Thread by @ayittey

#GreatZimbabwe was one of Africa’s ancient empires. Construction began in 11th century and continued until15th century. Edifices erected by ancestral Shona. Served as a royal palace for the local monarch and thus seat of political power.

https://twitter.com/CronjeKobus/status/1286804200102428673

Edifice's walls, some were over 15 ft high, were constructed of dry stone (without mortar – like the pyramids of Egypt). To this day, stone sculpture remains an edifying skills of Shona with sculptures displayed in some American airports. Take a look bit.ly/3fXYhap

Great Zimbabwe (GZ) was enmeshed in controversy for some time. Europeans questioned if “backward and primitive” Africans were capable of constructing it. Gov’t of Rhodesia put pressure on archaeologists to deny it was constructed by native Africans but by Arabs

Eventually adopted by UNESCO as world heritage site. Some highlights:
1. Lasted 4 centuries, modern Zim couldn’t even last 40 years after independence
2. What skills does modern Zim have? Skills to repress, loot and destroy

3. The monarch was no dictator. There was no repression, no mass protests in GZ because it was the Confederation marked by decentralization of power and devolution of authority. Was there freedom in modern Zim? Noooooo!

4. GZ did not go abroad to copy some stupid foreign ideology to impose upon its people. They may be backward and primitive but at least they built something that endured. And what about modern Zim with all its education PhD’s in AGRICONOMETRIOLOGY? Nothing!

Note: I am not using Western or Russian standards to judge the Mugabe regime but Africa’s own standards. I would like others to do the same. Zimbabwe would have been better off if Mugabe had built on the foundations of great Zimbabwe. Similarly other African leaders