Michelle Obama Exercises her Constitutional Right to Bare Arms

The big news in America last week? While President Obama divided opinion on his Iraq pull-out plan, First Lady Michelle Obama divided it even more divisively by baring her arms on four days out of seven. That's right - weak pun alert - that part of America that cares about these things is up in arms over Michelle Obama's bare arms. The First Arms are the star of her first official portrait, pictured above, the Arms appeared applauding wildly at her husband's non-state of the union address, the Arms would have dazzled Stevie Wonder had he not been blind, and the Arms made an appearance at two other social events. Such limb exposure, some feel, is not quite appropriate in a first Lady, especially for the more formal occasions. I see nothing wrong with this myself. Readers of this blog know that I love Michelle Obama and her sense of style, but this must be said: not only has she the most incredibly-toned arms that are not Madonna's, she must be singularly impervious to the occasional inclemency of the elements. All this shoulder exposure in the bleakness of winter inspires the fear of poor Mr. Woodhouse on beholding Emma's portrait of Harriet Smith "with only a little ... over her shoulders ... it makes one think she must catch cold."

This past week was absolutely incredible at work, I was busier than a one-armed paperhanger, or, as my good friend Stephen King would say, busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. Away from work, all sorts of crazily good things happened. I have been asked to write a long essay for the Guardian's Saturday Review, I am very excited about it. I have also written the complete first draft of a short story that was commissioned by Amnesty International to appear in an anthology of work celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. More details as the book gets closer to publication. I have also managed to book beautiful venues for my Geneva and Harare book launches. More on that soon.

And speaking of books ...

This week, I read Brian Chikwava's debut novel Harare North. It is a funny, highly original and entertaining story. Congratulations to Brian, I am sure this book will do very well indeed. It is a shame that Non-Zimbabweans will not get his eclectic references to Zimbabwean pop culture including the songs of Paul Matavire and the more absurd Shona and Ndebele proverbs and children's games. I would have loved to give a more detailed review of this book, in fact, I am aching to, but I have to restrain myself. The last time that I reviewed a book by a Zimbabwean writer, the author's irate publisher/editor/agent descended on me because I had not given a glowing review, but had instead praised the novel in question while recognising its flaws. My intelligence was questioned and all sorts of unpleasantness ensued. I have been wary about reviewing books since then.

Meanwhile, over at the madhouse ...

Those who read my old column at the Zimbabwe Times will remember that I predicted that Arthur Mutambara would be the Clown Prince of the new administration. I am highly entertained by his pomposity - his elevation to higher office has not found him dropping his habit of talking of himself in the third person, to the contrary, it has only added a mouthful of syllables. And what a mouthful it is. In a recent press statement, he kept calling himself "The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe Professor A.G.O. Mutambara ..." (Note the emphasis on republic, people, just so that you don't confuse it with that other Zimbabwe, you know, the Sultanate of Zimbabwe). In the same week, the other two "Principals" also issued their own statements on government policy. So now you have the Prime Minister, President and one of the Deputy Prime Ministers each giving their own statements. I can't wait for the Other Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Honourable Thokozani Khupe, to also throw herself into the mix.

Hold on, Republic of Zimbabwe, we are in for a bumpy ride.

Or, as my other old friend, Joe Gargery, would say: what larks!

Francis Chigunta Reads Dambisa Moyo's "Dead Aid"

Dambisa Moyo is certainly doing what she set out to do, her book Dead Aid is becoming a major talking point.  This blog maintained earlier that this would be one of the most import books this year. We, that is, I, hope to continue facilitating a discussion on the book, so if, like Tinashe Murapata, you wish to send a review, let me know.  

Francis Chigunta, another reader,  has already taken up my invitation.  Here is his take on the book.  (You may also be interested to read this interview of Dambisa in the New York Times, where this photo is from. Sorry, New York Times, but it is such a great picture (I really like her style, check out the killer heels) that I could not resist filching it.  

On to Francis:

____________

Dambisa Moyo’s book is a refreshing addition to thinking on development aid.  She is urging all of us to begin to think outside the box. In my view, Tinashe Murapata missed the thrust of the argument in Dambisa’s book. Contrary to what Tinashe says, it is written in very simple, non-technical jargon that easy to follow.

Like Dambisa, I am not against forms of emergency or humanitarian aid that save lives but against the so-called development aid.  I feel terrible about the damaging impact of aid on Africa. So far, we are told that we have received over a trillion American dollars in aid since the 1940s, but what is there to show for all this apart from mass poverty? Which single country in Africa or indeed anywhere has developed as a result of western aid? Read also some of the references that Dambisa gives – books like Paul Collier’s The Bottom Billion and two recent ones by William Easterly formerly of the World Bank, which all support Dambisa’s arguments.

The success of come countries that have in the past relied on aid, but no longer do so today, is seen as testimony by some that aid works.  These countries are known as the International Development Association (IDA) graduates. They comprise 22 of some the most economically successful emerging countries– including Chile, China, Colombia, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey, with Botswana as one of the three African countries.  These countries have meaningfully lowered poverty, increased incomes and raised their standards of living, thanks to large-scale aid interventions. However, as in the case of the Marshall Plan, their aid flows have been relatively small – in this instance, generally less than ten percent of their national income – and the duration short. 

Today, as a result of aid, African countries have found themselves stabilised in a condition of non-development. African countries need to make the transition from aid dependency and aid dependent ‘development’ to endogenous processes of political, social and economic transformation and sustained accumulation. This means that we as Africans should serious begin to focus on broad-based, diversified, innovative, well-articulated and inclusive productive capacity development and trade, which Dambisa emphasizes. 

Paul Collier warns about the deformation of strategic thinking that results from over-emphasis on aid in poor countries: the strategies turn into shopping lists because the objective is not growth but aid. This is the dilemma that many African countries face today as their growth strategies are nothing more than shopping lists designed to get more aid from donors. African countries should seriously begin working on changing the structure and dynamics of their public expenditure to support and crowd in private investment and the development of viable, sustainable and competitive productive and trade capacities. This is what Dambisa is saying. 

We need to promote viable and sustainable entrepreneurship in highly competitive environments that will make it possible for us to maximise our gains from the globalisation process. In my view, the Chinese are welcome. 

Why are Western leaders falling over each other to go to China? China today is the engine of the world and is playing a critical role in stabilising the world economy at a time when the American economy is falling apart.  And yet some Africans are whining about the Chinese.  Which African country has China ever colonised? The Chinese Admiral, Gen. Hu, visited the coast of East Africa long before western powers did so, but the Chinese never colonised Africa. We need investment from, and trade with, China. That is the message of Dambisa’s book. No country in the world has developed on the basis of aid. 

The critical challenge for us as Africans is how to eliminate aid dependency and how can aid be used to achieve this goal. The fundamental issue is not how to manage aid dependency, but how to eliminate it. If one wishes to identify one single and simple indicator for aid effectiveness and efficiency, it should be the rate at which aid helps to end dependency by helping to develop broad-based, diversified and sustained dynamics of productive capacities, economic accumulation and social development. This cannot be a gift coming in form of aid, but a right to be sought and fought for through local ownership of the development process. 

We need new growth and development models that (1) link macro-economic and productive capacity development; resource mobilisation and investment for productive capacity development (not the unproductive ‘casino-type’ investment from Wall Street that has brought the world to the brink of economic disaster) and trade; (ii) that are consistent with sustainable poverty eradication, not only by reducing the number of people with income below the poverty line, but that eliminate the structural causes of poverty; and (iii) are broad-based, diversified and properly articulated.  We also need to go beyond the funds aid brings to explore the multi-dimensional impact of aid in recipient countries, especially on the psyche of the recipient people.  

The bottom line is that the World Bank and IMF have run of ideas. All they do is repackage old theories that are irrelevant to our situation. This is why Dambisa is encouraging us to think outside the box! Her ideas and suggestions are gaining currency. Let us all take up the challenge.

Please Support Small Presses and Independent Bookshops

I was sad to learn that  a writer I know, a huge talent who was looking to bring out a second book, may not have that chance because the small publisher that brought out the first one has lost a major grant and their very survival is now threatened.  This is a terrible time for most people; we are all in our different ways feeling the pinch of the times.  I am using this post to ask you to please keep buying books, buy them as gifts, buy them for yourself, buy them from small presses and independent bookstores.  If we do not support these small outfits, they may well go under altogether. 

Here is a book you should definitely buy if you haven't already, it is by Vanessa Gebbie, a Welsh writer who writes with incredible control and mastery of the short story form.  It is published by a small press called Salt Publishing, true salt of the earth people who are genuinely devoted to the short story.  Please buy this book, support Salt, and stand up for the small guys. 

A Review of Dambisa Moyo's "Dead Aid" by Tinashe Murapata

Dambisa Moyo gives an in-depth interview in today's Guardian. In the comments section of this blog, we have been having an interesting discussion about her new book, Dead Aid. In this post, Tinashe Murapata reviews the book. He throws out some interesting thoughts: like him, I am perturbed by Moyo's China is Our friend message , but will wait to read it before I comment. Anyone else who would like to review this book, or any other, is most welcome to use this forum.

___________

Dambisa Moyo is someone I would love to have afternoon tea with, and with lots of sugar. If anything, I reckon it would be a good conversation. Her book, Dead Aid, should by all accounts be treated seriously - and in a world were Africa’s development is usually seen through experimental prisms of structural adjustment programmes and development Aid, hers is a quest to debunk this theory.

This she does by first giving a historical context of economic development and the impact of Aid in Africa. She supplies useful statistics; useful to throw around at dinner parties and before long argues the problem she has with Aid. Her background, gives it all away- as one quickly feels they are in an economics lecture and being bombarded with the anti-thesis to Aid. Useful in the classroom, but hardly useful in reality.

Her answer to Aid in Africa, is to replace “free money” with capitalist money. She argues, in economic parlance, that since Aid money has neither a cost nor regulation it is open to abuse. Through international government bond flotation, government will be forced to be efficient with capital since it now has a cost and how the money is spent will be scrutinised by international eyes. Her faith rests in the mantra- no-one is wiser than the market, and in credit rating agencies. Free trade is espoused as a way of encouraging exports. The theory is faultless but the practice calamitous. Ghana is used as an example of successfully floating an international bond, but little is said about the effects it had in over-valuing the Ghanaian cede and making exports expensive. As for credit rating agencies the current financial meltdown offers useful advice, never to solely place trust on the packaging.....Wall street has a saying “ the only number that’s true on in financial reports, is the page number”, useful anecdote to remember.

She then makes a bold statement “the Chinese are our friends”- for this she gets a standing ovation. She expounds, again backed by useful numbers the Sino-African relationship and locates the political problem the west has with this relationship. Amid, the concerns that China is exploiting Africa, there is the undercurrent power game since the West is easily losing its grip as the bigger brother to Africa. She debunks this big brother mentality and argues that Africa is open to all...(encore, encore)

For a book with such a dramatic headline - one naturally expects drama in the book - in the end it does not live up to expectations. Her arguments outside of banking on the unbankables fall within the neo-classical economic thought. Infact, her arguments if implemented will lead to African governments taking on very conservative economic policies. Besides the statistics she provides it might have done her some good to go to Africa especially in the rural areas and see how aid has indeed transformed societies. To believe that corrupt and despotic governments can be toppled by withdrawing aid is very naive.

And yet I demand that everyone buy a copy and read it. Why? Ms Moyo has clearly been brave to start a conversation most choose not to partake. She has been bold in proffering a solution. Those of us who care a lot about Africa can only do one thing, build on her theory and proffer the new solution for Africa and in my view, it is entrepreneurship. Where she argues for government international bonds, I argue that governments should free up exchange controls and international capital will flow into the countries, not to fund governments, but to fund the entrepreneur. It is not just Aid agencies that are problematic in Africa, it is also African governments.

And the NAMA goes to ...

Many congratulations to my good buddies, Chris Mlalazi, Ignatius Mabasa and Memory Chirere who won NAMA awards for their books Dancing with Life, Ndafa Here? and Tudikiki. Those who fear that Shona is dying should be comforted, it is alive and thriving in the hands of Gina and Memory. And as for Chris, the dude is like Slumdog Millionaire with dreadlocks, simply mopping up the awards, and deservedly so. I love this NAMA concept, a night where Zimbabwean artists from all forms of creative expression ... literature, film, music, the theatre, the visual arts ... come together and celebrate each other. Fungai James Tichawangana's awesome website has all the details. ZBC-TV, the national broadcaster, received an honorary award for service to the arts. Before you deafen me with those yowling howls of protest, consider the role that ZBC has played in promoting local drama. Yes, yes, so they are lily-livered ZPF *&%-lickers, but remember the work of genius that was Mukadota. An honorary award also went to HIFA, the Harare International Festival of the Arts. Einfach wunderbar.

On Dambisa Moyo and Other African Writers to Read in 2009

There is this thing that some newspapers do at the beginning of the year where they preview books to be published in the coming year. I am going to do something similar in this post - I started writing it at the beginning of January, but kept getting sidetracked so that I didn't finish it. But it is only February, after all, and the year is but a mewling puking infant in its mother's arms, so here we go with this list of books by African writers that we should all be reading in 2009.

The most important non-fiction book this year for me will probably be Dambisa Moyo's Dead Aid. A sharp and chic Zambian economist, Dambisa Moyo, pictured, is the latest star to convey the message that foreign aid is simply not working in Africa. Andrew Rugasira and Paul Easterly, among others have also said the same thing. Aid is not working and other alternatives should be explored, she argues. I understand from reviews that the methods she is proposing include the raising of money on the financial markets by African governments, not the best advice at this time, of course, but she seems to see this crisis as an opportunity for Africa. I want to find out more. I like Niall Ferguson's words in the introduction to her book: "This reader was left wanting a lot more Moyo, and a lot less Bono".

Anyone and anything that leads to a whole lot LESS Bono is very much A-okay with me.

Another non-fiction book I am looking forward to is not by an African, but by an Africanist: Michela Wrong's It's Our Turn to Eat, an investigation into high-level corruption in Kenya told through the story of whistleblower John Githong'o. I have heard wonderful things about this book from Kima and Andrea, two of my Kenyan friends, and I look forward to it.


On to fiction, I am looking forward to Alain Mabankou's Broken Glass (Serpent's Tail) out in February 2009 - the story of a jaded bartender with a love for alcohol and French literature. Laila Lalami has reviewed it here, it sounds fantastic. My countryman Brian Chikwava will publish Harare North, (Jonathan Cape) in April: Harare North is a comic novel set in the Zimbabwean diaspora in London. I read the first couple of chapters of this novel, and it is a real treat.

Also in April, Chimamanda Adichie publishes her third book, a story collection called The Thing Around Your Neck (Fourth Estate). I am also looking forward to Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani of Nigeria, who has written a novel called I Did Not Come To You By Chance (Orion), the story of Kingsley, Cash Daddy and their 419 scams. The premise is superb. Another Nigerian, Chika Unigwe, will publish a novel about the seamier side of the European dream On Black Sister's Street (Random House).

I recently came across an intriguing book that I will be reading in the next few days, I hope. It is by Yaba Badoe, a Ghanaian-Brit, and is called True Murder. It is published by Jonathan Cape under the editorship of Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, who is also Brian Chikwava's editor, and has worked with such talents as Biyi Bandele and Segun Afolabi. I will be rooting for Yaba Badoe particularly because, at 54, she has written her debut novel. I love such stories.

So these, then, are some of the books that have me all in a lather.

Photo of Dambisa Moyo: PDF Agency.

A Facelift for this Blog ... And a New Website!

Gentlemen, ladies, this blog is supposed to look like this, do not adjust your eyes. The blog has been tinkered with to match my new website. Yes, indeedy, I now have a website, http://www.petinagappah.com/. It has been designed by my wonderful friend, Luigi Principi. He worked with the UK cover of Easterly, and came up with this fantabulous design. Please stroll around the website and feel at home, kick your shoes off and feel the grass, and let me know what you think. You can link directly to this blog from the website. I had thought of shutting down the blog, but for now, I am keeping it active, in part because websites are a pain to update. I have a few "teasers" from the story collection on the website, the idea is to get you so worked up that you will preorder at least 3 copies of all versions of the book, so get thee to Amazon, to Amazon go, and quickly too!

The Crime of Being Roy Bennett: a Proposal

Remember my last post? Has my country turned a new page? The answer would be no. 

Not only are Jestina Mukoko and others still in jail, Roy Bennett has recently joined them.  The police arrested him on Friday and initially charged him with "attempting to leave the country illegally".  There was of course, this small matter: you actually don't need permission to leave Zimbabwe. So they changed it to "treason". Then there was this other small matter: the evidence on which the treason charge had been laid was based on a case that had already been dismissed by another court.  So now they have come up with a new one, attempt to commit acts of terrorism, sabotage and banditry.  And this is a man who is supposed to be part of a unity government to which the former ruling party says it is committed.

Just who is in charge, I wonder?

If the people in charge are reading this, here is a thought.  Just charge the man with a new crime, you have enough experience in inventing crimes, such as externalising foreign currency, and being a woman in the Avenues after 8pm.  Just charge him with a new offence called Being Roy Bennett. There is one charge that will definitely stick.

Has My Country Turned a New Page?

I don't know. All I know is that a lot of people I have talked to feel like they can breathe again.  Think thoughts bigger than how to sort out the next "deal".  The folk in this picture,  who flocked to hear Morgan Tsvangirai at Glamis Stadium this afternoon, certainly look like they feel they can smile again. 

Plan again. 

Hope again.  

Maybe even dream again.

Photo: Reuters

  

I May Just Start Buying Vogue Again

My collection of American Vogue starts in January 2000 and ends in November 2008. After Vogue put Jennifer Aniston on the cover yet again in December, I decided enough was enough. Is there a more boring personality than Aniston? One of the Gawker commentariat once called her the human equivalent of beige paint.  Now, I may just renew my subscription.  I love this cover, for the March issue, featuring Michelle Obama, and I am particularly happy that she has not had all the personality airbrushed out of her. And check out those biceps!

Monsieur Presidente, You Are Really Spoiling Us ... Not

So, the following story has been published by the Times and picked up by the news aggregation blog, the Huffington Post:

____________

It is the 85th birthday of President Mugabe this month and the zealots of his Zanu (PF) party are determined that it should be an occasion that their great leader will never forget.
In recent days they have been out soliciting “donations” from corporate Zimbabwe and have drawn up a wish list that is scarcely credible in a land where seven million citizens survive on international food aid, 94 per cent are jobless and cholera rampages through a population debilitated by hunger. The list includes 2,000 bottles of champagne (Moët & Chandon or ’61 Bollinger preferred); 8,000 lobsters; 100kg of prawns; 4,000 portions of caviar; 8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates; 3,000 ducks; and much else besides. A postscript adds: “No mealie meal” — the ground corn staple on which the vast majority of Zimbabweans survived until the country’s collapse rendered even that a luxury.

__________

This is the kind of thing that gives the "Western Press" a bad name.

It is, to quote the Times "scarcely credible" that any journalist would be so easily fooled.

First off, who are Zanu PF "zealots"? Well, the zealots we know and love and who organise party functions are the war veterans. I suspect that they may have been too busy learning to load a Kalashnikov in less than 30 seconds, or learning the most effective finger-pulling torture technique, to learn the difference between lobsters and prawns, not exactly the most obvious party fare in our land-locked country.  Secondly, that reference to Ferrero Rocher should have given the whole thing away.

Anyone remember those Ferrero Rocher adverts from the mid-90s? A man's voice said: "The Ambassador's receptions are noted in society for their host's exquisite taste that captivates his guests." Then we cut to a ballroom with sparkly chandeliers and  a butler handing round plates piled up to the ceiling with Ferrero Rocher chocolates.  The guests, dressed to the nines in evening dress, would say things like "Excellente!" and "Oh, monsieur!" as they took the chocolates. The advert ended with a woman sidling up to the Amabssador and saying in the worst Eurotrash voice possible: "Monsieur, with these Ferrero Rocher you are really spoiling us", with the voice going up on the us.

This story is very clearly a hoax: it is based on one of those joke emails about Zimbabwe. As for who wrote the "joke", the clue is in that last postscript that says "No mealie meal." This is the kind of joke that is very popular with a certain type of white Zimbabwean, the type that thinks it is funny to "joke" about "uppity" aspirational blacks who no longer what to eat "mealie meal".

So this story is bad journalism based on a joke that is not only racist, but is also, and this is the most serious crime against comedy, not at all funny. 

Why did the Times lap it up? Because it puts Mad Bad Bob in a bad light, of course.

As though there aren't more serious things that the man is doing wrong.

The Cover of the American Version of Easterly

This is one version of the cover of Easterly as it will appear to the good citizens of the United States of America, its territories and dependencies (hello, Guam; salut, US Virgin Islands!), the Republic of the Phillippines and Canada! I was not sure about it at first, but now, I have fallen in love with it. Tell me what you think.

In Which They Ponder A United States of Africa

I am highly amused by the goings on at the African Union in Addis this last week, where Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was elected the new dictator perpetuo of Africa, and where he was thrice presented with a kingly crown, which he thrice refused. Was this ambition? 

Not really, he is the new chairman of the African Union, his term is one year. 

This will give him the space to pursue his dream of a United States of Africa. Now, the US of Africa has always sounded to me like one of those projects that idealistic students talk about as they twist beeswax into their dreadlocks, iron their kente cloth caftans, and argue over whether Walter Rodney is greater than Marcus Garvey,  and not something that government leaders would actually seriously discuss, especially when there are more pressing problems to focus on, like, oh, I don't know, Congo and Darfur, the turmoil in the markets, the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, and how to make all those lovely election charters they keep signing actually meaningful. 

But what do I know?  

Please bear with me.  My heart is in that Swiss hotel room where Hannibal Gaddafi allegedly beat up two servants.  And I must pause till it come back to me.