Phillip Mukarati
There is a feeling of exhilaration and fulfilment every husband, father, wife , mother, child, in fact everyone, rejoices in in being needed. Conversely, being relegated to non-entity status and being treated with indifference is painful as it is, but when one feels irrelevant, undesirable and unwanted, it then starts to eat away at the very core if our humanness.
Independence Day is a day to take stock of our gains, collectively and individually as Zimbabweans. As someone going in tandem with Zimbabwe in terms of age, l am often confronted with a love – hate relationship with both the establishment that has brought Zimbabwe to where it is now and the history as well as the internal external forces acting on the only country l love and that l properly and rightfully call home.
As a father struggling to provide for himself and his children, there is a gnawing pain that disrupts the joy which should be subconsciously exuding from the left side of my chest. Every morning when l wake up, l speak to the God of my prayers, l am almost always promised of a better tomorrow, yet simultaneously reminded of the reality that the only existence l have is NOW.
Today is Independence Day in Zimbabwe and 44 years into black people’s rule and we are at a crossroads. If the past few plebiscites are anything to go by, the said rule is disputable. Disputes in terms of legitimacy, legality, coups and counter coups in both the liberation movement and the opposition.
Zimbabweans, it can be argued, are more dependent now, 44 years into a majority rule democracy, than ever before. Dependent on the UK and the global north for jobs. Dependent, especially now that the country is facing acute food shortages brought about in large part, by the El Nino effect, on World Food Programme and USAid and other relief and humanitarian organisations for food aid.
For a country that was, at 1980, the bread basket of our environs and beyond, the metrics tell a terrible story. The sad truth is that at 44 years old we are, dishearteningly, having to rely on handouts – a basket case – when reality should be the other way round. The climatic indications and patterns are there for proper planning to take place to mitigate the effects of such conditions.
We often hear of opportunities in mining, in agriculture and in business, but is the environment created conducive for such endeavors to be entered into by capable citizens without regard to political allegiances?
Zimbabweans are and maybe should be dependent on the government for food, jobs, security, healthcare, meaningful education, safe travel on good roads, protection of citizen rights, provision of clean air and water among a myriad of other needs, but what are we witnessing? Where has the dependency leaned? Or conversely is it a planned and command dependency as a control measure on a quid pro quo basis?
Are we as Zimbabweans, going to be confident enough in our currency to the extent that we can depend on it as a medium of transacting? Six failed attempts at reinvigorating our currency should be enough for any sane person to raise eyebrows at the fresh attempt now. Are we living in a country that respects its own laws and the rules of engagement? A country where we can depend on the judiciary to hand down judgement on pertinent matters unbiased by allegiance to certain political or religious outfits?
Over and above all, on Independence Day, everyone capable, should be able to have confidence in a dependable government, confidence in a socio-political machinery that works for the betterment and ultimate progress of the one and the whole. Confidence in our individual and collective capabilities based on a sure guarantee that we live in an enabling environment deliberately set up by those we elected as custodians of power. Posterity will judge us harshly if we do not guard jealously, the present and future of Zimbabwe, from those who, erroneously, depend on the priviledge we once bestowed upon them to lead the country, then usurped the levers of power to force their will on the citizens including using state apparatus to forcibly retain power.
44 years into our independence, l frankly do not know whether to celebrate or to cry mourn a death of my once vibrant optimism for a prosperous Zimbabwe.
