In 1871, Italian innovator Antonio Santi Giussepe Meucci submitted a patent caveat to the US Patent Office for a voice-communication apparatus, but there was no mention of electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound. In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound. Deciding on a name for this device was not nearly as complicated a task as deciding on what greeting one should use when answering the device. Thomas Edison is credited as having first used the word “Hullo”, now “Hello”, after Bell had initially used “Ahoy!”
To be innovative requires one to think creatively. I am reminded of an individual who in the summer of 2014 had to display an incredible amount of creativity in order to be heard. This individual was an International Student living temporarily in Canada and left the country shortly before his permit was due to expire. Having gone through the renewal process for the permits and assuming all to be in good order, he left to vacation half way across the world with a friend. Upon attempting to return to Canada he was told that there were some irregularities with his renewal applications and was therefore not allowed to return to Canada. After many days of attempting to get answers from the Canadian authorities, there was no satisfactory resolution to the problem.
Reaching out to every single contact that he could find both online and at the local Canadian High Commission, he was able to send off an email to the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. For 40 days there was only an automated reply acknowledging receipt of the email. Finally there was an email from the Minister’s office assuring my friend that his case was being looked into and requesting that he rest assured knowing that he would be contacted in due course.
Being from Zimbabwe, I wondered if I, being faced with a problem that required ministerial attention, would have access to the powers that be. To try to understand what prompted the office of the minister to respond to a lowly International Student, I began to ask questions. By way of research, I came across a publication by Roslyn Kunin & Associates, Inc. (RKA, Inc.) that was presented to the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Its title was the “Economic Impact of International Education in Canada”. In this publication, it was estimated that in 2010, International Students spent in excess of CA$7.7 billion (the same amount as Zimbabwe’s 2013 GDP) on tuition, accommodation and discretionary spending; created over 81,000 jobs; and generated more than CA$445 million in government revenue. Cue the “aha! moment”. Also, Citizenship and Immigration Canada expressed its intent to launch in January 2015, a new and more efficient system for assessing and processing applications of those immigrants wishing to reside permanently in Canada. The ministry is quoted as saying on its website that “Canada needs high levels of immigration to meet current and future labour market needs, which will ensure our economic growth and long-term prosperity.”
It did not surprise me then that the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration would make himself available to hearing the concerns and comments of this very important, growing, diverse, money-wielding segment of society. My friend had metaphorically picked up the phone, dialed out, and lucky for him, there was an answer on the other end.
Being available to hear and address the concerns of the people one is responsible for and accountable to is a very important trait that every person in a position of leadership should possess. My father once told me of an encounter he had in December of 1988 with the President of Zimbabwe, H.E. Cde. R.G. Mugabe while he was at the then Post Office Savings Bank, now known as the People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB). President Mugabe had gone in to withdraw some money as this was his banking provider, but more importantly instead of commissioning one of his Ministers, he took it upon himself to go and find out what could be done to facilitate the loaning of money to one Government parastatal in particular. The President had heard the plight of his people and was concerned that the people were paying too much money for mealie-meal which is used to make the staple food of the nation, sadza.
The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) was responsible for buying harvested maize from farmers, and selling it to millers. The only problem was that the GMB needed to get money to fund its purchasing requirements from the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) in Zimbabwe. The AMA would then have Guaranteed Interest Certificates (GICs) issued to the public in its name as a means to raise the money that would be lent to the GMB. The AMA would lend the GMB the money raised from the issuance of the GICs at a rate that would cover the interest owed to the GIC holders as well as make a small sum for the AMA. This meant that when the GMB bought maize from the farmers, it would sell it to the milling companies at an amount that was enough to cover the capital and interest owed to the AMA, the interest that the AMA owed to the GIC holders, as well as make a profit for the GMB. The millers in turn would mill the maize, package it and sell it to supermarkets at a price that allowed the millers to make a decent profit. The supermarkets would then sell the mealie-meal to the general public at a price that made it profitable for them to do so. The consumer was then paying for all the interests and profits that were realised along the chain. The President wanted to make it possible for the GMB to borrow money directly from the POSB at a low rate of interest and cut out two of the most costly middlemen. Unfortunately, at the time the POSB was empowered to invest only in the money market.
Hearing of this account left me quite impressed at the willingness and readiness of the President to address the issue of affordable staples that faced everyone who relied on sadza to feed their families regardless of ethnic background, region or tribe. I wish today that that same level of concern for the basic needs of all the people on the ground would be shown. When the people have a voice, there must be some communication apparatus available through which that voice can be transferred to the powers that be. Hopefully the voice on the other end says “Yes, there is someone here. We hear you, and we are listening to what you have to say.”
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