Latest News Editor's Choice


Opinion / Columnist

Get Zimbabwe to its factory settings

12 Mar 2024 at 03:20hrs | Views
Zimbabweans living in the diaspora must have a say and given a platform to share their ideas and contribute much to the economic, political and social development of the country. 


The supreme law of the country must allow the diaspora to exercise their democratic roght to vote wherever they are just like what most countries are doing.

The diaspora plays a pivotal role in improving the country's economic growth. This is just another area where the government is not taking the diaspora's contribution seriously.

For instance according to sources the Zimbabwe's diaspora community in South Africa and the United Kingdom accounted for the bulk of remittances last year, reaching US$1,66 billion up from US$1,43 billion in 2021, official figures show.

Surely an estimated three million Zimbabweans are believed to be in the diaspora and regularly send money back home to sustain their families cannot be ignored.

We need to get the country back to its factory settings as Zimbabwe remains a home for the majority of people who left the country during the 1980s and the year of land reform. 

We need to embark on a serious road rehabilitation programme and not to spend the whole five year term constructing Harare -Beitbridge road. Our  roads used to be clean and smart but we destroyed them due to poor maintenance, the streets were also fine.

Our railway system needs a facelift. The trains used to work and even carried coal, cattle and trucks but today everything has collapsed. 

Alternatively we saw the whole presidium jostling to go and commission outdated second hand ramshackle train wagons thrown at us by the South African government. This simply shows that we are not yet ready for development and will never be taken seriously.

We have a perennial problem of the comrades who always think of stealing and rigging elections on the expense of developing the country. They always tell the young people that they are the backbone of the country. No the young people want to be the flesh of this country. Their slogan continues that we have an equal society, yet they keep on looting the country dry and share the spoils amongst themselves whilst millions are suffering and poverty encroaching in every neighbourhood. 

We used to have a functional banking system where The banks gave interests for banking with them but today its now the opposite.

Our hospitals and clinics used to have drugs but today you cannot even get a paracetamol. 

Seems the current regime has dismally failed. A new and exciting Zimbabwe under a sound leadership is possible. The country needs a fresh start.

Email - konileonard606@gmail.comX -@Leokoni

Source - Leonard Koni
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.