Zimbabweans, we are our own worst enemy

Dear Editor

I'm sure somewhere someone is calling Zimbabwe a big joke as we are a country with misplaced priorities. For starters, we have good farming land, good climate, plenty natural resources (including gold, platinum, diamonds and wild animals), educated and hardworking people but alas we are one of the poorest countries in the world that's in terms of the general livelihoods of the povo of course excluding the thieves and fraudsters who buy super expensive shoes, cars and build mansions from their ill gotten wealthy.

Honestly something is wrong and very wrong and this must be corrected once and for all if we are to prosper as a nation. First step is to admit our mistakes and failures without laying blame to anyone but ourselves. We are wasting our natural resources and intelligence, period. Our land and numerous dams can feed Zimbabwe and beyond if well managed like the previous Kentyre Estate, Kondozi, CSC ranches, Mazoe Estate. Our minerals can sustain our economy if well managed like what is happening next door Botswana. Our hardworking people can live a good life if they get good leadership with people at heart. In this regard our government policies must be people centred and developmental driven instead of just being politically motivated.

Back to basics. All those who are under utilising the land must vacate the farms immediately and pave way for serious farmers not these cellphone farmers. You have failed the nation so please leave. If not then where is the wheat to make our bread, the groundnuts, sunflower, soybeans to make our cooking oil? Our technical colleges and universities are a shame to say the least. If NUST and HIT cannot produce graduates who can design a bread oven that bakes bread using our own wheat then why have these institutions? Our institutions of higher learning are not doing their rightful mandated jobs of producing innovative and creative graduates. SIRDC is a waste of resources and UZ save maybe for a few exceptional medical doctors is a total disaster while MSU known as Mass Student University is like a lost ship without anchor nor radar.

When Bob established NUST in Bulawayo, he had Bulawayo as Zimbabwe's industrial hub in sight but because NUST instead of Thinking in Other Terms industries in Bulawayo are dead and buried and the undertaker is none other than NUST. NUST and industries are like divorced couples who only meet  to see their children. I once attended a fellowship interview at NUST where the departmental chairman was snoring and I told them you guys are a great joke with good study programs but producing nothing in terms of material substance. Now MSU is in every part of Zimbabwe not only Midlands but scattered like dry  leaves in summer recruiting students with questionable intellectual capacity hoping to transform them into intellectuals! How? Its garbage in garbage out. I recall one graduate from MSU who couldn't do simple primary addition and she told me she didn't do mathematics. This thing of block release and massive recruitment must be abolished and there is total need to make sure that these colleges are well manned and supervised.

Someone is sleeping on duty. No family, village, country or institution can prosper without research and development especially in these dynamic and competitive times. Those internet graduates, those sex earned certificates those dubiously gotten degrees are a disaster to solving real problems. Listen to Profs Muthuli Ncube, A. Mutambara, Dr Nkosana Moyo and honestly you can tell these people are knowledgeable. Not some of these advocates, doctors and whatever who cannot even tell the difference between a loss and a win. Yes education is a right to all but certain levels of education must be earned, really sweat for it. You can't just wake up a Dr, a Professor or even just a graduate. NO. These people with ill gotten certificates are mismanaging and destroying our economy hence the obtaining situation. Just check what happened to NRZ, CSC, ZISCO, Air Zim, Hwange, ZESA, DDF, ARDA, Shabani and Mashava. What's happening to our once sunshine cities. Cry the beloved country! Let everyone wake up and say no to chicanery, no to corruption, no to tribalism, no to nepotism and no to favouritism!

All those occupying certain positions not on merit but chicanery, all those with dubiously acquired certificate and all those half backed graduates must repent and relinquish their positions. Yes you can cheat the people but you can't cheat God. One day the honest truth will come out. Let's produce innovative graduates who can beneficiate our natural resources. Instead of just making cheap cigarettes surely there is a lot more in tobacco, instead of selling raw minerals there is more financial returns in beneficiating them. Instead of massive recruitment and mass production of graduates there is more quality in having a small manageable institution. Instead of self inauguration there is more respect in accepting defeat and start preparing for the next game rather than planning of strikes and demonstrations. A good commander knows when to take a tactical retreat, kwete kungouraisa vanhu!

True Patriot

Munya Shumba