A thank you to Grace Mugabe

By Courage Shumba

I do not normally warm up to the Mugabe family. I can hardly see anything positive that has come out of Mugabe’s ruinous three decades in power. For me personally, Mugabe is a calamity whose traits and beliefs must be avoided if we are to have a stable, peaceful and successful nation going forward.

But I was struck by something exciting and unfamiliar this week. Something that needs praise even if it is not to be located in perfect circumstances. The work being done by Amai Grace Mugabe in respect of the orphans in Mazowe must invite us to our feet.

We cannot be true to our principles of openness and truthfulness if we fail to see that Amai Grace Mugabe is doing something important and special in respect of the orphans she has under her care.

It is important too that we show our gratitude and maturity by saying thank you for the thought and the act. We must sincerely hope that such a project remains above opportunistic criticism.

We will obviously be concerned if locals around the orphanage were to be subjected to such other unnecessary inconvenience than is standard and proportionate where such an institution is to be found. We need consistency of goodness in the way the locals are left to their everyday lives against the balance guided by the need for this intervention. A win win situation will be the perfect result.

We must encourage many others from privileged families to take a leaf from the efforts of Amai Mugabe and look into different areas where money and time can make a difference.

If we encourage local philanthropy we shall realise what problems we have as people together before we see and polarise ourselves as political opponents. The children being looked after by Amai Mugabe are neither MDC, Zanu PF or the New NCA Party. They are Zimbabweans.

It challenges us to understand that they are certain things which we must place above politics. Amai Mugabe herself must now do more to hand-hold persons of similar priviledge to look into the every day life of the fellow woman (as mothers) to weigh the challenges Zimbabwean women face.

There is a lot of good that a first lady can do. A first lady can be to the president the eyes and ears of women on the ground most of whom are the main driving engines behind each Zimbabwean household raising today’s and tomorrows citizen.

It is important to recognise good work and Amai Mugabe must be commended. We hope this opens the gates between the first lady and all of us in a non confrontational journey in bringing more partnerships and understanding to Zimbabwe’s everyday struggles.

Courage Shumba is a former student leader at the University of Zimbabwe