The day Poverty was born

On 18 April 1980 citizens celebrated the birth of a new life for themselves in a free country for they had lived under colonial rules for a long time. Everyone thought the life they had longed for, dreamed of was finally around the corner. We were now living the Zimbabwean dream, a country were everyone will be allowed basic human rights like freedom of speech, free and fair elections etc.

People thought this was the time for development building new roads to reach the rural communities but 37 years down the line nothing has been done to our rural roads. The bridges have deteriorated to such an extent that they are not useable. The elderly now walk distances that were previously unheard of to reach clinics and other basic institutions.

Hospitals and clinics have been reduced to mere buildings whereby if you want services at these places you must pay. How can a free country charge for health services?  The staff at these places are so rude to the sick people, but not because they are not professionals in what they do,because they are not happy of their working conditions. Sometimes they go to work not knowing if they will get a pay cheque come month-end.

When it comes to the schools nothing to improve them have been done to them since this country was born, no improvement whatsoever and yet still parents and pupils are forced to pay fees. One wonders were all the fees end up. The universities live nothing to be admired as all the institutions have had one chancellor since independence.  And this chancellor has done nothing to improve them for the past 37 years.

Its not just the universities that have frozen for 37 years a lot of other government departments have done the same including the security of our country,which has seen only 1 commander and chief. For all these years we have seen Mugabe ruling this country with an iron fist doing as he pleases and nothing has been done to change this because the people of Zimbabwe only know Mugabe and no-one else. For 37 years he is the one who has been in control of the country as if he is the one who gave birth to it and all of us.

In other african countries take for instance Zambia, they have had countless presidents which is why Zambia is a developing country whilst Zimbabwe is a deteriorating country. Imagine some one born in 1980 in Zimbabwe, all this person knows in terms of our politics is Mugabe. And the level corruption that Mugabe and his government has shown to these youngsters for 37 years, I wonder what is it going to take to decorrupt/uncorrupt these minds. All they know is corruption or hustling. They cant go  around looking for decent jobs because the government have been destroying the companies for 37 good yrs,instead of encouraging new investors to open more companies.

Surely one can understand that on the 18th of April 1980 poverty was born. Nothing good has been done to our country since that day. Instead if you count the bad thing that have happened you can write a book of bad things that our government have done.

Now instead of celebrating on the 18 of April we must be moaning all the bad things that have happened to Zimbabwe since then. Fellow citizens let us stand and unite against this corrupt regime which has done nothing to us since 1980. All they do is enrich themselves with our resources. Were is the $15 billion that went missing ask me and i will tell you that some people in government know were it is.

Thank you

Chrispen Dhliwayo is a human right activist fighting for the rights everyone especially of youth and the next generation. You can contact me dhliwayochrispen@gmail.com