It is a time to reflect; a time to re-dedicate ourselves to the principles that bind us together. It’s a time to rejoice; a time to celebrate the memory of that wonderful day whenever the nation cast off its bondage to whatever was oppressing the people.
In our case it should be a happy celebration of that day in 1980 when we finally cast off the shackles of colonialism, racial discrimination and inequality.
But there won’t be much celebrating across Zimbabwe on Saturday – the 35thanniversary of April 18, 1980. Most Zimbabweans can’t even afford to celebrate. We have been reduced to paupers. There is unprecedented unemployment. Local companies are closing down by the day. Would-be foreign investors are giving the country a wide berth largely because of policy inconsistencies.
Education, once the envy of Africa, is now second rate and unaffordable to most. The well-heeled and the politically well-connected send their children to foreign lands for tertiary education.
Health for all remains a pipedream. The Mugabe family avoids our hospitals and prefers Singapore and Malaysia. The Zimbabwean taxpayer foots the bill for their expensive health tourism to these distant lands.
Our human rights record is appalling. Government critics disappear in broad daylight and are never seen again. We have a government that does not respect the rule of law. Court orders are ignored with impunity.
The clarion call for housing for all by the year 2000 was stillborn. Nobody mentions it as lists of desperate home-seekers grow longer by the day.
Fat, high net-worth individuals in ministerial suits, driving big fancy vehicles, boast that Zimbabwe has been endowed with abundant minerals. We watch as our new colonial masters rape the country and export our wealth. We are told it’s ok. These are our friends. The taxman gets nothing out of it. He squeezes the ragged vendors and their hungry children; anyone in sight, as companies can’t pay any more.
We were told “the land is the economy and the economy is land.” We have had the land since 2000 and the economy has disappeared. Despite having abundant, fertile land, the country has not been able to feed itself since the chaotic land invasions started over a decade ago.
Sovereignty means nothing when your livelihood has been destroyed and your children are hungry.
Post published in: News