Opinion / Columnist
Is ED honestly proud of his five years in office?
12 Jul 2022 at 06:21hrs | Views
All too often I encounter disturbing media reports of ordinary Zimbabweans being callously arrested and hauled before the courts for ostensibly "undermining the authority of/or insulting the president" - after having expressed their utter infuriation, frustration and disgust at the manner their lives and livelihoods had been ruined and turned into a nightmare, at the hands of the government headed by President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
As much as most of these individuals, subsequently, being acquitted by the courts - on account of this hideous law having been declared invalid by a Supreme Court ruling in 2013 - I always find myself asking, "Would these innocent citizens be wrong in their outrage and revulsion at the state in which the Mnangagwa-led administration has so maliciously destroyed a once prosperous nation, which at one time was considered the jewel of Africa"?
Should Zimbabweans be faulted, or even unjustly punished, for being legitimately angry with those responsible for their unimaginable misery and pain?
Who then, should they direct their rage towards - for they have every reason to be enraged, and someone has to be held accountable for the disgraceful mess the country finds itself?
Surely, if the president cannot be blamed, then who should?
As the sage saying goes, "the buck stops with the leader" - if Mnangagwa cannot take responsibility, then who is the one in charge in Zimbabwe?
Without going any further, maybe the right question to be asked should be, "Is Mnangagwa himself even proud of his own performance as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe"?
In his heart of hearts, does he honestly believe he is doing a fantastic exceptional job, ever since grabbing the reins of power in a military coup d'état from an equally horrendous and failed Robert Gabriel Mugabe in November 2017?
When he looks himself in the mirror every morning, does he say to his image, "Man, you have done very well, and I'm so proud of you"?
When a country can go for hours without critical electricity, due to outdated and worn-out colonial era equipment, which no longer reliably serves its purpose – thereby, adversely hindering our business and domestic operations – can the president beat his chest and say, "I've done a great job"?
In the midst of unspeakable economic hardships, unseen in Zimbabwe since the hyperinflationary early 2000s (reaching 500 billion percentage points) – with over 7 million Zimbabweans today characterized as food insecure, half surviving on less than US$1.90 a day in extreme poverty, and 80 percent living under the poverty datum line, whilst the vast majority earn in Zimbabwe Dollar, yet all goods and services charged in the greenback (as inflation gallops around 400 percent, and the local currency free-falls to US$1 to ZW$600) – are we to expect Mnangagwa to be a happy contented man, who sleeps soundly at night?
Does he find absolutely nothing untoward when thousands of urban households in Zimbabwe go for months and years without consistent water supplies in their homes – having to fetch the precious life-giving liquid from the few communal boreholes dotted distances away, as if the country had traveled in a time-machine, back to some dark period before urbanization?
As a matter of fact, how do these people in power in Zimbabwe sleep at night…how to they live with themselves?
How does any person live with himself, without losing his mind in the process – with the knowledge that most people are going to bed hungry, as basic staple foodstuff has become out of reach, and eating one square meal a day rendered a luxury?
How does it feel to the president when our children – those who have not dropped out, with more expected not to sit for their final public examinations at the end of the year, as a result of their parents' inability to pay the demanded fees – spend the entire day not learning, due to unavailability of adequate educational material, and an already dismal situation made unbecoming because of a demoralized teaching staff?
Is the president not haunted by the ghosts of all those innocent Zimbabweans who lost their lives, whether on account of poor medical attention, or lack of access to sufficient treatment – with vital cancer radiotherapy machines perennially broken down, operating theaters unmaintained and antiquated, and the most basic essential medications largely either unavailable or prohibitively exorbitant at private pharmacies?
In this horror movie, which is all too real for the ordinary citizenry, we find a ruling elitist clique that lives in repugnant opulence – thanks to widespread abuse of power, looting of national resources, and dodgy deals with scandalous characters – which is flaunted in apparent insult and arrogance to a poverty-stricken nation, as if to say, "What are you going to do about it"!
Indeed, what are we going to do about it?
Are we merely to watch, as the state-authored suffering and poverty is rubbed into our faces – with those in power flying all over the world in private jets, holidaying in countries they teach us to loath, their children never having set foot in any of our educational facilities, and receiving top-of-the-range medical treatment in far off lands?
Then, in all this tale of unmitigated and unpardonable disgraceful failures, the regime expects the suffering impoverished population – which has borne the brunt of this case study in corruption, misgovernance and incompetence - not to be enraged, and to keep quiet!
Why should we remain silent, when we feel the pain and misery on a daily basis, and every waking second of our dismal wretched lives?
We know who exactly to blame – and, arresting, punishing, or persecuting us is never going to erase an undeniable truth that is there for all to see.
Even those in power know this fact!.
Frankly speaking, had I been the president of Zimbabwe, and the state of the country, and citizens' livelihoods, had reached such deplorable disastrous levels under my watch - I would not have waited for people to vent their anger towards me first, but would have done the honourable thing, and resigned a long time ago...sparing the nation further anguish and suffering.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, researcher, and social commentator. Please feel free to contact him on WhatsApp: +263715667700 / +263782283975, or Calls Only: +263788897936 / +263733399640, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
As much as most of these individuals, subsequently, being acquitted by the courts - on account of this hideous law having been declared invalid by a Supreme Court ruling in 2013 - I always find myself asking, "Would these innocent citizens be wrong in their outrage and revulsion at the state in which the Mnangagwa-led administration has so maliciously destroyed a once prosperous nation, which at one time was considered the jewel of Africa"?
Should Zimbabweans be faulted, or even unjustly punished, for being legitimately angry with those responsible for their unimaginable misery and pain?
Who then, should they direct their rage towards - for they have every reason to be enraged, and someone has to be held accountable for the disgraceful mess the country finds itself?
Surely, if the president cannot be blamed, then who should?
As the sage saying goes, "the buck stops with the leader" - if Mnangagwa cannot take responsibility, then who is the one in charge in Zimbabwe?
Without going any further, maybe the right question to be asked should be, "Is Mnangagwa himself even proud of his own performance as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe"?
In his heart of hearts, does he honestly believe he is doing a fantastic exceptional job, ever since grabbing the reins of power in a military coup d'état from an equally horrendous and failed Robert Gabriel Mugabe in November 2017?
When he looks himself in the mirror every morning, does he say to his image, "Man, you have done very well, and I'm so proud of you"?
When a country can go for hours without critical electricity, due to outdated and worn-out colonial era equipment, which no longer reliably serves its purpose – thereby, adversely hindering our business and domestic operations – can the president beat his chest and say, "I've done a great job"?
In the midst of unspeakable economic hardships, unseen in Zimbabwe since the hyperinflationary early 2000s (reaching 500 billion percentage points) – with over 7 million Zimbabweans today characterized as food insecure, half surviving on less than US$1.90 a day in extreme poverty, and 80 percent living under the poverty datum line, whilst the vast majority earn in Zimbabwe Dollar, yet all goods and services charged in the greenback (as inflation gallops around 400 percent, and the local currency free-falls to US$1 to ZW$600) – are we to expect Mnangagwa to be a happy contented man, who sleeps soundly at night?
Does he find absolutely nothing untoward when thousands of urban households in Zimbabwe go for months and years without consistent water supplies in their homes – having to fetch the precious life-giving liquid from the few communal boreholes dotted distances away, as if the country had traveled in a time-machine, back to some dark period before urbanization?
As a matter of fact, how do these people in power in Zimbabwe sleep at night…how to they live with themselves?
How does any person live with himself, without losing his mind in the process – with the knowledge that most people are going to bed hungry, as basic staple foodstuff has become out of reach, and eating one square meal a day rendered a luxury?
How does it feel to the president when our children – those who have not dropped out, with more expected not to sit for their final public examinations at the end of the year, as a result of their parents' inability to pay the demanded fees – spend the entire day not learning, due to unavailability of adequate educational material, and an already dismal situation made unbecoming because of a demoralized teaching staff?
Is the president not haunted by the ghosts of all those innocent Zimbabweans who lost their lives, whether on account of poor medical attention, or lack of access to sufficient treatment – with vital cancer radiotherapy machines perennially broken down, operating theaters unmaintained and antiquated, and the most basic essential medications largely either unavailable or prohibitively exorbitant at private pharmacies?
In this horror movie, which is all too real for the ordinary citizenry, we find a ruling elitist clique that lives in repugnant opulence – thanks to widespread abuse of power, looting of national resources, and dodgy deals with scandalous characters – which is flaunted in apparent insult and arrogance to a poverty-stricken nation, as if to say, "What are you going to do about it"!
Indeed, what are we going to do about it?
Are we merely to watch, as the state-authored suffering and poverty is rubbed into our faces – with those in power flying all over the world in private jets, holidaying in countries they teach us to loath, their children never having set foot in any of our educational facilities, and receiving top-of-the-range medical treatment in far off lands?
Then, in all this tale of unmitigated and unpardonable disgraceful failures, the regime expects the suffering impoverished population – which has borne the brunt of this case study in corruption, misgovernance and incompetence - not to be enraged, and to keep quiet!
Why should we remain silent, when we feel the pain and misery on a daily basis, and every waking second of our dismal wretched lives?
We know who exactly to blame – and, arresting, punishing, or persecuting us is never going to erase an undeniable truth that is there for all to see.
Even those in power know this fact!.
Frankly speaking, had I been the president of Zimbabwe, and the state of the country, and citizens' livelihoods, had reached such deplorable disastrous levels under my watch - I would not have waited for people to vent their anger towards me first, but would have done the honourable thing, and resigned a long time ago...sparing the nation further anguish and suffering.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, researcher, and social commentator. Please feel free to contact him on WhatsApp: +263715667700 / +263782283975, or Calls Only: +263788897936 / +263733399640, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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