THE Nigerians have a true proverb, well captured in Chinua Achebe’s all-time classic, Things Fall Apart, which states: “The toad does not run in the daytime for nothing; if you see a toad running in the day time, know that something is after its life.”
And perhaps the equivalent of this axiom back home is this: “Something else would have killed it; an owl does not succumb to the wind.” The rationale in these truisms is clear.
There are certain things which do not commonly occur; things whose occurrence under normal circumstances is very remote and whose prevalence can only indicate something gone wrong.
Recent reports signifying an upsurge in divorce and suicide rates surely cannot be the result of natural consequences, but the spectacle of a deep-rooted problem stalking the nation.
Indeed, we should never underestimate the everyday problems bedevilling the institution of marriage neither should we ignore the individual factors that drive people to suicide.
It is true that some couples are simply incompatible. Also, some who enter marriage with high expectations find themselves at the High Court sooner rather than later.
It would also be myopic to downplay that some people, for various reasons, plunge into the unenviable act of suicide. Even domestic violence has always existed since time immemorial.
However, what raises a stink as things stand are the shocking figures; the courts have been overwhelmed.
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Come to think of it, just between January and July this year, High Court records indicate that a staggering 1 102 couples registered to end their marriages at the High Court in Harare and Bulawayo. This effectively translates to 157 couples divorcing every month and 40 divorcing every week.
Harare, so far, has officially terminated 129 marriages while Bulawayo has annulled 44 marriages. Chief among the reasons of divorces has been the citation of irreconcilable differences. The story is hardly different in family relations; homes have come to resemble mini war zones. Cases of domestic violence, legally dealt with under the Domestic Violence Act, continue to shoot up the roof.
Not a day passes without cases of assault being reported in the media between couples. The story is the same with suicide records. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency records indicate a worrisome trend in the increase of suicides over the last few months. A non-governmental organisation, Varume Svinurai/Vukani Madoda, said its research had shown that 55% of suicide cases in Zimbabwe were committed by men.
The organisation attributed the rising suicide cases to stress related to breadwinning roles and the general expectations by society where men must provide for families even in the face of the socio-economic crisis.
People are burdened with bills and other living expenses yet they have no money.
It is common knowledge that the Zimbabwean economy continues on a free-fall. What with the ill-timed recent labour ruling. With close to 90% of Zimbabwean adults not working, the turmoil in marriages and people’s lives can only be imagined.
Those who have studied sociology will understand that there is no mystery here. It is a well-known psychological and sociological fact that economic depression gives birth to a plethora of social ills, some of which I have not mentioned.
To digress a bit, economic depression is known to produce forth delinquency and prostitution at a massive scale.
This is also one reason why substance abuse and crime has amplified in recent years as youths and the unemployed majority try to find solace or eke out a living. Our people have now assumed the status of the region’s criminals.
There is a strong co-relation between economic hardship and social decline. Sociologists maintain that the breakdown of the family unit at a colossal scale is the direct offshoot of economic depression.
Under normal circumstances, suicides are fairly common but occurring on a here-and-there basis, but for suicides to become commonplace as is currently happening reflects an underlying cause. No sane person would want to take away their lives; no one would look forward to their day of death, but the rate at which suicides are being reported can only point to something gone terribly wrong. Society has never had social disharmony at this enormous rate.
As the economy dips and men’s fortunes plunge, conflict and divorce rates increase. By nature, men are supposed to be providers and as they fail to provide for their families, the higher the likelihood of domestic rows. Stress and misery levels run havoc and children become vulnerable owing to divorces.
At the other extreme, the economic paralysis is largely responsible for the sprouting of religious charlatans who are feeding on the hopelessness of Zimbabweans, people cashing in on desperate souls.
Prosperity prophets have become the convenient and useful diversionary tool for politicians, making Zimbabweans believe that their misfortunes are a result of some mythical curses when it is simply the ailing economy that needs attention. Instead of people demanding economic answers from the government, their attention has been distracted to imaginary curses.
It is very sad and remains so when lives have to be lost unnecessarily through suicides and marriages are needlessly destroyed while our leaders bicker and jostle for power and personal gain ignoring the burning economy.
Learnmore Zuze is an author, law officer and social analyst. He writes here in his own capacity. E-mail: [email protected]
