Opinion / Letters
Open letter to the people of Zimbabwe
28 Nov 2017 at 14:53hrs | Views
My fellow citizens
I believe congratulations are in order, for the first time in 37 years we have a new president! For some of us born after independence, this is the first time we are seeing a new president, and do forgive us for the euphoria. Robert Mugabe's name had become synonymous with the term "president" that a child would be forgiven for asking ‘who is the president Mugabe of South Africa?" We have been in a celebratory mood for the last couple of days and that is okay, but however I believe, the celebrations have to stop and the critical work of rebuilding this teapot shaped land we are privileged to call home has to start. A wise man once told me that, "He who chases the moon with a goblet of beer will not have strength for the plough at daybreak."
As we rejoice and begin the long road towards reclaiming our status as the Jewel of Africa, below are some pointers I felt would be important to all of us. The task before us is by no means small, but as British statesman Benjamin Disraeli said "Nothing can resist the human will that will stake its existence on its stated purpose"
1. Unity of Purpose
As former president Mugabe said in his last address, "iwe neni tine basa" meaning you and I have work to do. The job of rebuilding Zimbabwe is not the sole mandate of the new president. It is our collective responsibility. Let us take his words seriously and have unity of purpose. We need to put our differences aside and have unity of purpose. Let everything we do, every word we say, be for the collective good of our nation. There are some among us who are masters at prophesying doom and who will in word, thought and or deed work parallel agendas for different reasons; some for the need to say "I told you so", some to gain political mileage, some for personal aggrandizement. All of that needs to stop, we have a blank cheque and the chance to build our nation again, let us not squander this opportunity by being petty and narcissistic. This is our collective home and it is incumbent upon all of us to work together for our common good. Let us all join President Mnangagwa in rebuilding the nation, and avoid aimless armchair criticism and "keyboard gangsterism". We are different and diverse yes, there is nothing wrong with airing out views which are different from someone's, that's the beauty of Democracy and the concept of freedom of speech, but we need to always remember that, Zimbabwe needs to prosper! iwe neni tine basa!
2. Deification of the President
Dictators and despots do not appear magically, they are created by US the people. There is inherent evil in everyone and with the right encouragement it will come to bear. Now that we have put President Mugabe behind us, let us be careful not to create another despot in President Mnangagwa. Please fellow citizens, the President is human and let us not equate him to angels or other devine beings! Let us also desist from hero worshipping him to the level of putting his images on everything from mugs, t-shirts, to billboards and cars. Neither should we also push to have his birthday become a national event that gobbles millions when we have medication shortages. It is us the people who do these things. Let our women stay at home or work being productive and not go to the airport to wiggle their bottoms every time the president returns from a foreign trip.
3. The Goal Is the Boss
Wisdom passed from our forebearers especially one which was held supreme by the gallant sons and daughters of our land who gave their youth to fight for our liberation was espoused in the statement "No single person is bigger than the struggle." President Mnangagwa is our leader now, but not the ultimate boss. The boss is the collective goal of rebuilding the nation. He himself said he is a servant of the people of Zimbabwe and let's keep it that way. Let's do away with the "Chef" mentality and culture that had become the hallmark of the Mugabe administration. Now get me right fellow citizens, I am not saying let us not respect our leaders and elders. No, the Africanness in us demands that we respect our leaders and elders, but we also need to be able to be frank and honest with them when they take us down the wrong path. It is not respect but rank madness to keep quiet and continue praising a leader who has lost the path and is leading us down the wrong path. Respect actually dictates that we be honest with our leaders and protect them sometimes even from themselves.
4. Honesty and Integrity
As we begin the task of rebuilding our nation let us exhibit honesty and integrity of the highest level. Remember our children copy what we do not what we say. Corruption is the cancer which has destroyed our moral fabric; let us exorcise the demon of corruption from our land. Corruption in our country has largely taken the form of bribes; and bribes have two parties! He/she who pays the bribe and he/she who receives it. Let us pay a service for the gazetted price, nothing more nothing less, anyone who demands a bribe should be prosecuted. We also need to stop the harmful behaviour of spreading lies and fake news.
5. Ubuntu
The spirit of ubuntu stipulates that, I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE! Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu! The spirit of ubuntu/unhu needs to reign supreme in our land. We are each other's brother and sister's keeper. Let us desist to discriminate each other on the basis of tribe/religion/race/ or creed. During the March on Saturday the 18th of November, we all marched, danced and sang in the streets, no one cared about such petty issues, and that was brilliant. United and beautiful in our diversity, let the spirit of oneness, respect and tolerance continue.
6. Sloganeering and Hate Speech
For a long time our politics has been marred with slogans, most of which denigrated others with a different belief system and that needs to stop. As the late Father Zimbabwe, Vice President Nkomo once said, we cannot live with slogans "Pasi with him, pasi with her." It is now time for a change, we need to argue and differ but maintaining each other's dignity. Fellow citizens let us not be used to speak ill of other citizens nor shout slogans which demean others. We can't all be of the same convictions but that's okay. See where sloganeering had taken us "munhu wese kuna amai" "pasi negamatox" "pasi neLacoste" "pasi neG40" "pasi nechamatama" Such should have no place in the new Zimbabwe. Reminding us of the misdeeds of the new president, actual or alleged does not lead to economic recovery. Let's keep our eyes on the ball and not let hatred derail us from the ultimate goal.
7. Political Maturity
As we enter the new era of President Mnangagwa's administration, let us be mature in the way we conduct ourselves in the political fray. There is now need for ideological clarity. For the past two decades, we have been swallowed by the "Mugabe must go mantra" He is now gone and our politics now has to mature beyond personalities. The ruling party needs to depart from the politics of coercion and brute force that it had become synonymous with. The opposition is very important in a democracy, but it too has to develop ideological clarity. It has to be a government-in-waiting, offering policy alternatives instead of only finding fault without giving a version of how they would have done it better. Any fool can find fault and criticize, but it takes intelligence and maturity to come up with alternative solutions. We need to hold elected officials to account, and make sure that they deliver on their election promises and mandates of their office. We need to vote for issues not faces or personalities. We cannot entrust legislative mandates to people who cannot understand what legislation entails. We need to grill every and all politicians so that they deserve our votes.
8. Hardwork
We are all happy that President Mugabe is gone and we have high expectations but let us remember that "The government will not come and water your garden while you sleep." We all need to work hard and earn our money. The government creates an enabling environment and with hard work we will have the dignity to work for our bread and wine. We need to do away with a culture of laziness and "quick buck" mentality which reared its ugly head in 2008 and has been with us since. Let us do our work with diligence and not because someone is watching but because we as Zimbabweans are hardworking! In just four years Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso transformed Burkina Faso from being heavily indebted and impoverished to being self sufficient and an exporter, this was because everyone put their shoulder to the wheel and worked hard to rebuild their nation…guess what, they did not have as many graduates as we had, which makes us even better positioned to thrive.
9. Environmentalism
We have one Zimbabwe, that's all we have. Let us not engage in practices that destroy our shared home. Harare is called the sunshine City, but the filth on our streets is simply terrible, it is our duty to keep it clean by not littering. Let us not build on wetlands and convert every open space into a toilet or dumpsite. This does not necessarily need the government but our collective action to preserve our environment. Remember; we do not inherit the resources from our ancestors, rather we borrow it from our children
My fellow citizens, we are not Zimbabweans because we were born in Zimbabwe, we are Zimbabweans, because Zimbabwe was born in us! We all want a thriving economy, a robust education system, respect of fundamental socio-economic and human rights. We all want to feel proud of being Zimbabwean and the next couple of months and years are going to be critical if we are all going to have it. Let us embrace each other and focus on building our country. Everyone who calls him/herself Zimbabwean is your brother or sister and deserves respect and love.
Let us use this new lease of life we have been given to work together as one in putting our country back on the economic, political and social map. We have hurt each other, we have said ill of each other but as President Mnangagwa said, now is not the time for retribution, let us desist from retribution but instead let justice take its course. Let us speak well of our country and wave our beautiful flag every chance we get. Our national anthem is wonderful and we need to take seriously the prayer and aspirations it carries.
Iwe neni tinebasa! Mina lawe silomsebenzi!
Adio-Adet Dinika
(Young, ambitious and hopeful Zimbabwean)
I believe congratulations are in order, for the first time in 37 years we have a new president! For some of us born after independence, this is the first time we are seeing a new president, and do forgive us for the euphoria. Robert Mugabe's name had become synonymous with the term "president" that a child would be forgiven for asking ‘who is the president Mugabe of South Africa?" We have been in a celebratory mood for the last couple of days and that is okay, but however I believe, the celebrations have to stop and the critical work of rebuilding this teapot shaped land we are privileged to call home has to start. A wise man once told me that, "He who chases the moon with a goblet of beer will not have strength for the plough at daybreak."
As we rejoice and begin the long road towards reclaiming our status as the Jewel of Africa, below are some pointers I felt would be important to all of us. The task before us is by no means small, but as British statesman Benjamin Disraeli said "Nothing can resist the human will that will stake its existence on its stated purpose"
1. Unity of Purpose
As former president Mugabe said in his last address, "iwe neni tine basa" meaning you and I have work to do. The job of rebuilding Zimbabwe is not the sole mandate of the new president. It is our collective responsibility. Let us take his words seriously and have unity of purpose. We need to put our differences aside and have unity of purpose. Let everything we do, every word we say, be for the collective good of our nation. There are some among us who are masters at prophesying doom and who will in word, thought and or deed work parallel agendas for different reasons; some for the need to say "I told you so", some to gain political mileage, some for personal aggrandizement. All of that needs to stop, we have a blank cheque and the chance to build our nation again, let us not squander this opportunity by being petty and narcissistic. This is our collective home and it is incumbent upon all of us to work together for our common good. Let us all join President Mnangagwa in rebuilding the nation, and avoid aimless armchair criticism and "keyboard gangsterism". We are different and diverse yes, there is nothing wrong with airing out views which are different from someone's, that's the beauty of Democracy and the concept of freedom of speech, but we need to always remember that, Zimbabwe needs to prosper! iwe neni tine basa!
2. Deification of the President
Dictators and despots do not appear magically, they are created by US the people. There is inherent evil in everyone and with the right encouragement it will come to bear. Now that we have put President Mugabe behind us, let us be careful not to create another despot in President Mnangagwa. Please fellow citizens, the President is human and let us not equate him to angels or other devine beings! Let us also desist from hero worshipping him to the level of putting his images on everything from mugs, t-shirts, to billboards and cars. Neither should we also push to have his birthday become a national event that gobbles millions when we have medication shortages. It is us the people who do these things. Let our women stay at home or work being productive and not go to the airport to wiggle their bottoms every time the president returns from a foreign trip.
3. The Goal Is the Boss
Wisdom passed from our forebearers especially one which was held supreme by the gallant sons and daughters of our land who gave their youth to fight for our liberation was espoused in the statement "No single person is bigger than the struggle." President Mnangagwa is our leader now, but not the ultimate boss. The boss is the collective goal of rebuilding the nation. He himself said he is a servant of the people of Zimbabwe and let's keep it that way. Let's do away with the "Chef" mentality and culture that had become the hallmark of the Mugabe administration. Now get me right fellow citizens, I am not saying let us not respect our leaders and elders. No, the Africanness in us demands that we respect our leaders and elders, but we also need to be able to be frank and honest with them when they take us down the wrong path. It is not respect but rank madness to keep quiet and continue praising a leader who has lost the path and is leading us down the wrong path. Respect actually dictates that we be honest with our leaders and protect them sometimes even from themselves.
As we begin the task of rebuilding our nation let us exhibit honesty and integrity of the highest level. Remember our children copy what we do not what we say. Corruption is the cancer which has destroyed our moral fabric; let us exorcise the demon of corruption from our land. Corruption in our country has largely taken the form of bribes; and bribes have two parties! He/she who pays the bribe and he/she who receives it. Let us pay a service for the gazetted price, nothing more nothing less, anyone who demands a bribe should be prosecuted. We also need to stop the harmful behaviour of spreading lies and fake news.
5. Ubuntu
The spirit of ubuntu stipulates that, I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE! Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu! The spirit of ubuntu/unhu needs to reign supreme in our land. We are each other's brother and sister's keeper. Let us desist to discriminate each other on the basis of tribe/religion/race/ or creed. During the March on Saturday the 18th of November, we all marched, danced and sang in the streets, no one cared about such petty issues, and that was brilliant. United and beautiful in our diversity, let the spirit of oneness, respect and tolerance continue.
6. Sloganeering and Hate Speech
For a long time our politics has been marred with slogans, most of which denigrated others with a different belief system and that needs to stop. As the late Father Zimbabwe, Vice President Nkomo once said, we cannot live with slogans "Pasi with him, pasi with her." It is now time for a change, we need to argue and differ but maintaining each other's dignity. Fellow citizens let us not be used to speak ill of other citizens nor shout slogans which demean others. We can't all be of the same convictions but that's okay. See where sloganeering had taken us "munhu wese kuna amai" "pasi negamatox" "pasi neLacoste" "pasi neG40" "pasi nechamatama" Such should have no place in the new Zimbabwe. Reminding us of the misdeeds of the new president, actual or alleged does not lead to economic recovery. Let's keep our eyes on the ball and not let hatred derail us from the ultimate goal.
7. Political Maturity
As we enter the new era of President Mnangagwa's administration, let us be mature in the way we conduct ourselves in the political fray. There is now need for ideological clarity. For the past two decades, we have been swallowed by the "Mugabe must go mantra" He is now gone and our politics now has to mature beyond personalities. The ruling party needs to depart from the politics of coercion and brute force that it had become synonymous with. The opposition is very important in a democracy, but it too has to develop ideological clarity. It has to be a government-in-waiting, offering policy alternatives instead of only finding fault without giving a version of how they would have done it better. Any fool can find fault and criticize, but it takes intelligence and maturity to come up with alternative solutions. We need to hold elected officials to account, and make sure that they deliver on their election promises and mandates of their office. We need to vote for issues not faces or personalities. We cannot entrust legislative mandates to people who cannot understand what legislation entails. We need to grill every and all politicians so that they deserve our votes.
8. Hardwork
We are all happy that President Mugabe is gone and we have high expectations but let us remember that "The government will not come and water your garden while you sleep." We all need to work hard and earn our money. The government creates an enabling environment and with hard work we will have the dignity to work for our bread and wine. We need to do away with a culture of laziness and "quick buck" mentality which reared its ugly head in 2008 and has been with us since. Let us do our work with diligence and not because someone is watching but because we as Zimbabweans are hardworking! In just four years Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso transformed Burkina Faso from being heavily indebted and impoverished to being self sufficient and an exporter, this was because everyone put their shoulder to the wheel and worked hard to rebuild their nation…guess what, they did not have as many graduates as we had, which makes us even better positioned to thrive.
9. Environmentalism
We have one Zimbabwe, that's all we have. Let us not engage in practices that destroy our shared home. Harare is called the sunshine City, but the filth on our streets is simply terrible, it is our duty to keep it clean by not littering. Let us not build on wetlands and convert every open space into a toilet or dumpsite. This does not necessarily need the government but our collective action to preserve our environment. Remember; we do not inherit the resources from our ancestors, rather we borrow it from our children
My fellow citizens, we are not Zimbabweans because we were born in Zimbabwe, we are Zimbabweans, because Zimbabwe was born in us! We all want a thriving economy, a robust education system, respect of fundamental socio-economic and human rights. We all want to feel proud of being Zimbabwean and the next couple of months and years are going to be critical if we are all going to have it. Let us embrace each other and focus on building our country. Everyone who calls him/herself Zimbabwean is your brother or sister and deserves respect and love.
Let us use this new lease of life we have been given to work together as one in putting our country back on the economic, political and social map. We have hurt each other, we have said ill of each other but as President Mnangagwa said, now is not the time for retribution, let us desist from retribution but instead let justice take its course. Let us speak well of our country and wave our beautiful flag every chance we get. Our national anthem is wonderful and we need to take seriously the prayer and aspirations it carries.
Iwe neni tinebasa! Mina lawe silomsebenzi!
Adio-Adet Dinika
(Young, ambitious and hopeful Zimbabwean)
Source - Adio-Adet Dinika
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