Inviting Blacks from abroad is all fine, but there is still the issue of many Africans actually leaving the land of their birth in search of greener pastures in the West.

Whether they find greener pastures is not the issue, but why they are leaving. Zimbabwe's population has not been growing for the past few years and one of the reasons is that some 3 million young people have left for South Africa, Botswana, Zambia,etc and also the UK, US, Canada, New Zeeland and Australia. Although they are patriotic, they have no wish to return home just yet. Many are preparing for that return, but do not know when it will be.

I think African leaders are again showing their insensitivity by ignoring the millions emigrating and making insincere invitations to a handful. Yes, insincere- I can back this with personal experiences. Do developements in Shashamane suggest that the Ethiopian Government want to see people coming in?

I can't believe anyone would swallow anything these politicians say without reminding them that Africa's problem is not immigration but EMIGRATION!!!

One can argue that it is going to take a few to hold on to the dream. European Jews who managed to get to what they saw as the Promised Land would meet at the harbour ragged groups of Jews LEAVING. Not the most encouraging of first impressions. But what do the rest do- the ones who find that bread and butter issues come first?

I'm not saying that Blacks should not return to Africa. I am saying we need to be realistic about African issues, about governance problems, about economic problems.

Someone's posted a question about capitalism, I think he is expressing the fear that Blacks coming from the West- whether born there or like me, migrants, will only return to form a priveledged elite and therefore not benefit the impoverished majority. That someone is demonstrating that he is looking at all sides of the issue.

Ras Marcus, you mention that ancestors of Blacks in the West left land in Africa when they were kidnapped. This is true, but this too can be used against you. In 1996, a Home Affairs Ministry rep told us- there Americans and Jamaicans present- at a workshop hosted by the Rastafarian Community in Harare- that as there were no Slaves taken from Zimbabwe, the government was under no obligation to open the borders for any Blacks wishing to settle in Zimbabwe. This means any wishing to settle there would do so on the same terms as anyone from anywhere else- Somalia, Russia, El Salvador, whatever. There is no special programme for Blacks in the West. So, any claims of ancestral ties would then restrict you to the particular part of Africa your ancestors came from. I am sure it wasn't Shashamane. Many white Zimbabweans are of Dutch origin, but a few are British and if they were to leave these are the lands where they could go.

It is interesting to note that many of the Black American groups that do have links with the Zimbabwean government have never taken this up.