Opinion / Columnist
#ThisCity gains momentum
14 Jul 2016 at 12:00hrs | Views
Unravelling the marriage of convenience between "shut-up and shutdown" in #ThisCity!
For too long the politically motivated "shut-up" and economically charged "shutdown" have co-operated in such an evil marriage within #ThisCity to deliver unimaginable proportions of economic marginalisation or otherwise! Could we be witnessing their nasty public divorce at a much macro level? In this article, may I warn that I would definitely write what I want to say, or what others have said before, if not what some people would have said better regarding #ThisCity, the city of KwaBulawayo!
This is indeed an opportune time to remind some people in those abused strategic echelons of only political power (clearly without economic power) that the heatwave that is seemingly turning things up in the whole country especially currently under the inspiration of #ThisFlag movement was not merely a storm in a tea cup in #ThisCity. With due credit given to collective efforts that seek to awaken certain parts of the whole country, or consciences in certain people that had deliberately chosen to be ignorant, to some of us it is now but only amplified voices of a long struggle in #ThisCity.
May I mention early enough that I have never set my foot in Harare in my lifetime of over three decades, so my narrative can only be so near yet so far from #ThatCity! In a simplistic and micro perspective, Zimbabwe can easily be accurately defined from the tale of these two cities. As it was during the times of King Lobengula and Cecil John Rhodes, that course of history that led to full throttle colonisation and imperialism can be understood as playing itself out between Salisbury and KwaBulawayo.
Take note, when King Lobengula in his wisdom emotionally shutdown Bulawayo, the imperialists did not take even the ash remains of KwaBulawayo to Salisbury, but in their wisdom or lack thereof, helped to rebuild it for a multivariate reasons. It has always been a strategic city for a myriad of reasons. Should there be any known tribal city in the country at the moment, it absolutely cannot be KwaBulawayo. #ThisCity has always been the melting pot of various cultures and languages even during the times of King Mzilikazi and King Lobengula with a people in peaceful co-existence.
We are no strangers to the power of unity and peaceful co-existence. We are actually more than qualified as a people in #ThisCity to lecture others on the benefits of true unity and absolute peace. The point here is that any issues or concerns as ever expressed even through peaceful civil disobedience from the city of Kings and Queens were, shall and must never be tribal, but real practical issues on the ground.
Make no mistake, without a disregard of evil forces that have polarised the nation to an extent of the "us" and "them" ideological standoff, we have always understood that the economic hardships as we faced them in KwaBulawayo could be traced to irrational, skewed and disempowering decisions mainly political and economical in their nature as made by ‘distant forces' across the Shangani River.
Initially it was a "shut-up" response to most of these sentiments to silence the so called dissenting or divisive voices particularly through brutal means and in any form possible. As if that was not enough, then came the economic "shutdown" to marry with the shut-up strategy as the only preferred manner to address the many other genuine issues that had been raised. And fate has it on record that in such a situation, the definite outcome will be the extreme marginalisation of the specific people concerned and the general masses affected.
This shut-up formula having been tried and tested in #ThisCity was scaled to other parts of the country, and it has been a faithful servant to its masters. Although in some parts of the country it may only have been a tactic that was meant to just maintain the "shut-up" approach in itself, it has been justified by that we know nothing about the liberation struggle. The worse claim from other corridors has been that we or our forefathers never participated in such a freedom struggle. By the way, one-year experience repeated 36-times is not equivalent to thirty-six years of experience. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, he put it to us that doing the same thing over and over again, and then expecting different results is insanity ("a moment of madness").
Therefore, people must indeed reclaim and possess the full freedom of their cities and villages. This is the prerequisite condition to realise the full potential of economic power and ultimate gains of political freedom. These necessary conditions of the power matrix are the basic foundations to build sustainable systems that can capture the imagination and hopes of the people for many years.
Having said that, we now need to purposefully work meticulously on our facts and figures. These days it is very clear that the better devil is obviously in the data and numbers. Basic statistical figures and independent economic data must be researched and published no matter how embarrassing they may appear. We must establish what I can call Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP), for in the accuracy of such nano-figures in that vital component shall we know and trust the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data of the country. They will always tell us the full story as ordinary citizens in order to challenge propaganda and any ulterior motives that are retrogressive. In that way, #ThisCity and ultimately #ThisNation will begin to breakthrough the curse of many years.
May I caution as well that inasmuch as a closed door is not a shut door per se, so a politically closed firm should not necessarily be taken as an economically shutdown firm. A people with economic power need minimal political power to sustain themselves against all odds, and yet those with political power always need maximum economic power to remain relevant. Ngiyabonga mina! May God bless us all. We shall overcome!
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This article has been written in a personal capacity for the awakening of ordinary citizens by Mthokozisi Ndiweni. He is an emerging young professional pursuing to be fully qualified as a Decision Scientist and Economist, and about to complete his studies for a BCom in Quantitative Management and Economics at UNISA. He can be contacted on ndixam@gmail.com .
For too long the politically motivated "shut-up" and economically charged "shutdown" have co-operated in such an evil marriage within #ThisCity to deliver unimaginable proportions of economic marginalisation or otherwise! Could we be witnessing their nasty public divorce at a much macro level? In this article, may I warn that I would definitely write what I want to say, or what others have said before, if not what some people would have said better regarding #ThisCity, the city of KwaBulawayo!
This is indeed an opportune time to remind some people in those abused strategic echelons of only political power (clearly without economic power) that the heatwave that is seemingly turning things up in the whole country especially currently under the inspiration of #ThisFlag movement was not merely a storm in a tea cup in #ThisCity. With due credit given to collective efforts that seek to awaken certain parts of the whole country, or consciences in certain people that had deliberately chosen to be ignorant, to some of us it is now but only amplified voices of a long struggle in #ThisCity.
May I mention early enough that I have never set my foot in Harare in my lifetime of over three decades, so my narrative can only be so near yet so far from #ThatCity! In a simplistic and micro perspective, Zimbabwe can easily be accurately defined from the tale of these two cities. As it was during the times of King Lobengula and Cecil John Rhodes, that course of history that led to full throttle colonisation and imperialism can be understood as playing itself out between Salisbury and KwaBulawayo.
Take note, when King Lobengula in his wisdom emotionally shutdown Bulawayo, the imperialists did not take even the ash remains of KwaBulawayo to Salisbury, but in their wisdom or lack thereof, helped to rebuild it for a multivariate reasons. It has always been a strategic city for a myriad of reasons. Should there be any known tribal city in the country at the moment, it absolutely cannot be KwaBulawayo. #ThisCity has always been the melting pot of various cultures and languages even during the times of King Mzilikazi and King Lobengula with a people in peaceful co-existence.
We are no strangers to the power of unity and peaceful co-existence. We are actually more than qualified as a people in #ThisCity to lecture others on the benefits of true unity and absolute peace. The point here is that any issues or concerns as ever expressed even through peaceful civil disobedience from the city of Kings and Queens were, shall and must never be tribal, but real practical issues on the ground.
Initially it was a "shut-up" response to most of these sentiments to silence the so called dissenting or divisive voices particularly through brutal means and in any form possible. As if that was not enough, then came the economic "shutdown" to marry with the shut-up strategy as the only preferred manner to address the many other genuine issues that had been raised. And fate has it on record that in such a situation, the definite outcome will be the extreme marginalisation of the specific people concerned and the general masses affected.
This shut-up formula having been tried and tested in #ThisCity was scaled to other parts of the country, and it has been a faithful servant to its masters. Although in some parts of the country it may only have been a tactic that was meant to just maintain the "shut-up" approach in itself, it has been justified by that we know nothing about the liberation struggle. The worse claim from other corridors has been that we or our forefathers never participated in such a freedom struggle. By the way, one-year experience repeated 36-times is not equivalent to thirty-six years of experience. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, he put it to us that doing the same thing over and over again, and then expecting different results is insanity ("a moment of madness").
Therefore, people must indeed reclaim and possess the full freedom of their cities and villages. This is the prerequisite condition to realise the full potential of economic power and ultimate gains of political freedom. These necessary conditions of the power matrix are the basic foundations to build sustainable systems that can capture the imagination and hopes of the people for many years.
Having said that, we now need to purposefully work meticulously on our facts and figures. These days it is very clear that the better devil is obviously in the data and numbers. Basic statistical figures and independent economic data must be researched and published no matter how embarrassing they may appear. We must establish what I can call Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP), for in the accuracy of such nano-figures in that vital component shall we know and trust the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data of the country. They will always tell us the full story as ordinary citizens in order to challenge propaganda and any ulterior motives that are retrogressive. In that way, #ThisCity and ultimately #ThisNation will begin to breakthrough the curse of many years.
May I caution as well that inasmuch as a closed door is not a shut door per se, so a politically closed firm should not necessarily be taken as an economically shutdown firm. A people with economic power need minimal political power to sustain themselves against all odds, and yet those with political power always need maximum economic power to remain relevant. Ngiyabonga mina! May God bless us all. We shall overcome!
-------------
This article has been written in a personal capacity for the awakening of ordinary citizens by Mthokozisi Ndiweni. He is an emerging young professional pursuing to be fully qualified as a Decision Scientist and Economist, and about to complete his studies for a BCom in Quantitative Management and Economics at UNISA. He can be contacted on ndixam@gmail.com .
Source - Mthokozisi Ndiweni
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