Hi.

My name is Eddie Cross and I am the grandfather in this photograph of my family taken in early 2004. We are a Zimbabwean family with deep roots in Africa.

My own great grandfather, G.W.Cross, came out to South Africa in 1867 from Belfast as a Baptist missionary and his wife came out a year later. My wife, Jeanette, has her roots also in the Eastern Cape where her forefathers arrived in 1840. Our respective families have lived in southern Africa since that time and have made a significant contribution to the region in their own way.

My father, George Cross, came to Zimbabwe in the early 30’s and died in the 90’s after a lifetime of work and retirement in the country. I was born in Bulawayo in 1940, was educated here and have worked all my life in Zimbabwe.

My two children - Gary and Susan, are also living in Zimbabwe. Gary is a Pastor in a Church in Harare and Sue has moved to Bulawayo where she works mornings only. Gary and his wife Sarah, have four children - all girls, Rebekah, Alana, Deborah and Tilitha. Sue’s husband Antony died in January 1993 of heart failure and she has one child - Keith.

My own career has been mainly in Agriculture in one form or another. I farmed for two years after leaving school in 1957. Then took a diploma in Agriculture from Gwebi College and then worked for government on land resettlement in the Gokwe district before going to University in Harare where I received an honors degree in Economics. After that I worked as an economist eventually becoming Chief Economist in the Agricultural Marketing Authority in 1976.

After Independence in 1980, I was appointed first to head the Dairy Marketing Board and then the Cold Storage Commission. The CSC was the largest meat-marketing organisation in Africa and I ran this for four years. I was then CEO of the Beira Corridor Group, which promoted the rehabilitation of the Beira Corridor as an export outlet to the sea for land locked Zimbabwe.

After this I started my own group of companies and I now run this group on my own and look after the families interests in this field. In 1999 I joined the Movement for Democratic Change and was appointed to the National Executive in 2000. I am currently the Policy Coordinator General of the Party.

I regard myself as a white African and am totally committed to the country of my birth and to the future of the continent. I feel very strongly, as a white African, that we have to earn the right to stay in the continent and to be heard as respected and valued citizens. I was apposed to white minority rule during the Smith era and have also been very much involved in opposition politics in Zimbabwe since 1990.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful, potentially rich country with wonderful people and a good climate. One day we will have a government, which reflects this, and which will respect our right to the basic freedoms that others take for granted in the more developed countries. Africa suffers from poor leadership and bad policy, once these problems are addressed, its real potential will emerge and we want to play a role in getting there.

The problems of Africa cannot be addressed from the outside - only from within and we hope and pray that by staying here and joining the fight for justice and basic rights for all Zimbabweans, we can make a small contribution to progress in the continent as a whole.

Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 17th October 2006.