting for someone else to do something for you. Remember our lives begin to end the day we become silent about thinks that matter. To have more than you have got, become more than you are, unless you change how you are, you will always have what you have! For you to be a good leader, and make Africa a better place to live on, a leader needs to overcome fear. Anxiety and fear strips away courage and make great performances impossible.

The answer for Zimbabwe’s future lies within my hands; it lies within your hands too. A good leader develops faith in himself, gathers knowledge; always have a good work ethic and integrity. A good leader is honesty, disciplined; goal oriented, has got perseverance, is enthusiastic and lives a balanced life. Let the story written about you be a story of success! What is it that you leave behind? What is the field you are going to influence? If there are community structures you can serve, please do so!