Yet another year of misery creeps

By Tanonoka Joseph Whande

So tomorrow (31 December 2013), another year comes to a close and Zimbabwe still remains politically as stagnant as it has been for decades.

The people of Zimbabwe cannot look back with satisfaction at what they have achieved or at what improvements their nation has registered. Because there appears to be nothing of note in our past…except misery.

For many many years, we have been at the mercy of an uncaring, corrupt and violent government that is so self-seeking as to kill its own citizens for political applause.

Here comes 2014 and we have nothing to show for our existence as a nation…just sorrow, tears and blood. Even our sweat has not managed to improve our well-being.

The politicians fight their political battles at our expense. There has been so much activity over our situation in and outside Zimbabwe yet things have basically remained the same and, in fact, have been deteriorating in the past several months.

We held landmark elections in the hope that either winner would, without doubt, take Zimbabwe on a new and better path than the one we had travelled in the past.

Today, we stand disappointed, not only because of the results of those elections but by the way the winner was crowned.
And by the way the presumed winner is behaving.

Today, we are helpless as ZANU-PF, the winner of those disputed elections, has regurgitated its old vomit and presented to us a government run by old, tried and failed politicians who themselves were instrumental in getting Zimbabwe into the mess it finds itself in today.

Some have called our government old wine in new containers but that is too good an analogy because, unlike wine which gets better with age, our politicians are the very opposite. There is nothing appealing about a man experienced to be president or cabinet minister because these are jobs that do not need experience simply because by the time someone acquires the experience, they have already over stayed their welcome.

We presumably acquired our independence in 1980 and there is absolutely no reason why we should still have the same old moron as president in 2014. Zimbabwe deserves better and all the lazy politicians, including Robert Mugabe, the chief culprit of our demise, know that they have nothing more to offer our nation.

They all know that they are a burden to our nation but because of their carelessness and lack of means to survive, they cannot vacate their jobs. What would Mugabe have done with his life had he stepped down in 1990, after 10 years as president, for example?

Our nation has been used by failures to hide their disabilities and all one needs to do is look at the calibre of people we have running the nation. There is a current debate as to why former Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono picked Tendai Biti as his legal counsel in a case Gono is facing. Not many politicians are able to hold better or lucrative professional jobs if and when they vacate political office.

So much talk is visited upon Gono’s choice of lawyer that even the likes of the moronic Jonathan Moyo fired a newspaper editor for reporting the case.

Are we such simpletons that we do not know how to separate politics from other issues? Why should it be cause for concern that a person from one political party cannot hire a lawyer from another political party?

Today, 34 years after independence, we still fight our wars through gagging the media. We are so stagnant it is just unbelievable. Now, if a university professor behaves in such a manner, imagine the rest of the uneducated morons in cabinet and parliament.

We are cursed with political mediocrity.

We look back with sadness at how far we have come without covering any distance. We look ahead with more sadness because we are stuck with the same people who have moved us backwards in the last 34 years.

We cannot beat our chests with pride and point at what we have achieved. We are subdued because we cannot use our wisdom and abilities to uplift our country and care for our families.

It is sad that the problems we faced as a nation 20 years ago are still the same problems inflicting our existences today. So much activity yet so little movement.

As we approach another year of misery, the tired people of Zimbabwe should be forgiven if they were to think of violently breaking off the chains of bondage that Mugabe has fettered us with.
Yes, much as we tread the issue of violence, we cannot rule it out anymore because the people have tried just about everything decent to free themselves without success.

Zimbabweans are peace loving people, a fact that Mugabe has taken advantage of but I now fear the introduction of violence in this struggle against Mugabe’s rule because I do not believe that the patience of the people of Zimbabwe can be guaranteed any longer.

For how long and for what reason should the people continue to submit themselves to Mugabe’s idiocy?

Why is it necessary for the people to be treated in such a manner that people cannot be left alone to work and care for their families?

Political parties in the opposition must wake up and play their role. Real opposition is needed and no means should be ruled out because freedom must come at whatever cost.

Once a proud nation, we are now afraid of introducing our own currency and are using other people’s currencies. There is even the shameful talk of introducing the Chinese Yuan in Zimbabwe and that is the worst accolade our government can entertain.

Our education system is a shambles, not to mention industry and health. The few gains we had started to see during the government of national unity evaporated the day the elections were declared in Mugabe’s favour.

Civil servants unbelievably own banks used by fellow used by the government and fellow civil servants but at the same time struggle to pay out small cash withdrawals.

The heart of the matter is that we, Zimbabweans, have to do something about our situation. We should feel ashamed that children we had at independence 34 years ago have known no other leader but Mugabe. We must work harder and make opposition parties perform their duties with determination.

We should not allow any further abuse by these people.

Our parliamentarians must understand their roles and be there for the people instead of representing themselves.

We are greater than our problems. In 2014, let us lay the ground work for the changes we desire.

We can do it because we have done it before.

I hope and wish for peace for our people. I pray for comfort and change in our country. And, yes, I shall be praying for those who terrorise us.

Zimbabweans are not done yet.

Let 2014 bring better welfare to individual families in our nation and may the good lord bless Zimbabwe.

I wish our nation the very best in 2014.

Take care Zimbabwe. I love you. Let this be a positive beginning.

I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is my wish and my hopes for Zimbabwe on this Monday, the 30th day of December, 2013. SW Radio Africa