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How innovative Zimbabweans should create wealth for themselves

by Ryton Dzimiri
08 Nov 2014 at 21:07hrs | Views
If you are Zimbabwean and have had at least grade six education or even a PHD, here is a menu to use your education to get rich. The time to start action is now. Be reminded of how many times you thought of a brilliant life-changing idea and never took the first step to put the idea into action?

This is my second writing about my project "Free Electricity for the Developing World (Matebele Power Project)".

In the first series, I introduced my project to you and on this continuation; I wish to be inventive in a lot of ways to help everyone to do something to change Zimbabwe. I wish to help pump your natural potential and remind you that you are already rich but your problem is that you are expecting someone to fall from somewhere and beat to up to pursue your existing dream.

Telling my life story can be boring and full of "I am cleverer than thou" which obviously put off people from learning. But, because I am not a trained lecturer nor am I an author, I will put my personal experience as an example to show why I failed to invent free electricity for Zimbabweans as long ago as 1988.

What made me fail to pursue an idea that could have made life different in Rural Zimbabwe were a series of artificial stumbling blocks. I shelved my brilliant ideas until such a time that Zimbabwean politics would be normalised. I had a strong grudge with politicians that I trusted to change life of blacks and thought that fighting the system would be the right thing to do. Over years, thirty one years now, I have learnt that politics is a rotten confusion comprising of many different operatives with a synthetics of goals which will never diverge to produce something positive.  

In 1983, I dedicated my life in making sure that Zapu would win 1985 elections. This in my beliefs, would create more than two million Zimbabwean entrepreneurs like a Zapu product Strive Masiiwa. I was very wrong, if Joyce Mujuru, being so more influential in dirty Zimbabwean Politics, does not know her direction today, who am I.

In 1983, Enos Nkala was as important and Emmerson Mnangagwa of today. Looking back, I can, but only conclude that politics is a dirty field of time wasting fools whose service is to prop a few opportunists to destroy our country.

My first advice to a future entrepreneur in Zimbabwe is that you must remove your passion from politics. Just cast your vote for someone you think can create brilliant entrepreneurs for our country and leave political activism. After the election day, deal with your project.

I wasted 26 years trying to influence sanitisation of a dirty septic tank which is now getting worse instead of getting better. So, Dear young Zimbabwean, lets now talk about our life changing projects and leave the maggots to feed on each other on the dirty septic tank.

In 2014, it is an injustice for any Zimbabwean to be without electricity after Zimbabwe had been one of the first countries to benefit from European Civilisation in 1900. Europeans criminally Colonised us in 1894 and killed our leaders to impose themselves.

In English language, they say "for every dis-advantage, there is always an advantage" true for Zimbabwe. The evil of Colonialism produced a wealthy Rhodesia in only 20 years from 1894 to 1924 when our current President was born. There was nothing called a book in Zimbabwe in 1891 and if evil  Colonialists had not come, our 1924 born President would not even have an idea how to write his name. "Thank you Colonialism" you blessed us!

I was born in 1969 under a Rhodesian Government. During that year, Americans had just sent a rocket to the moon and President Mugabe and my father and many Zimbabweans watched these events on Rhodesian Television in Zimbabwe. By that time, education was at it's incumbency for Africans but 80% could read, write and converse in English.

We progresses exponentially as a country taking expertise from other civilisations in the World and applying some of it for our own betterment. Electricity was generated from Kariba and Whange and every White family had electricity even in remote areas.

By independence in 1980, we watched the inauguration of our first democratically elected President on Rhodesian T.V. From that day, we FAILED to invest in technology and encouraged our young inventors to become specialists in defending clueless politicians. That failure resulted in the extinction of inventive skills.

If our leaders had invested in identifying inventive minds and improving them, we would be richer than China. This is true because China was poor in 1980. Our young and inventive minds used their energies to earn a living by defending a rotten and unwashable system. All people who have creative minds in Zimbabwe today are taxi drivers, Zanu PF youth leaders, war veterans spokesmen, air-time vendors, MDC faction leaders, Mrs Mugabe and Joyce and Mnangagwa faction operators. This is where money is.

The corrupt and rotten system is very astute in producing little pseudo and futureless politicians than it can mould our young ones to invent machines which can turn sand into Photovoltaic cells. We have become consumers of Chinese Solar Panels (Photovoltaic cells) and yet we have our own sand to make solar panels but no knowledge. Those who lead us teach us to buy those solar panels from China. Buy sand products from China?

The Rhodesian evil Colonialist would have invested money to train it's young to learn the skills and manufacture those from Zimbabwe.

I, and many other Zimbabweans that I know had the required creative minds to be trained to innovate Zimbabwe into World competition. But, today, as a mid-forty year old exported Zimbabwean, those who received the export realised that the general labourer they had imported has innovative talents. They quickly guided me into correct institutions to educate and inspire me to manufacture things. A man in Bulawayo 1984 manufactured a helicopter and was almost jailed. What country or what people are we? Are we enjoying stone-age thinking? Strive Masiyiwa had to ask Joshua Nkomo to help him start Iconet. He is not even wanted today by those who say they lead us into prosperity.  They would have preferred it if he had joined the ruling party in 1986 and became a War Vet like Chinotimba. Chinotimba himself is pregnant with noble innovation. He resonates with sane thinking but has no education. Even if he had education, the best use of it would be to sing a song which does not oppose or expose corrupt and incompetent leaders.

So, to you my dear young future Zimbabwean entrepreneur, if you want to be a hero of economic change in stone-age Zimbabwe, remove yourself from the paradigm of life in the septic tank. Clean yourself and move away from dirty and rotting flies and pursue your talent.

The British Generosity put me into University in 2010 to help me understand my subjective inventions and improve them into real solutions to Engineering challenges that make Zimbabwe behind.  My advice is that if you can, just go to University. But again, I would advise those who can't to understand that University only pushes you to improve your idea which you already have. You can go on to manufacture intelligent products with only grade six education. What is important is to move from plan to implementation. No Government will give you money to pursue your innovative idea. You have to work towards making it a success. This is how Chinese and South Koreans revolutionised their countries. They did not forget to deal with future wealth challenges while they were defending their sovereignty from Colonialism.

I offer to walk with you if you are willing, to encourage, inspire you in your Engineering idea to try and bring it to fruition. No financial assistance involved because I am as poor as you and worse off, getting older having wasted my prime time in the septic tank. I also expect you to help me bring my already invented product into use.

I chose to begin my many inventive ideas by making a machine which converts slow-flowing water into useful domestic electricity. I already have a working prototype and all I am waiting for is to finish my Masters in Industrial Design in September 2015. I already hold a Degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering but, as I said earlier, one does not necessarily have to hold a degree to invent something. A degree was the best route for me because I was offered this and I know in your situation, it's not always possible to attain a degree even if you are capable for one.

With my "Free Electricity Generation" invention, I want to make sure that every poor household in Zimbabwe has free electricity. In the same manner a British-educated Strive Masiyiwa (my Zapu Hero) revolutionised communication, I will revolutionise rural domestic electricity generation with my (Matebele Power Generation) project.   

Matebele Power Project is the theme name of my project because my University needs me to select a particular area of study which I know so well and where my project can help the most. I looked at rivers in that region and wind patterns as well as sunlight which forms the bedrock of my power harvesting invention.

I need all people interested in this invention to E-mail me at rytondzimiri@googlemail.com where we can discuss our common objectives and action plan. I need people who wish to buy a rural power generating machine and those who want to be advised on how to turn their own ideas into products. I real life, I have me so many inventive minds in and from Zimbabwe and this is the starting point. Let's work to together and change the living standards of our people as the Chinese and Koreans did. We won't get rich by buying things from China. We will get rich by selling things in China.

Source - Ryton Dzimiri
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