Yesterday, we carried a picture showing part of 70 families allegedly evicted from their homes in Chemagora Resettlement Area in Gokwe by suspected political rivals.
NewsDay Editorial
This is very sad indeed and political leaders should be held responsible for encouraging — covertly or overtly — disharmony in communities.
What Zimbabwe needs right now are not inflammatory political statements or actions.
Communities should be encouraged to live in harmony for the development of the nation.
It is fact that people in both rural and urban communities take their cue from politicians.
In 2008, politicians openly encouraged violence before the presidential run-off and people were beaten, tortured, maimed and, in worse instances, killed.
In the just-ended harmonised elections, politicians preached peace and the polls were held in a peaceful environment.
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Our point here is that overzealous politicians and a few like-minded thugs cause disharmony in communities.
The sad irony is that those at the receiving end are poor members of communities who are at the mercy of hunger, discrimination, poverty and non-existent or unaffordable medical facilities, among other ills and deprivations.
It is sad that such people, who have very little or next to nothing to their names, suffer the fate of having their homes and the little they have destroyed.
Those who grew up in rural communities know the strength of communal bonds that bind people together. It is a pity that such bonds are sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.
Elections came and go, so why should people be encouraged to harm each other as if there is another violent election campaign going on?
People have suffered enough and it is time that they are allowed to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and move forward.
Peace begins in communities — that is where the people are. It is fallacious to assume that there can be national peace devoid of such in communities.
Our duty as citizens of this country is to assist each other to develop the nation for our benefit.
But this is not possible when we destroy each other’s properties or when we kill each other like some primeval race.
Our eyes should be firmly glued on the ball and the ball is neither Zanu PF, MDC-T nor MDC, but national development.
Keeping our eyes on the ball is a sure way of fighting problems that threaten our existence such as poverty, hunger, poor health and educational facilities and corruption, among others.
