Building from the Rubble

Lloyd Sachikonye is a Professor of Political Science based at the University of Zimbabwe where he has researched and taught for over 30 years. His main research interests relate to democratic processes in Africa and development strategies in southern Africa. Amongst his many publications are Civil Society, State and Democracy (1995), When the State turns on its Citizens (2011) and Zimbabwe’s Lost Decade (2012). Prof. Sachikonye is a founding Trustee of the International Development Institute (IDI).

Professor Brian Raftopoulos is a leading Zimbabwean scholar and activist. Formally an Associate Professor of Development Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, he moved to Cape Town at the end of March 2006 and is currently the Director of Research and Advocacy in the Solidarity Peace Trust, an NGO dealing with human rights issues in Zimbabwe. He has published widely on Zimbabwean history, labour history, historiography, politics, and economic issues. Currently he is coordinating a book on the History of Zimbabwe with a group of Zimbabwean historians, as well as working on a study of The State and the Labour Question in Zimbabwe: 1945-2005. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Southern African Studies. In addition, Brian Raftopoulos has been a civic activist in Zimbabwe over the last decade. He was a member of the founding Task Force of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) 1998-2000, the editor of the NCA journal Agenda from 1999-2001, as well as the first Chair of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition from 2001-2003.

Godfrey Kanyenze is the Founding Director of the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil.) in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in England. He began his professional career in 1986 as a Statistician with the Central Statistical Office (CSO) before joining the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) as an Economist / Consultant from May 1986 until September 2003. Godfrey was a Sub-editor of the Country Human Development Report (Zimbabwe) on Gender and Development, Poverty Reduction Forum, which was coordinated by UNDP & Ministry of Public Service, Labour & Social Welfare in 2005 and 2007. He Co-edited a book for the Alternatives to Neo-liberalism in Southern Africa Project – ANSA: The Search for Sustainable Human Development in Southern Africa published by Creda Communications of South Africa in January 2007. The book was launched in Johannesburg, South Africa on 13 January and the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on 23 January 2007 and is being launched in six SADC countries. Godfrey was a member of a Consultancy Team working on a ‘Comprehensive Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe Programme’ coordinated by UNDP. Until 2013, Godfrey was a member of the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT). He is currently on the Zimbabwe National Productivity Institute and the Tripartite Wages and Salaries Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Technical Committee of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF). He has been invited at speak at the annual conferences of the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ), the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe (ICSAZ) among others.