That all changed last week. Obviously sensing defeat, Zanu (PF) seems to have gone into panic mode. Its leader, Robert Mugabe, is now threatening war if people decide they have had enough of Zanu’s misrule. Most of the people we talk to feel it is time for change. Zanu has no vision for the future. The party is only offering rear-view policies: “We fought for this country”, “We freed you from the colonialists” etc.
But when we take a long, hard look at the past 33 years we see corruption, violence, unemployment, greed and suffering. We see Zanu fatcats and those connected to them driving their gleaming new cars to the ill-gotten farms they occupy, building mansions and buying towns and cities while the majority of people wallow in poverty.
To add insult to injury we are told Zimbabweans are poor because of “sanctions”. The so-called “sanctions” were targeted at the fatcats who have prospered under those sanctions while the rest of the population, which was never targeted, suffered.
We see Zimbabweans being forced to attend Zanu rallies against their wishes. Shops are forced to close when the big man is holding a rally in town. Cars have to pull off the road because he likes driving in the middle at high speed, surrounded by vehicles bristling with machine funds.
Today Zimbabweans are poorer than they were in 1953. Zanu’s answer is to promise to grab companies once the elections are over. They do not tell us how this will create employment for the masses. Thirteen years ago they grabbed the commercial farms and shared them out among themselves. Widespread hunger, the virtual collapse of industry, massive unemployment and the need for massive western donor aid was the result. Now they plan to grab companies and share them out among themselves.
But Zimbabweans are no fools. They will vote this rotten lot out.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga