JACOB W. CHIKUHWA
Before emerging ex statu pupillari as Zimbabwe, the former Southern Rhodesia underwent many changes. These included a dramatic declaration of independence in the Sixties by the minority government; a fierce ‘Chlimurenga’ or war of liberation; a flirtation with socialism; and a final emergence as the republic we know today,
From prc-history to the present day Zimbabwe - The Rise To Nationhood presents a clear and comprehensive study of a nation in transition.
As an economist, the author is able to highlight the uses –and abuses – of his country's human and natural resources, both before and after independence. With the help of his own illustrations, maps and a full glossary and index, Jacob Chikuhwa paints a picture of a country more at ease with itself and its neighbours than before, but still suffering the effects of cyclical trade and weather conditions.
This book will be of enormous value to students of economics, history and culture, and to anyone interested in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa.
Jacob Wilson Chikuhwa was born on September 24, 1940 just one year after the outbreak of the Second World War. He was born in a village called Samaringa in the Honde Valley, in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands. He was brought up in a Christian environment, his father (c. 1879-March 3, 1972) having been an Anglican mission-school teacher for almost twenty-four years. Although his mother (c. 1901-Aug. 5, 1991), like his father, was from a typical traditional family, she was a devout believer in Christianity. Being one of twin brothers, Jacob almost became a victim of Shona religious belief. In those days, it was considered taboo to give birth to twins. According to tradition, the younger twin was to be got rid of without delay.
Because of his parent’s Christian belief, Jacob survived to go on to study at Hartzell Secondary School, Old Mutare. After obtaining the Cambridge School Certificate, he briefly worked as a school teacher in 1963 at Chigudu Primary School in Headlands near Rusape. In 1964, he was employed as a postmaster trainee in Harare, but in September of the same year, he was detained at Wha Wha Detention Camp near Gweru until he was released in March 1965.
He briefly worked as a bookkeeper in Bulawayo while playing soccer for Eastlands FC before going into exile in Zambia in 1966. In 1967, he went to the former Soviet Union where he studied economics at the Kiev Institute of National Economy in Ukraine. Having specialised in Finance and Banking, he was awarded an M.Sc.(Econ.) degree in 1972.
At the end of that year, he went to Stockholm, Sweden where he did post-graduate studies in Economic Integration and International Relations. Between 1974 and 1976, he was ZANU’s Chief Publicity Officer responsible for the Nordic countries, Austria and West Germany. After the assassination of Herbert Chitepo and the subsequent arrest of most of the members of Dare reCimurenga in Zambia, the ZANU office in Stockholm could not sustain itself. Therefore, in September 1976, Jacob got a job in the economic department of the Post Office Industries where he was employed until January 1981 before he returned to Zimbabwe.
In May 1981, he was employed by the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) as manager of the newly created Economics and Statistics Branch. In July 1986, he joined the Zimbabwe Football Association as Director of Administration: Finance and Personnel. After a brief but turbulent period at ZIFA House, Jacob Chikuhwa left at the end of the 1987 soccer season and joined the Harare Polytechnic as a lecturer in both the Bachelor of Technology Programme and the National Diploma course.
In October 1989 he left for Sweden where he eventually joined the Economic Department of the Post Office Administrative Service. Married with two children, Chikuhwa is currently an economic analyst with the Post Office Internal Audit.
Scientific management of both human and natural resources has become a must for survival in our dynamic, ever-changing, free enterprise economy. Underlying sound scientific management are facts and figures on every facet of our economic, business, social, political and governmental life. The collection and use of these facts require an understanding of economic and statistical principles and methods.
I am delighted to read that the author has written from the point of view of an economist for the use of those concerned with development, whether at a purely national level or in connection with any of the aid programmes of the international agencies. He sets out to explore briefly some of the historical facts which have been covered in the past but considered valid and useful in the context of development activities. Particular emphasis is placed on politico-economic systems which are currently subject to heavy development pressure. By way of economic and statistical analysis, he highlights various problems associated with Zimbabwe’s natural resources, livestock and agricultural projects, industrial development and human resources; and the rather specialised cases of culture and religion, music and fine arts also receive attention.
Governments, research institutions, aid agencies and other organisations collect an increasing volume of numerical information to understand and to govern the increasingly complex system that makes up a national economy. Our knowledge of the mechanics of the information flows and the decision system of government departments and large business firms is very scant, and our ability to assess the character and quality of information we collect is quite haphazard. I believe the author has made a commendable socio-economic analysis. To analyse such facts means bringing together the data which we have learnt and discovering the reasons why things so often turn out differently from what was intended.
He has not attempted to make a comprehensive treatment of the socio-economic systems covered; to do so would have required several more volumes, even if in some cases relevant studies have already been published. Similarly, no complete case histories are included, but several are summarized and reference is made in the bibliography to sources of relevant case material.
This practical and interesting book should be able to aid persons in all activities requiring the use and understanding of the political economy of Zimbabwe. Hopefully, through this and future studies, a truly interdisciplinary approach to national development can be achieved that will permit Zimbabweans to reach the high quality of life to which all people aspire.
Amina Hug
HER EXCELLENCY, THE AMBASSADOR TO SCANDINAVIA,
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE, STOCKHOLM
