Celebrating new hope and anticipation for better prospects of life at independence in Zimbabwe in 1980, the honeymoon was probably cut short too soon in 1990 when the government implemented the Bretton Woods engineered Economic Structural Adjustment Programme. As if to make sure the new baby would not taste adulthood, nature was handy to cement the downfall with a severe drought. A people proud of eating their staple white sadza was reduced to eating yellow sadza christened “Kenya”. Since then many calamities have befallen this promising country, probably with a potential to be the best habitation only second to the Garden of Eden. These seemingly austere conditions have been explained and interpreted from diverse opinions from the church to spirit mediums, from philosophers to politicians. Where are we coming from, where are we and where are we going?
For purposes of a recap and for those born after the turning point, we need to look at yesterday. After independence boreholes were sunk in rural communities, dams constructed, clinics and hospitals were built, many schools were built; the reason why we boast of the highest literacy rate in Africa. There was life at growth points and many other successful projects were implemented. Today some of the projects are white elephants or in severe states of disintegration. However, a brief look at the lives people are leading shows that it is a mixed bag of opportunities. Media reports say 75% of the population currently lives below the poverty datum line which means a quarter of the population is doing well. Of course there are those who are enjoying life, who would not want the current scenario to change. In this presentation allow me to lay the basis for hope for this beautiful nation. I will return next week to wrap it up, but in the meantime help me answer the following question. Who has failed Zimbabwe; is it God? (Answer, certainly no.) Who then; is it the media, church, politicians, technocrats, academia, society or simply you and me?
Before we go any further, we all have hope that it will be OK. The question that many want answered is, when and how? The slippery slope created opportunities for some and shattered dreams for others. The elderly who were banking on their life assurance policies and pensions to buy houses and cars upon retirement were reduced to beggars. Some got so little pension just enough for bus fare to pick the cheque at the head office in the capital city, Harare. They are now living on pension just enough to get them to town and buy grocery to last them a day or two. Then we have the younger generation that was quick to think and went to other nations — the Diaspora community — in search of better life. The Diaspora was handy even for those who would never have owned a house in the city let alone in the affluent suburbs. Those that were going to die without driving now have multiple cars. Many hoped for a quick return home, but it seems they are not yet on the next flight back home. We still have some trickling in yet there are others moving out. But on average I think the majority of Zimbabweans are looking forward to a dispensation where they can thrive in their homeland.
I am writing today to you at home in the land of stone that the builders rejected that will hopefully become the chief cornerstone and to you all in the Diaspora who have hope for their motherland. I wont forget you all of various ethnicities and ancestry who have settled in Zimbabwe over the generations. Don’t throw tantrums on anyone nor try to remove the specks in the eyes of those you deem stumbling blocks through the lense of the logs in your own eyes. If my interpretation of various stories carried in various media publications is correct, then from a political position Zanu PF thinks the end of MDC is the solution whereas MDC says the demise of Zanu PF is the answer.
With all engineers, professors, doctors and many learned and gifted people we have, have we concluded to live in poverty while sitting on the richest land in the world? I was in stitches the other day when I just made a routine check on two profiles of my Facebook friends. They say they don’t hold any of these doctorates, but simply went to university of common sense and strategy formulation and implementation. Coupled with the grace of God they are making it. Imagine all the think-tanks we have in Zimbabwe, but we fail to load enough coal or channel water to turn turbines to electrify a small country like ours. I speak and wish well to this great nation, we are going somewhere.
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