The Diaspora and the Politics of Development

Abstract

By diaspora politics, I refer to migrants’ political activities pertaining to the domestic or foreign policy of the homeland as well as political activities that advance migrants’ rights in the country of settlement. After the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) between the ruling ZANU-PF, the MDC-T and the Welshman Ncube MDC parties on 15 September 2008 and the resultant inclusive government formed in February 2009 the nature of transnational diaspora politics shifted from one premised on opposition to engagement, what McGregor and Pasura (2010) describe as the ‘politics of re-engagement’. Many in the diaspora and the homeland welcomed the Government of National Unity (GNU), but their cautious optimism degenerated into despair as the inclusive government remained deeply divided on core issues. For instance, President Mugabe continued to make unilateral appointments without consulting other actors in the GPA (Gonda, 2010). Hence, there was a strong feeling of apprehension and excitement within the Zimbabwean diaspora when, on Saturday 20 June 2009, Morgan Tsvangirai addressed a crowd of 1,000 Zimbabweans at Southwark Cathedral in London and urged them ‘to come home’. Mbiba (2012, p. 227; see also McGregor and Pasura, 2010) refers to Tsvangirai’s call for diasporans to ‘come home’ and the wide reaction it generated as the ‘Cathedral Moment to reflect not just its political significance but also that of the church space in which it occurred’.