EDITORIAL
THE announcement by university lecturers that they are now incapacitated in the discharge of their professional duties as their earnings have significantly been eroded due to the economic meltdown could become a chorus across all the sectors of the economy.
In fact, their situation is symptomatic of the entire civil service as the government’s reluctance to implement the necessary political and economic reforms makes the situation in the country untenable.
The rate at which the local RTGS dollar is losing value against the United States dollar on the open market is proof that government’s “scratch-surface” efforts to resolve the economic crisis and lip-service without accompanying action are not working.
We have always known that lip-service would not work. The lack of sincerity is just glaring and citizens are not fooled.
Any right-thinking politician should be able to see that there is a need to make certain painful compromises, unless the powers-that-be are only interested in holding on to power for the sake of power, rather than as a means to improve ordinary citizens’ livelihoods.
What is apparent is that government officials are not moved by what people are experiencing. But given that they have unfettered access to State resources, they are unlikely to take the painful steps they know they should.
Unfortunately, the austerity for prosperity rants are just meant to fool citizens to believe their pain is temporary and necessary for the reforms that will lead them to the land of “milk and honey”, yet the powerful are not sharing the burden of the pain.
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This cannot and will not work, simple!
Zimbabwe is desperate for genuine leaders that have the interests of the people and the nation at heart, rather than crooks and pretenders out to share the national cake among themselves, with no thought for the poor man in the street.
It is against this background that even lecturers at State universities have given notice of incapacitation, and it’s highly likely that many will follow suit.
It is crying shame that the current government just continued on the destructive path from where former President Robert Mugabe left.
They have blown away a golden opportunity to make things right because corruption, incompetence and cronyism have remained very much a part of the system, regardless of all the talk about the “Second Republic”.
We believe, though, that there is still time to do the right thing. But are those who hold the levers of State power willing to reform even if it will cost them privilege and access to filthy lucre?
