WHEN we grew up in the rural areas a long time ago, after supper, we would usually huddle around the fireplace. Our grandmother used to tell us folktales.
By Tafara Shungu, Our Reader
No one wanted to miss those stories because most of them were funny and they taught us different lessons.
I remember one day it was in winter and, as usual, we were all around the fireplace waiting for grandma to tell us her usual stories. “Once upon a time,” she started, “there was a troublesome hyena. Everyday it made sure that it killed either a goat or cattle in the neighbourhood.
“It became a problem that all the families in that village agreed to construct only one cattle pen that could accommodate all the livestock. On this one cattle pen, boys would take duties to guard the livestock every night such that the hyenas failed to attack anything.
“The decision was made after the hyena had just weaned its cubs. On the fourth day, the hyena and its cubs were all very hungry as they had gone for days now without food. Mother hyena thought of feasting on her cubs, but there was a challenge on which one it would start with and how. She came up with an idea that whenever she wanted to kill her cubs, she would say out the phrase, pane anhuwa mbudzi, (someone around here smells like a goat) and start to attack the cubs as they would be panicking.”
I have been reminded of this story by the Zanu PF politics of today. Zanu PF was fond of accusing MDC-T or the late opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in particular.
As we speak, the government chased away all vendors from the central business district, but the vendors are simply asking for a place where they can do their business as they do not have any means of survival. On this, the same ruling government is saying, MDC-T is involved in this decision.
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Please, can the ruling party stop this nonsense of feasting on its own children and face the people to hear their concerns.
During election campaigns, Zanu PF promised people two million jobs, but ever since, people have been losing jobs, with the unemployment rate increasing. People cannot sit and watch their families die.
