Is Zimbabwe on the verge of an implosion?

I am aware that this will invoke several interpretations by different people based on their world views. Fully prepared for that, I wont be dissuaded from making my point.

As I was praying in a bush this evening nearby the place I stay, a neatly dressed young boy in school uniform approached me.

I stopped what I was doing in order to pay attention to him. He told me he had walked a distance of about 3 killometers to where he found me and from where I was to where he said his home was, its a distance of almost 3 killometers. He asked me to help him with a dollar for transport.

Instead, I offered to go drop him off at his house but he bagan to mumble and I knew he was lying. That didn't bother me. I just concluded that the young boy really needed help. We walked towards the light, I pulled a 2 bond note from my pocket, I gave him and asked him to run to an airtime vendor to get change so that I can give him a dollar. He did so and came back.

He told me he stays with his sister who is also in high school. I am not sure whether that's true or not but again that is secondary. We looked for a pen and a paper,  I wrote my number on the paper, gave it to the boy and asked him to call me when he is with his sister whom he claimed owns a phone.

Let me come to the real issue and make my point. This is not about me wanting to broadcast that I pray. I do and there is nothing to be ashamed of about that, neither is it anything I would ordinarily talk about. Its just that this backdrop helps me to make my point.

The real issue has everything to do with the ugly and danger infested place our nation finds itself in. Admittedly, there is a possibility that this young boy created everything he told me but I doubt that very much and even if we assume that to be the case, I retain the latitude to predicate my position on either of the two possibilities. My conclusion is that this young boy found himself in a desperate situation and he really needed help.

This is a young boy who should have been indoors after 7pm, concentrating on his homework but there he was looking for a dollar, most probably in order to get a meal. That is an apt revelation of the failure engulfing our nation.

As a father, I am prompted to think about my daughter who turns 6 in two days time. I wonder what sort of a future I can help create and leave for her given the current situation we find ourselves in. God forbid, but if I die today I shudder to think of the possibility that my daughter may find herself begging in order to eat at some point. Given where we are at today as a nation, it hurts me to admit it's very possible for that to happen.

If there are people who still doubt that we are quickly sliding towards a dead end and that something has to give, I can only conclude that its a matter of them being insincere. I wonder what it will take for them to realise that we are on the verge of a catastophic implosion. Of course, I understand that our levels are not on the par but if anyone pays attention, it won't much to realise exactly where we are.

Our nation is on the verge of a total precipice and I wonder what sort of a future awaits me. I wonder what sort of a future awaits my daughter. I wonder where we are heading.

Somebody please hear me, this calls for us to take drastic actions in order to avert the imminent implosion. While they continue doddering on our nation's affairs thereby destroying our future, If we continue on our pedantic and frivolous path, history will judge us harshly.

We are precariously lurching from corner to another in a landmine infested territory. We must act now before we all turn into a pile of despicable history.

A new and better Zimbabwe is possible in our lifetime. We shall come face to face with it.

(Patson Dzamara is a leadership coach, author, political activist and analyst based in Zimbabwe).

First published on Khuluma Afrika