Tendai Ruben Mbofana
I am not standing outside in this nippy weather to admire the breathtaking stars and visible planets decorating the night sky – though, such a marvel is worthy of wonder and adoration – but, there is no electricity in our small town, and just to let off steam of the obvious intense irritation and frustration at this incessant occurrence, I decided to walk out and maybe have a word or two with our God in the sky.
Why do Zimbabweans appear as some of the most cursed people on this planet?
Why do we have to face daily struggles with things that should be taken for granted in normal countries?
Surely, do citizens of other nations always have to brace themselves for daily struggles of not having electricity with maddening frequency, or needing to fetch water from boreholes miles away on every other day – whilst, being regularly haunted by nightmares of a lack of money for basic necessities whose prices increase beyond the reach of the majority as if on cue, demanded from paltry earnings that even school children in other countries would refuse for pocket money?
In a country where jobs are as scarce as the proverbial needle in a haystack, and most of us forced to scrounge for a living, from a life of hand to mouth – some resorting to begging from friends and family in the diaspora, who have kept many Zimbabwean heads above water, and literally alive for the past two decades.
Can anyone else anywhere on this planet ever relate to such sickening and apparently god-forsaken depths of suffering and poverty?
I am quite sure that, there are those who may endure prolonged hours of the lack of electricity, as a result of their own challenges in that sector – but, still being able to afford decent meals, can fill up their cars with fuel (possessing the capacity to purchase motor vehicles, in the first place), and basically live a relatively comfortable livelihood.
That is to be expected – since no country on earth can be totally spared from life’s problems.
However, Zimbabwe – for a place not even at war – scoops the trophy in the failed state competition, a feat made more disgraceful by the fact that, war-torn nations as Syria actually have lower inflation figures, and are faring better.
So, why, why, why are Zimbabweans seemingly fated for a life of untold misery from the word go?
There are countries in our region that have walked a similar path of liberation struggles, subsequently having these movements as their governments after attaining their independence – yet, no matter what challenges they have faced (and, still face), at no time did they endure the insufferable curse of Zimbabwe.
They do not have a regime whose main, if not only, obsession appears holding on to power by any means necessary.
Which governing party in the southern Africa region expends as much time and energy as ZANU PF plotting, crafting, and enacting laws that are solely intended to restrict citizens’ freedoms and liberty – rather than, putting in place measures designed for improving the livelihoods of ordinary citizens, which in turn, will inevitably result in the ruling elite garnering the overwhelming public support they so crave to stay in office?
Where in the world do we find national leaders crisscrossing the globe in search of weapons of war – for a country not in conflict – yet, the population needlessly perishing due to the unavailability of crucial medical treatment, which can only be accessed by the rich and powerful?
In which country do they have the misfortune of a ruling elite whose only “talent” is looting rhe nation’s resources with reckless abandon – running down state-owned entities, and enriching themselves with our collective mineral wealth, whilst the ordinary people wallow in abject poverty?
Takatadzeyi chokwadi kusvorwa nepasi zvakadai – what wrong did we commit to be laughed at by the gods and be led into the wicked and blood-thirsty hands of the ZANU PF regime?
How come other people in countries all around us are living in relative comfort and peace – whilst we live in fear of being shot dead for merely crying out in hunger?
Do we not flee to those nations – most of whom we are no longer welcome, and are regularly brutalized out of sheer xenophobic hatred – but, have witnessed with our eyes how their own leaders treat them with some semblance of respect, even though a measure of challenges is still prevalent?
I look again into the dark night sky, and ask – what have the people of Zimbabwe done to be cursed with this ZANU PF government?
Tatadzeiko?
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, researcher, and social commentator. Please feel free to contact him on WhatsApp/Call: +263715667700 / +263782283975, or Calls Only: +263788897936 / +263733399640, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
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