Monday 18 January 2016

"State of our Union is strong," said President Obama - the lack of the same quality is what makes Zimbabwe weak. By W Mukori

“Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn’t deny Sputnik was up there,” admitted President Barack Obama in his 7th and last State Of The Union Statement.
 
“We didn’t argue about the science, or shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program almost overnight, and twelve years later, we were walking on the moon.”
 
In three short sentences President Obama summed up what has made America great! And, without saying so, what has held back Zimbabwe.
 
Whenever America has had any problem; and it has had many problems throughout its history from the fight for independence, the fight to end slavery, the 1930 economic depression, Second World War, etc.; it has not denied the problem but rather acknowledged it and confronted it head-on! In contrast Zimbabwe has sort to deny the problem and what better example of this than the economy.
 
Other than the first few years after independence, the Zimbabwe economy has been in steady decline for the last 36 years. The root causes of the decline were mismanagement, corruption and lawlessness as exemplified by the violent seizure of the white owned farms to give them to mainly Zanu PF loyalists and the shameless attempt to extend this thievery into private sector with of the indigenisation law in 2008. Instead of addressing these causes the Mugabe regime has even denied the very existences of these problems and blames the economic problems on sanctions, drought and many such feeble excuses and scapegoats.
 
The denials have only given the problems the time and cover to grow and spread. So after three and half decades of doing nothing to end mismanagement, corruption, etc. these problems have spread to every sector of the economy and overwhelming us all. Today the Zimbabwe economy is in such a mess many companies have closed down, unemployment has soared into the stratosphere of 90% plus, the nation is failing to supply basic needs like clean running water, millions are living in abject poverty.
 
The Americans were able to send a man on the moon and have chalked a lot more other achievements since and will continued to do so in future because they have the “can do” attitude.
 
Short changing Zimbabweans has been easy because the great majority of them view themselves as helpless victims who cannot do anything to defend what is rightfully theirs and nowhere is this more graphically illustrated than in politics.
 
Zimbabwe has been independent now for 36 years, has the benefit of centuries of world history and yet the nation is still failing to define what it needs done for free, fair and credible elections. The need for a Police force who will enforce the rule of law without fear or favour, for example, is not rocket science and yet Zimbabweans have failed to demand this during the GNU when the political leaders were called upon to implement democratic reforms.
 
Zimbabweans know the Zimbabwe of criminal economic waste of resources and brutal political oppression and vote rigging is not the Zimbabwe they want. They would have voted Mugabe out of office a long time ago but have failed to do so because the tyrant was able to rig elections time and again, the nation has been stuck with the regime for 36 years now. There were many opportunities for the nation to end Mugabe’s dictatorship, the best chance being during the GNU, but none of these chances were seized and made to count because Zimbabweans lacked the “can do” attitude.
 
“I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people,” concluded President Obama. “And that’s why I stand here, as confident as I have ever been, that the state of our Union is strong!”
 
Zimbabwe is in serious trouble and unless we, the people, seize this opportunity and embrace change, discard our helpless victim mentality and be masters of our own destiny, this country will continue to sink into poverty and hopeless despair.

5 comments:

  1. The Zimbabwean populous have never been never been allowed to feel they have any real political power; not before independence as the white racist regime denied them the vote and after independence they have the voice and a vote but only theory because Zanu PF rigged all the elections.



    If the people had ever had that "I can do" attitude, then what better time to exercise it than in reclaiming their right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country. If there is going to be political change then it would be because Zanu PF has run out of steam and not because the people pressured the regime to change.



    The tragedy is that people have the power to be masters of their own destiny, they are just too lazy to explore the limit of their power and to exercise that power. Cry the beloved country!

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    1. There is no prison made by man that one cannot breakout of if they are determined to do so. Break the person's spirit and they will never break out of prison make of cardboard! Denying Zimbabweans their right to a free and meaningful vote has been easy because the people themselves have never considered it their right but rather a privilege to be granted to some and denied others. So when they were denied the right they did not complain because they half expected it to happen.

      The situation has been compounded by the people's failure to learn what is in their own best interest and use their vote accordingly. It is very common for these people to sell their vote for a T-shirt, a piece of meat or a beer! Yes, cry the beloved country!

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    2. It is true that the country's political systems have not allowed the people to feel that they have power to be masters of their own destinies but admittedly the Zimbabwean people have never in the country's history kicked the door in demanding their freedom, human rights and dignity. Indeed there are many times when the door was left open for them to grab their freedom and assert their rights and no one walked in.

      Knock and the door shall be opened for you; ask and you will be given. The people of Zimbabwe have not knocked at the door or asked for freedom and human rights it is not surprising then that they have been denied these things. Indeed the people have denied themselves freedom and human rights. May be when they have suffered enough they will finally stand up and demand freedom, justice and all their other birth rights!

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    3. @ Zimbabwelight

      Could not agree with you more! The lesson Zimbabweans must learn and learn fast is that they have the power to end this corrupt and tyrannical dictatorship but they are not going to exercise that power as long as they have their heads buried in leaders like Mugabe, Mujuru, Tsvangirai and others' backsides. They need to take a deep breath of fresh air and clear their minds so they can start to think again.

      We are in this mess because our people have followed President Mugabe and then Tsvangirai blindly like sheep to the slaughter; that must stop!

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  2. America's founding fathers and mothers believed in freedom and human rights as something they wanted for themselves and their children but more significantly they also realized that the best way to secure these things was to make sure they are enjoyed by all and not just the lucky few in power. The same cannot be said of this Zanu PF and MDC lot! It does not mat-ter how much they speak against corruption and tyrannical dictatorship; they minute they are in power they are on the lookout for opportunities to cream off the public purse for selfish gain and as leaders they belief they must be above the law.

    Having a population that has accepted that the country is fated to have corrupt and tyrannical tyrants has only helped to cement the failed state status quo! Most Zimbabweans have never spent as much as a single hour in their whole life fighting for a democratic Zimbabwe many have spent most of their time fighting for a share of the loot instead!

    Some people were surprised that President Mugabe was able to bribe not just some of the MDC leaders but all of them, for example. He did that with greatest of easy and kept them faithful to him for five long years too so that not even one democratic reform was implement-ed. The explanation is simple enough; MDC leaders saw their being in the GNU as their chance to grab any share of the loot and Mugabe took full advantage of their greed.

    Mugabe has done the same thing with his own Zanu PF friends, he offered them a share of the absolute power and of the luxuries the nation has to offer and they all forgot what the lib-eration struggle was about freedom, liberty and justice for all Zimbabweans. As long as they had a share of the loot they did not care about the suffering masses languishing in poverty and despair.

    It was only when Mujuru, Mutasa and other lost their prime positions on the feeding trough that they once again remember the suffering masses just as MDC leaders have done after the rigged 2013 elections. The people will be foolish to allow themselves to be so easily conned again by the likes of Mujuru and Tsvangirai! It would be folly, even for a people with such a fatalistic and low opinion of themselves!

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