Opinion / Letters
Letter from Zimbabwe
16 Mar 2017 at 11:27hrs | Views
Dear Editor,
This may seem like an everyday casual statement but I think this is the thinking of most Zimbabweans as they endure hard times while President Mugabe continues living his life in the air.
I say living in the air because the man hardly spends a week in the country. One journalist aptly summed it up on twitter this week when he said ‘he came, slept and left' referring to how Mugabe returned from Singapore and flew to Ghana in hardly 48 hours.
And by the way, he had gone to Singapore, for whatever reason with his daughter and grandchild and of course with a host of aides at the expense of the taxpayer.
Rumour has it that he had gone for a medical check-up as he allegedly has prostate cancer, a thing which his spokesperson has denied on several occasions.
In fact two scribes from a private newspaper were detained on Monday for running a story to that effect.
Some later joked that maybe he had accompanied his grandson who was born in Singapore for a routine checkup.
It might be possible though since the old man loves being in the air and being away from home.
Remember that one time when he went to India for some festival, only to discover that he was the only head of state who had honoured the invite.
Goes to show how he would grab any opportunity to be away from home.
As I write this column, he is back in Harare having landed from Ghana on Tuesday but I can bet with my last bond coin that he will not spend the next seven days in the country.
I was hoping not to write about Mugabe this week but here I am. In fact I have realised that it's impossible to ignore the man for our lives as Zimbos seem to revolve around him.
Old as he is, Mugabe holds the key to a new Zimbabwe, a new Zimbabwe that will come when he eventually dies and sadly only God knowns when.
It will be a waste of time to talk about his retirement for he has made it clear that he will rule till God calls him.
While we wait, it is no doubt that we all seem to be looking forward to the post Mugabe era as we hope things might change for the better then.
But in the meantime, life goes on and the struggle continues.
The struggle to get cash from the bank, struggle for bread winners to provide for their families and dependents, for with each passing day the going seems to get tough.
On a different note, sure you may be aware by now that Dineo's after effects have been declared a national disaster, meaning that government is mobilizing funds to assist the affected and to repair the damaged infrastructure.
The sad reality is that as is now the norm, funds will be mobilized then looted.
Only a fraction of it will likely be properly used while the rest will be used to fund the lavish lifestyles of certain individuals.
Such is the selfishness of our leaders.
This may seem like an everyday casual statement but I think this is the thinking of most Zimbabweans as they endure hard times while President Mugabe continues living his life in the air.
I say living in the air because the man hardly spends a week in the country. One journalist aptly summed it up on twitter this week when he said ‘he came, slept and left' referring to how Mugabe returned from Singapore and flew to Ghana in hardly 48 hours.
And by the way, he had gone to Singapore, for whatever reason with his daughter and grandchild and of course with a host of aides at the expense of the taxpayer.
Rumour has it that he had gone for a medical check-up as he allegedly has prostate cancer, a thing which his spokesperson has denied on several occasions.
In fact two scribes from a private newspaper were detained on Monday for running a story to that effect.
Some later joked that maybe he had accompanied his grandson who was born in Singapore for a routine checkup.
It might be possible though since the old man loves being in the air and being away from home.
Remember that one time when he went to India for some festival, only to discover that he was the only head of state who had honoured the invite.
Goes to show how he would grab any opportunity to be away from home.
As I write this column, he is back in Harare having landed from Ghana on Tuesday but I can bet with my last bond coin that he will not spend the next seven days in the country.
I was hoping not to write about Mugabe this week but here I am. In fact I have realised that it's impossible to ignore the man for our lives as Zimbos seem to revolve around him.
Old as he is, Mugabe holds the key to a new Zimbabwe, a new Zimbabwe that will come when he eventually dies and sadly only God knowns when.
It will be a waste of time to talk about his retirement for he has made it clear that he will rule till God calls him.
While we wait, it is no doubt that we all seem to be looking forward to the post Mugabe era as we hope things might change for the better then.
But in the meantime, life goes on and the struggle continues.
The struggle to get cash from the bank, struggle for bread winners to provide for their families and dependents, for with each passing day the going seems to get tough.
On a different note, sure you may be aware by now that Dineo's after effects have been declared a national disaster, meaning that government is mobilizing funds to assist the affected and to repair the damaged infrastructure.
The sad reality is that as is now the norm, funds will be mobilized then looted.
Only a fraction of it will likely be properly used while the rest will be used to fund the lavish lifestyles of certain individuals.
Such is the selfishness of our leaders.
Source - the voice
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