By Patrick Zhuwao
Dear Moms, Comrade SG. Since the November 2017 coup I have
not been able to visit you and bring you flowers. So today as we commemorate
nine years since your passing on, I am writing this letter to you instead. I am
sorry to tell you that Zimbabweans who were the victims of “kuiitiswa” (being
played) during the coup, are experiencing unprecedented levels of suffering and
poverty. With violent crime spiralling out of control, there is real danger
that the contagion of Zimbabwe’s economic and political meltdown will cause
massive destabilisation within SADC.
As one of the political players who sought to
manage ZANU PF’s leadership transition prior to the coup, I know that some
actions that occurred should not have been allowed to occur, and that some of
the things that should have been done were not done. It is so unfortunate that
we find ourselves in this situation where several of our fellow comrades from
ZANU PF are in exile and compatriots that are in the diaspora are fast losing
hope of returning to Zimbabwe.
Unfortunately, dishonesty in tackling and articulating
issues has become the norm with knavery prevailing in policy prescriptions to
such an extent that hunger, disease and poverty are now endemic. The knaves in
control of the country have collapsed infrastructure with electricity available
only at the dead of night, everything in short supply, and unemployment
rampant.
These knaves have brazenly stolen from
the nation and all Zimbaweans under the guise of the infamous Command
Agriculture Programme. It is shocking that of the US$3 billion that cannot be
accounted for under the Command Agriculture, US$1.7 billion was taken within
twenty days of the coup. These knaves have reversed the gains of the land
reform programme and destroyed the agricultural sector with tobacco seed sales
declining to 54% meaning that foreign currency inflows from tobacco will be
severely curtailed next year.
Civil servants who worked loyally for government are being
dismissed without due process. Those that have remained at work are extremely
demoralised, can barely afford to look after their families, let alone come to
work. Most civil servants have resorted to turning up for work only twice a
week. Service delivery has ground to a halt with birth certificates and
passports not being accessible.
This crisis which encompasses and transcends political,
social and economic dimensions requires the attention and energy of all
Zimbabweans irrespective of political persuasion and affiliation. It is
critical that Zimbabweans work together to reconstruct and rebuild our country.
We need to harness energy from all of our people to work towards saving
Zimbabwe as we get our farmers to produce, resuscitate industry, reopen our
mines, rescue the judiciary, restore the rule of law, and engage the
international community.
As part of my contribution, I am embarking on this third
series of articles, Zhuwao Transformation Brief (ZTB), which seeks to
contribute towards resolving the crisis in Zimbabwe. ZTB will discuss
individual-centred approaches that focus on how to effect real and practical
national transformations within the context of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic and
political realities.
The ZTB is built on two pillars the first of which unpacks
how we were all played (kuitiswa) to extents that ordinarily sober minded
people contributed to and were persuaded to endorse the November 2017 coup. The
second pillar focusses on how to take the lessons of “kuitiswa” to effect real
transformations to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis.
The transformation theme draws heavily on lessons from 2014
from which time most Zimbabweans and the world were subjected to massive
manipulation by a small group of kleptomaniacs. The ZTB will interrogate how to
build personal resilience and strengthen individual livelihood options in ways
that have impact at national levels. It is time to take charge of our personal
and national destinies to free ourselves from the shackles of those who wrongly
think they have control and authority over us.
It must be recognised that there are certain enabling
aspects that are important facilitators for personal transformation and
development. By way of an example, two thirds of our people who are farmers
need to be enabled and facilitated to produce. Such facilitation requires that
our farmers be accorded with title deeds in order to unlock the inherent value
that exists in the land.
#AsanteSana. #IweNeniTineBasa. Umsebenzi lo Umkhulu. Originally published on patrickzhuwao.com
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