There is no night that lasts forever. We have been under darkness for so long that I am beginning to see dawn beckoning. The people of this country have suffered for too long. I believe that God who created heaven and earth has heard the cries of His children and is now ready to extent his helping hand. Come 2023, the people of Zimbabwe will be rescued from political tyranny which has brought excruciating economic hardships on them.
Leading a nation is no easy task to be entrusted to the selfish and dishonorable. A true leader who fails to fulfill his/her promises, has only one option: to accept his/her failure and resign. His/her remedy is to pass on the baton stick to someone else who has a different strategy towards our national challenges. Our leaders in Zimbabwe, however, lack the honour to step down and allow the country to move on. This is despite their failure to fulfill a single promise election after election.
Our leaders misconstrue the mandate given to them by the electorate by treating the electorate as servants. They see themselves as principals who have the right to load it over the people, hence the arrogance, selfishness and mis-governance of the country.
I fail to understand why our leaders are not itching to see our country catching up with the economic development that has been experienced in other countries. We are still approximately 300-500 years behind the developed countries. We are also many years behind the fast growing Asian countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia. What perplexes any right thinking citizen is that our leaders do not seem to care that our country is remaining in the dark ages while other countries are developing and providing necessities to the population and lifting thousands of people out of poverty. Our leaders admire so much the quality of life in the developed countries and wish to spend their holidays in those countries with their families. Why are they not ashamed to visit beautiful and well developed cities of other countries when they are turning Harare and Bulawayo into two huge garbage dumpsites. Mr. President Sir, it took so much hard work and astute leadership to build the beautiful places you so much wish to visit with your family. Why can’t you inspire the development of similar cities here?
We have many natural resources at our disposal which we can use to build Zimbabwe. We have plenty of gold, diamonds, chrome, nickel, lithium, coal, platinum, black granite, copper and list goes on. These resources if properly managed have the potential to uplift the welfare of the entire nation in record time. It, therefore, boggles the mind why we remain poor as a nation, when we are this richly endowed. Zimbabwe by now should be competing with countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, France, Italy and Great Britain. Our main problem is a leadership crisis. We don’t have leaders who are capable, wise, patriotic and sympathetic to the plight of the people. All benefits of our resources are channeled to the pockets of a few greedy individuals who operate as a mafia while the majority of Zimbabweans continue to travel a very rough road, littered with hunger, extreme poverty and hopelessness.
I am looking forward to welcoming back the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe from the diaspora, after next year’s harmonised elections. Among those coming back will be teachers, architects, lawyers, doctors, engineers, professors and many peace loving Zimbabweans. Dr Thomas Mapfumo will be part of those on the great trek back from exile. Mapfumo is a towering hero who has taken a stance of speaking against oppression. He, the voice of the voiceless, has been forced into exile because of numerous threats to his life. Zimbabwe’s sons and daughters will come back to build their country.
The late former First Secretary of ZANU (PF) and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe endorsed Cde Nelson Chamisa to run for office of president. In a way, through its highest office and most respected personality, ZANU (PF) admitted to its failure and endorsed Cde Chamisa for national leadership. This is one of the few things suggested by ZANU (PF), that I can agree with. Of course, prior to that I had agreed with the ideals of the armed struggle against the illegal Ian Smith regime. ZANU (PF) has had numerous opportunities to develop the country but failed. It is time that they leave and we try others.
I am very hopeful that by late 2023, Zimbabwe will be a born again state under a new leadership. The new leadership will restore the lost and abandoned legacy of the music industry. Musicians and all music organizations should brace for the good times to come. Zimbabweans will be counted again among the world’s best performers. We still remember the Bhundu Boys, Lovemore Majaivana, Dorothy Masuku, Thomas Mapfumo, Ambuya Stella Chiweshe and many others who raised the Zimbabwe flag high on international platforms. The good times are soon returning.
The current leaders are leaving national infrastructure to rot. They and their families can access state-of-the-art medical facilities in foreign lands such as Singapore, South Africa, Hong Kong, India and China. Consequently, they have neglected to upgrade local medical facilities for the masses of Zimbabwe. Clearly, as long as the leaders and their cronies can be treated in foreign medical facilities, the ordinary people are condemned to death. All the key pillars of the state are malfunctioning: health, education, agriculture and the judiciary.
The President of Zimbabwe thinks his ascension to the presidency gives him the right to own the national treasury and national resources. He thinks the people and all the resources of the nation belong to him, his wife, his children and his close friends. There is no accountability whatsoever.
The former president said we had lost US$15 billion through corruption in the diamond mining sector but no one was held accountable for it. It is still missing up to this day. There are no investigations to find out what exactly happened. Such huge amounts could have been used to support the health and education sectors. Impunity is the order of the day in Zimbabwe.
If we were to conduct a national survey concerning the welfare of all citizens, we would find that the generality of Zimbabweans is suffering. All they lack is the space to articulate the grievances because TV, radio and the print media are muzzled by government. The only truly free space which has proved to be helpful is social media.
I truly believe that if we choose new leaders in next year’s general elections, that will be the beginning of democracy in Zimbabwe. Cde Nelson Chamisa is a civilian and an advocate. If we elect him President, it will be a big win for Zimbabwe because he will not use weapons of war against the people. I believe he will truly listen to the voice of the people and do away with the system of suffocation and oppression that Zimbabweans have become accustomed to.
It’s not good when a whole country is forced to like and follow a political party. It’s even worse when the nation is coerced and terrorised by freedom fighters who were taught to respect the masses of Zimbabwe. Freedom fighters fought alongside the masses to bring peace and stability to the country. It is the epitome of betrayal if the people who fought for independence are used to suppress the masses by a small group of heartless looters. Why are they being turned against the people whose freedom they must guarantee? Why must we turn against each other to the extent of maiming and killing each other? Freedom fighters must refuse to be used to oppress the masses. All Zimbabweans must not only be free, but also must feel so all the time.