Tendai Ruben Mbofana
There are moments when I sit quietly and watch little babies—innocent, pure, full of life.
One cannot help being captivated by their cuteness, their wide-eyed wonder, their angelic smiles.
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They are undeniably adorable, full of promise and untarnished potential.
And yet, even in those beautiful moments, a strange and haunting thought crosses my mind.
What if this sweet, tender soul one day becomes a heartless criminal?
What if they unleash untold havoc on their community—a menace to the very society into which they were born?
Or worse still, what if they become one of those ruthless tyrants—cold, calculating, and cruel—who devastate nations, destroy livelihoods, and torment the very people they are entrusted to lead?
It is one of those painful paradoxes of life.
How does something so precious, so full of life and warmth, transform into something so dark, so wicked, so abominable?
I confess I do not understand. And I doubt I ever fully will.
Is it a matter of upbringing gone wrong?
A life circumstance that poisoned the soul?
Is it a spiritual affliction, perhaps even a case of demonic possession?
These are not easy questions, but they are real, and they haunt me when I reflect on what our country has become at the hands of its so-called leaders.
I look at these men and women—many of whom have brought unspeakable suffering upon this land—and I try, with great difficulty, to imagine that they were once innocent babies too.
They were once cradled in the arms of proud parents, admired by neighbours and strangers alike, with bright eyes and beaming smiles.
What happened?
How does someone go from being that sweet, cuddly child to the cold-hearted adult who sees nothing wrong with jailing a sickly editor simply for allowing a satirical piece to be published—one that merely pokes fun at a leader who evidently cannot take a joke?
What sort of leader is so paranoid, so insecure, that he sees a joke as a threat, and responds with imprisonment?
What manner of man is so obsessed with control that he is prepared to crush anyone who dares question him, even if it means dragging them to their deaths?
What does it say of a person who feels no shame in stealing the wealth of a nation—stripping a country of its resources to enrich himself, his family, and his loyalists—while hospitals go without basic painkillers, let alone cancer machines?
How does a human being sleep at night knowing that thousands of mothers die in childbirth each year due to ill-equipped maternity wards, or that cancer patients perish slowly and painfully because there are no radiotherapy machines in public hospitals?
How does someone justify allowing such cruelty and negligence while his own children travel overseas for treatment, and his associates live in obscene luxury, dripping with stolen wealth?
How does one look in the mirror, knowing he has condemned over 80 percent of his fellow citizens to poverty—knowing that countless children are dropping out of school, going to bed hungry, and growing up in hopelessness?
How does a person live with themselves when they watch a nation’s youth turn to drug abuse, crime, and desperation—not because they are bad or lazy, but because the country they call home has offered them no future, no opportunity, no reason to hope?
This is the kind of evil that defies understanding.
It is the kind of cold-heartedness that makes me look at the adorable babies in our communities and wonder what they will grow up to become.
Will they grow up to repeat this tragic cycle?
Will they become the next generation of tormentors, rulers without mercy, thieves without conscience?
But amidst all these questions and grief, there is one truth that brings me comfort and strength: there is a God in heaven.
No matter how powerful these wicked leaders believe they are—no matter how untouchable they seem, how invincible they portray themselves—there is One who is greater than them.
His name is Jehovah. He is the Lord Almighty. And He does not sleep.
He does not look away when the poor are being crushed, when the powerless are being silenced, when the righteous are being punished.
He sees. He hears. And He will act.
The evil men and women who govern us may believe that they are beyond consequence, that they can steal and destroy and silence and kill with impunity.
But that is a delusion.
They are not gods. They are not immortal.
They are not in control.
They are only deceiving themselves.
For there is One who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth—Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.
And He is not indifferent to our suffering.
He is not blind to the tears of our people.
He is not deaf to the cries of the broken, the prayers of the desperate, the groanings of the nation.
What glory is there in bullying the weak?
What pride can one take in tormenting those who have no voice?
That is not strength—it is cowardice.
That is not leadership—it is spiritual rot.
These so-called leaders, who rob the country and persecute its people, may boast in their wealth and power today.
But they will not escape the hand of God forever.
The cries of the innocent are prayers before the throne of heaven, and one day, Jehovah will answer.
One day, justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
So even as I grieve over what we have become—even as I struggle to comprehend how babies become beasts—I hold fast to the knowledge that God is not mocked.
He is watching. And He will repay.
Until that day comes, I will not lose hope.
I will not be silent.
And I will not stop believing that truth, justice, and righteousness will have the final word in our country.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/