When a government abandons its citizens because it claims to be bankrupt such that it cannot fly them back into the country, shows our political leaders have reneged on their constitutional role to discharge their duty to protect citizens in terms of the law.
NewsDay Comment
In fact, it shows how far the Zanu PF government has gone rogue by mortgaging the whole nation to its surrogates who have benefited from the ruling party’s gravy train over the years. It is not surprising that many “tenderpreneurs” who claim to love President Robert Mugabe are doing so to protect their ill-gotten wealth.
It was not surprising then that Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi could claim that government did not have money to bring 32 of the over 200 women trapped in Kuwait after falling victim to human trafficking. Yet government always charters Air Zimbabwe planes for Mugabe to gallivant around the world with his entourages at the expense of the nation.
If anything, most of Mugabe’s many foreign trips have yielded nothing. According to Section 35 (3a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, all citizens are entitled “to the protection of the State wherever they maybe”. It, therefore, boggles the mind how government can expect the impoverished parents or relatives of the trapped women to finance their trips home.
Surely if government can afford to blow millions of dollars on Mugabe’s travels in foreign lands that mostly yield nothing, what harm would it give just to spare a little for the suffering citizens? Is it not true that they did not go to Kuwait to seek greener pastures as such, but to look for basics because Zanu PF has turned the country into a barren land due to their scorched-earth policies?
It defies logic how the Zanu PF government treats its desperate citizens now being used as sex slaves. What a shame.
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This is disgraceful as this effectively condemns the women to an unbearable existence in a foreign land — a move that is an embarrassment to the nation. It is a fact that a government that fails to protect its citizens and ensure their safety when they are facing grave danger is not only useless, but against the very same people it claims to represent.
This is unfortunate especially with the way Zanu PF and government pampers its top officials, and with Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko having spent over a year living it up in an upmarket hotel following his appointment, refusing to move into a government house.
And when the Zanu PF government is reminded of its obligation and warned against its misrule and misplaced priorities, the party leadership claims otherwise.
It is time for Zimbabweans to hold Mugabe accountable for these misdeeds and great leadership betrayal to protect the nation for this malaise.
