Time up for the old generation

Every generation has a specific task to accomplish

King Solomon in his poetry book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verses 14- 16, clearly states that, 'The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king's successor. There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor.'

The wisest king who ever lived before the Lord Jesus, King Solomon perceived the role of the youth in contributing towards the political, economic and social development of the nation as leaders. This is contrary to our situation as a nation where youths and the economically productive generation are referred to as future leaders without taking any meaningful contribution to the political development of the nation. This has been made worse by the new constitution that put a limit of 40 years for a person to contest as the President of Zimbabwe. Today, the struggle for economic emancipation, social justice and political freedom should be fronted by youths and the economic productive generation. The country has been going through regression since 1980. This is the time that our generation need to rise up and usher Zimbabwe into a new political, social and economic dispensation. The generation from 50 years and below, has been condemned to colossal poverty and is bearing the effects of inequalities, unemployment, poor service delivery, malfunctioning economy resulting in the social decay, frustration and unproductive.

The mistake which the founding fathers of this nation did is to fail to cast an inclusive vision for the nation which did not transform into love, good governance, accountability, transparency and unity. We seem to have a weak framework of operation and regulations as a result those few in position of authority and influence are looting at the expense of the poor, building strong emperors for themselves, their families and friends in the name of empowerment. Corruption has been left unabated and the rising voices being thwarted through draconian laws such as Public Order and Security Act (POSA). The public which should have been making the government accountable has been left with fear, resulting in the government crafting policies that are anti- development.   Zimbabwe as a nation has been brought up upon hatred and its founding fathers have failed to give a clear road map as well as failing to integrate history into the developmental processes of the country.

King Solomon clearly alludes that the solution providers of yester-year cannot be solvers of today's problems hence every generation has a specific mandate and task to carry, problems to solve and solutions to provide.  When a generation has achieved a specific and special task, it becomes redundant and will no longer be adding value to the nation's development. It is a mystery for a generation of the 1940 to solve the problems that the 21st generation is facing taking into consideration the changes in the development processes which is made complicated by the use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT). So among the generation of the 21st century, a leader should emerge to foster development for the nation.

Solomon in his wisdom spoke about the relevance of each generation under the earth. In Zimbabwe, there is a generation that fought for freedom and this generation did a great job to liberate this country from the minority rule. This generation should have drafted a vision based on the fundamental principles on which they founded this great nation and abide by such principles. However, the same generation took upon itself to fight all the struggles carrying upon themselves the bitterness from the bush and this has resulted in the unequal distribution of resources, looting, selfishness and corruption. It is upon the generation of the young people and those that are economicallyproductive to rise up and redress these ills.

The economic struggle and the quest for economic emancipation should be fought by the new generation (the young and economically productive generation) as a way to unyoke themselves from abject poverty. According to King Solomon, the youth should rise up and craft the road map for the development of thenation, so that they command great respect and following among their brethren. We are in this mess today because we have allowed the same generation who fought for our freedom to fight all the struggles. When David wanted to build the Lord a temple, the Lord rebuked him and said the mandate of building the temple was upon his son Solomon as he had to rest from the battles that he engaged during his life time. There is still time for youths and the economically productive generation to step out of the slumber and to fight for the economic freedom.

The July 2013 elections has resulted in the change of the political terrain, a shift from the usual political players to the rising up of new political parties most of them being led by youthful Zimbabweans. This is a sign alone that there is still hope upon Zimbabwe. It is our generation that should usher Zimbabwe into a new Jubilee which is characterised by prosperity. The most interesting thing is that among these new political parties, some of the players have never been into politics before like the African Democratic Party (ADP) which is being led by a woman called Marcellina Chikasha who is 41 years to fight for economic freedom. Her political party is casting a 15 year vision for this great nation, in order for Zimbabwe to achieve a $100 billion economy. This political party is making inroads in the towns, rural and peri-urban areas. The political party's principles are based upon the restoration of values, justice and strong Pan-Africanism, love and unity.  The party believes that it is now time for God fearing people to rise up and lead the nation. There is still hope in our generation. We are in the time for change and transformation.