Zimbabwean attitude, self hate

Is it not a shame that over the years, a lot of us have been taught by the West to define everything from democracy to good governance and accountability in the eyes of foreigners as if we are still a colony and as if we are stupid, uneducated and thoughtless?

The Zanu-PF Government has for decades crafted and implemented policies that dignify us, policies that humanise us and policies that give real credence to total independence and empowerment, but many Zimbabweans have been fighting against the grain, all to please detractors of the struggle.

Back in the village in the land of milk, honey and dust or Guruve elders with cotton tuft hair, say attitude is the greatest undoing of any village, community or country.

Recently, I was favoured with a foreign friend and he spent a few days trudging the length and breadth of the country. He was touristy! After a few days, he told me he had noticed a very strange attitude and behaviour among many Zimbabweans he associated with.

His main shock came as he discovered that the ordinary Zimbabwean hates everything that is local and would, without giving a second thought, go for anything foreign. He wondered what had happened to this country that even the political narrative has foreign intonations, the dress code has foreign intonations, even the money, Zimbabweans love foreign currency than their own currency.

They even cry and go to court to challenge the introduction of their own currency, preferring to use foreign currency.

At the end he joked: "I am sure if a foreigner stood as President for a national election, against the laws of this country, you would still find many Zimbabweans arguing that he should be allowed to stand.

"You guys must change your attitude, you have a great country. You have great natural resources and you have a great revolutionary party that is people-centred, but you are busy rubbishing it and its pro-people policies. What is wrong with you guys?"

Well, this send me thinking and rethinking. People with attitude problems never appreciate their situation, never appreciate the good that is done for them and have a preponderance to trash everything that comes their way, without applying a thought. While we gained independence in 1980, it seems we have failed over 40 decades as citizens to disabuse ourselves from the notion that everything foreign is good for us.

This syndrome has cut across our broad spectrum to the point where we have lost self-respect and self-esteem. An average American citizen for example, would get really angry if a foreigner said something viewed as unpalatable about their country and its leadership. In Zimbabwe, the opposite is true.

In fact, a Zimbabwean goes further to assist a foreigner ridicule his own country, his own culture and indeed his own social fabric. Our political narrative, for instance, is defined for us by other nations, most of them the enemies of progressive thinking Zimbabweans seeking to control and benefit from the natural resources of their country.

Even our women have their beauty defined by other nations. Look at their hairstyles? Look as how much they spent of artificial hair pieces? Look at skin lighting creams, injections and pills that they abuse in order to look lighter than the ordinary Zimbabwean. We are a country that has found itself in bad space even in terms of dressing.

A vendor selling high quality local products is likely never to make money than a vendor selling very cheap foreign goods.

This bad attitude about ourselves is now very manifested in our resistance to the ban of the foreign currency basket and the re-introduction of local currency. Honestly, the Government has put in place all fundamentals for the reintroduction of the local currency, our own currency and all sane Zimbabweans should take pride in having our own currency that gives us identity and dignity.

Why should we want to mortgage our economy to a foreign currency yet all other nations have their own currencies. Why should we even fight our own Government for moving to re-introduce our own currency? Where on earth does it make sense that a whole people, a whole independent country, for that matter, would want to abandon its own currency and continue using forcing currency. Over the years, we have been taught to be our own enemies.

We have been taught to deride all that dignifies us. We have been taught to define everything from democracy to good governance and accountability in the eyes of other people as if we are stupid, uneducated and thoughtless.

One wonders when we are going to stand up and say to the world, we are Zimbabweans, this is what we are and we are proud of what we are. We are Zimbabweans and we want things that are good for our country and not for other countries. When are we going to develop the mantra, Zimbabwe First, the rest will follow?

We have been fed with junk mentality. We have been taught to deride our own revolution and liberation ethos. We have been so schooled to think that foreign is good, local is bad.

What legacy are we going to leave for our children and grandchildren? A legacy of puppetry? A legacy of bad mouthing our country and Government at the expense of foreign interest. We are indeed a shameful lot.

The Zanu-PF Government has done extremely well to liberate this country and craft laws, policies and regulations that dignify us but we are buys, fouling the same.