Mugabe is trying to run away from the real issues that are causing the population to dwindle. These include: Economic and political migration, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and poor economic growth due to bad policies and no security of tenure.
All these factors are man-made and the Zanu (PF) government is to blame for most of them. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has been allowed to wreck havoc and play its part in population reduction because of the collapse of medical care.
If we look back in the past decade, our economy has been in a decline because of mismanagement, poor policies, corruption and incompetence, all characteristics of the Zanu (PF) regime. When the economy started to decline, people were forced to migrate to other neighbouring countries or other continents to seek greener pastures or do menial jobs just for them to be able to look after themselves and their families.
When they went, they went with their professional skills and also some took their families. Some were left behind and broken and one-parent families are now a common feature. Those who went with their families are multiplying wherever they have been given the right environment to multiply without the fear of an unknown future for the children born.
Then came the Zanu (PF) madness after 2002 when they started the political persecution of anyone perceived to be anti- Mugabe and pro-Tsvangirai. Never under estimate how this has affected the movement of Zimbabweans around the globe. The number of people who have been forced to flee from Zimbabwe because of being Zanu (PF) opponents is just unbelievable. People have been killed, prosecuted, persecuted, tortured or displaced for having different political views. Many have been forced to start new lives in some foreign land.
The Mugabe government has failed to provide basic healthcare. As a result of poverty, women have been forced into prostitution just to be able to provide a plate of food for their children. This prostitution has contributed to the high rate of HIV/AIDS. The Mugabe government has done nothing to control this pandemic that has wrecked havoc amongst its population.
In other countries people are living with the disease and leading a near normal life, but in Zimbabwe, the available medication is a privilege for the few.
Mugabe should not expect women to just produce babies as if they are baby-making machines. Those children need a future. They need education, healthcare, jobs and a stable tomorrow, but in our country these are not guaranteed, they are a privilege for a few and the majority face a bleak future. Mugabe needs to know that it is his policies, poor management of the economy, which lacked vision for the future that is forcing people to have smaller families.
Young people are even afraid to start their own families because they are afraid of the unknown future. Everyone knows that Zimbabwe has got enough resources to be able to sustain more people than they are at the moment, but the wealth is in the hands of a few of Zanu (PF) cronies, so Mr President you can encourage your colleagues and their wives to have as many children as you want and boost the population figures as you can afford.
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis