Opinion / Columnist
MDC Alliance can awaken the Zimbabwean dream
04 Sep 2017 at 09:27hrs | Views
It is not a Zimbabwean dream to see our leaders running to Europe every week for expensive "routine medical check-ups" while the ordinary African is left at the mercy of the collapsed health infrastructure.
It was never a Zimbabwean dream for our leaders to continue running to China and America, begging for loans to help fight malaria and HIV/AIDS. Never had it been the dream of our forefathers to see young children of school-going age hawking the streets, selling airtime, sachet water, and doughnuts among others in search of school offshore accounts every year.
When the Zimbabwean child was born, it wasn't his/her dream to survive on less than $2 a day while the politicians and their families swim in luxury, holidaying and shopping in Dubai every now and then.
It is never an Zimbabwean dream to have many educated Zimbabweans stranded in Europe and South Africa, sweeping the streets, cleaning and obediently washing dishes abroad every year despite having degrees and qualifications that can tremendously transform our country Zimbabwe. Who said it down operations. Our leaders are responsible for this demise of our once breadbasket of Africa. For many years, Zimbabwe has remained the producer of raw material and the dumping ground of European, American and Chinese products. Is this the Zimbabwean dream?
Today, our leaders usually measure their level of success by the amount of Chinese loans or World Bank grants they are able to lobby for, though a high percentage of such moneys usually end up in offshore bank accounts of the very politicians who signed such deals.
We have many rivers and lakes, yet our leaders cannot generate reliable electricity for the people. We have too much sunlight that shines across the country more than 320 days a year, yet the government doesn't see the need to examine how we can generate solar energy to augment the power shortage which has become a major crisis for more than 30 years.
Many companies are being forced to shut down operations and relocate to elsewhere due to unreliable power supply. When are we going to have visionary leaders in Zimbabwe?
For many years, electricity in Africa especially in Zimbabwe operates like disco lights. Even within the capital city Harare, people are forced to stay in darkness for at least 10hours a day, usually 4days a week. Is this the Zimbabwean dream which our grandfathers were brutally murdered for? While Asian and Latin American leaders are busy building gigantic roads and bridges, our leaders here in Zimbabwe are only interested in building gigantic statues change street names which serve the ordinary person no useful purpose.
The last time l checked, every Zimbabwean child is dreaming of the day when s/he can have equal access to quality education, quality healthcare, portable water supply, reliable electric supply, security among others. Most of all, the Zimbabwean child, like his American and European counterpart, is yearning for 3 meals a day without necessarily being the son of the president, a politician or some wealthy African king. The Zimbabwean child also deserves to dwell in a clean environment and a comfortable home. This is therefore a call to our stakeholders to sit up because the current standards forced upon the throat of the Zimbabwean child are simply unacceptable.This is what the leaders of the newly formed MDC Alliance should focus on when they get into power.
The youth need jobs; not mere political speeches. Government must concentrate on policies that will create more jobs for the youth. There should be good-governance structures that will enable every youth the opportunity to harness their God-given talents. The current level of youth unemployment in Zimbabwe which stands at over 80% is simply unacceptable. No wonder armed robbery, internet fraud, prostitution and other social vices are becoming the order of the day. Therefore any government which does not clearly lay out a plan that demonstrates how youth unemployment will be tackled within a given time frame cannot be considered to be a serious government. There are many young ones out there with brilliant ideas, and excellent innovations, yet the government do not have systems in place to support such people. How can Zimbabwe develop if her youth are constantly abandoned when many of them have launched initiatives which have the potential to transform more Zimbabwean lives but they are not being given a chance.This is absurd.
If you were to ask majority of Zimbabwean voters what they expected of their governments, many would tell you they need jobs, clean water, reliable electric supply, quality healthcare just to mention a few. Democracy, mounting of gigantic billboards and gigantic statues are definitely not any meaningful thing the Zimbabwean child would want as a priority. Yet look at how much billions of dollars our governments have been wasting on elections and political rallies every year. Are these moneys not enough to build hospitals, schools and good quality roads? Its all about prioritizing the good deeds not what our leaders are doing taking tax payer's money to build a private University to be named after our failed leader Robert Mugabe when the whole country is in debt.
The Zimbabwean dream is found in our rich cultural heritage, the rich minerals of Zimbabwe and in the minds of the young, talented Zimbabwean youth whose burning desire has been ignored by our leaders. Our old men in government have hijacked this beautiful dream and handed it to their foreign donors to whom they owe their loyalty and allegiance,but at rallies they will be busy hailing insults to the West yet they dine with them behind closed doors. Indeed, the Zimbabwean dream has remained a pipe dream for far too long.
It will only take a serious revolution to remove all these batch of incompetent old men from the corridors of power to pave way for youthful, dynamic and vibrant leadership to take Zimbabwe to the dream land.
President Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, Mr Guchutu, Agrippa Mutambara, Jacob Ngarivhume, and Mr Musiyarira of Zanu Ndonga have set the pace for that Zimbabwean dream to become a reality. All we need is to support the MDC Alliance in 2018 Our people seriously deserve better than the usual lip service.
The time to live the Zimbabwean dream is now; not in some 50 years to Come .Most importantly, we need to reform our colonial educational system to place more emphasis on practical science and technical education. The current book-oriented educational system which lacks practical demonstrations has failed Zimbabwe and Africa. It is time for real practical solutions to be taught in the classrooms. Various legislation must be introduced across Zimbabwe that bans all politicians and public servants from depositing moneys abroad. Any politician who is found to be owning fat offshore accounts must have his/her assets frozen. This is a way that will help ensure that, all those Zimbabwe's looted funds shall remain here in Zimbabwe and be used for the benefit of the Zimbabwean people.
Let us live the Zimbabwean dream from today. Together another Zimbabwe is definitely possible
PDP Secretary for Policy, Harare Province
Tendai.mazenge@gmail.com
It was never a Zimbabwean dream for our leaders to continue running to China and America, begging for loans to help fight malaria and HIV/AIDS. Never had it been the dream of our forefathers to see young children of school-going age hawking the streets, selling airtime, sachet water, and doughnuts among others in search of school offshore accounts every year.
When the Zimbabwean child was born, it wasn't his/her dream to survive on less than $2 a day while the politicians and their families swim in luxury, holidaying and shopping in Dubai every now and then.
It is never an Zimbabwean dream to have many educated Zimbabweans stranded in Europe and South Africa, sweeping the streets, cleaning and obediently washing dishes abroad every year despite having degrees and qualifications that can tremendously transform our country Zimbabwe. Who said it down operations. Our leaders are responsible for this demise of our once breadbasket of Africa. For many years, Zimbabwe has remained the producer of raw material and the dumping ground of European, American and Chinese products. Is this the Zimbabwean dream?
Today, our leaders usually measure their level of success by the amount of Chinese loans or World Bank grants they are able to lobby for, though a high percentage of such moneys usually end up in offshore bank accounts of the very politicians who signed such deals.
We have many rivers and lakes, yet our leaders cannot generate reliable electricity for the people. We have too much sunlight that shines across the country more than 320 days a year, yet the government doesn't see the need to examine how we can generate solar energy to augment the power shortage which has become a major crisis for more than 30 years.
Many companies are being forced to shut down operations and relocate to elsewhere due to unreliable power supply. When are we going to have visionary leaders in Zimbabwe?
For many years, electricity in Africa especially in Zimbabwe operates like disco lights. Even within the capital city Harare, people are forced to stay in darkness for at least 10hours a day, usually 4days a week. Is this the Zimbabwean dream which our grandfathers were brutally murdered for? While Asian and Latin American leaders are busy building gigantic roads and bridges, our leaders here in Zimbabwe are only interested in building gigantic statues change street names which serve the ordinary person no useful purpose.
The youth need jobs; not mere political speeches. Government must concentrate on policies that will create more jobs for the youth. There should be good-governance structures that will enable every youth the opportunity to harness their God-given talents. The current level of youth unemployment in Zimbabwe which stands at over 80% is simply unacceptable. No wonder armed robbery, internet fraud, prostitution and other social vices are becoming the order of the day. Therefore any government which does not clearly lay out a plan that demonstrates how youth unemployment will be tackled within a given time frame cannot be considered to be a serious government. There are many young ones out there with brilliant ideas, and excellent innovations, yet the government do not have systems in place to support such people. How can Zimbabwe develop if her youth are constantly abandoned when many of them have launched initiatives which have the potential to transform more Zimbabwean lives but they are not being given a chance.This is absurd.
If you were to ask majority of Zimbabwean voters what they expected of their governments, many would tell you they need jobs, clean water, reliable electric supply, quality healthcare just to mention a few. Democracy, mounting of gigantic billboards and gigantic statues are definitely not any meaningful thing the Zimbabwean child would want as a priority. Yet look at how much billions of dollars our governments have been wasting on elections and political rallies every year. Are these moneys not enough to build hospitals, schools and good quality roads? Its all about prioritizing the good deeds not what our leaders are doing taking tax payer's money to build a private University to be named after our failed leader Robert Mugabe when the whole country is in debt.
The Zimbabwean dream is found in our rich cultural heritage, the rich minerals of Zimbabwe and in the minds of the young, talented Zimbabwean youth whose burning desire has been ignored by our leaders. Our old men in government have hijacked this beautiful dream and handed it to their foreign donors to whom they owe their loyalty and allegiance,but at rallies they will be busy hailing insults to the West yet they dine with them behind closed doors. Indeed, the Zimbabwean dream has remained a pipe dream for far too long.
It will only take a serious revolution to remove all these batch of incompetent old men from the corridors of power to pave way for youthful, dynamic and vibrant leadership to take Zimbabwe to the dream land.
President Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, Mr Guchutu, Agrippa Mutambara, Jacob Ngarivhume, and Mr Musiyarira of Zanu Ndonga have set the pace for that Zimbabwean dream to become a reality. All we need is to support the MDC Alliance in 2018 Our people seriously deserve better than the usual lip service.
The time to live the Zimbabwean dream is now; not in some 50 years to Come .Most importantly, we need to reform our colonial educational system to place more emphasis on practical science and technical education. The current book-oriented educational system which lacks practical demonstrations has failed Zimbabwe and Africa. It is time for real practical solutions to be taught in the classrooms. Various legislation must be introduced across Zimbabwe that bans all politicians and public servants from depositing moneys abroad. Any politician who is found to be owning fat offshore accounts must have his/her assets frozen. This is a way that will help ensure that, all those Zimbabwe's looted funds shall remain here in Zimbabwe and be used for the benefit of the Zimbabwean people.
Let us live the Zimbabwean dream from today. Together another Zimbabwe is definitely possible
PDP Secretary for Policy, Harare Province
Tendai.mazenge@gmail.com
Source - Tendai Mazenge
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