The
subject of how our national resources include rich and productive land and vast
minerals have become a curse for us when it should have been our guarantee to
economic prosperity for all times is of great interest to me. And should be of
great interest to all thinking Zimbabweans out there. On behalf of all
Zimbabweans, I would therefore like to thank Professor Welshman Ncube for
bringing this important subject.
There
is no thinking Zimbabwean out there who would dispute that hunger and
nutrition, banished from the country for many generations; have since the Zanu
PF inspired seizure of white owned farms in 2000 returned with vengeance. We
are starving in the Garden of Eden, what greater curse can be worse than that!
The
discovery of diamonds in Marange in 2006 valued at a staggering $ 800 billion
could, if managed properly have finance Zimbabwe’s economic recovery regardless
of the chaos and ruin Zanu PF had already caused ever since the party took
office in 1980. Sadly that was not to be as Professor Ncube explained.
“From
the time alluvial diamonds were 'discovered' in the Eastern Highlands in 2006,
Zanu-PF's superficial world revolved around this gem,” wrote Professor Ncube. “They
lied, cheated, beat people and according to human rights organisations - even
killed in the name of diamonds.
“However,
we all know that this newly found enthusiasm brought nothing but misery to our
people, particularly those around the areas of the "discovered"
diamonds. For the people of Marange and Manicaland, this resource was nothing
but a curse as they stood in awe as Chinese, Russians, Jordanians, ZRP and ZNA
'commanders' set up shop to plunder the gems in the name of 'national wealth
creation'.”
The
rest of his article Professor Ncube dwelt mostly on what everyone already know
– how before independence the nation had managed its resources well and thrived
and how within two decades or so after once upon a time thriving mining towns
everywhere you go in Zimbabwe have become ghost towns because of mismanagement
and corruption.
After
35 years and the nation’s economy in tatters, millions out of work and starving
and the future looking as grim as Dante’s Inferno this is hardly the time and
place for yet another futile lecture on what we already know. What the nation
want are solutions on how to end this criminal waste of material resources
resulting in the nation starving in the Garden of Eden and millions dying for
lack of something as basic as clean drinking water whilst billions in diamonds
riches are being used to finance the very autocracy that responsible for
turning these blessings into curses!
All
students of political history agree that Zimbabwe had its best chances to end
the corrupt and oppressive Zanu PF dictatorship during the GNU in 2008 to 2013.
Sadly at the end of the GNU President Mugabe and Zanu PF returned back to
office and the mismanagement and corruption took off from where the regime had
left in 2008.
“When
the MDC was part of the inclusive government we asked many questions which went
unanswered such as why we read that our diamond resources were calibrated in
billions of US dollars but we were failing to generate enough money to pay
normal government expenses including workers' wages,” explained Professor
Ncube.
“My
colleague, Tendai Biti the then Minister for Finance, tried several times to
visit these 'rich national resources' but was turned away because he was
accused of being a Western puppet with a regime change agenda.”
Thanks
to MDC’s failure to stop the grand looting and plunder in Marange, Mugabe and
Zanu PF have used the new found wealth to the regime’s tyrannical activities
including rigging the 2013 elections. The Marange bounty has harden Zanu PF
thugs to hold on to power, now they have an exclusive source of wealth to
finance the party’s undemocratic activities.
Yes
Professor it good to hear that you and your MDC friends asked very pertinent
questions regarding the scourge of mismanagement and corruption and that you
ever tried to investigate what was going on in places like Marange. But when
Zanu PF frustrated all your efforts surely you must have realized then (even if
you had not done so already) that the only way the nation was ever going to
force these Zanu PF thugs to answer the pertinent questions and thus end the
scourges was by rebuilding all democratic institutions.
MDC’s
principle task in the GNU was to implement the raft of democratic reforms
everyone accepted were necessary for free, fair and credible elections. SADC
Heads of State reminded MDC of the reforms and literally begged MDC not to take
part in the July 2013 elections with no reforms implemented. But, as we know,
not even one reform was ever implemented and MDC leaders including Professor
Ncube ignored all the reminders and warnings from SADC and other quarters.
Of
course it is tragic that we should be starving in the Garden of Eden, the
greatest testimonial of Mugabe and Zanu PF breath-taking incompetence. It is a
great tragedy that the bounty of Marange diamonds has been commandeered by the
corrupt and murderous tyrannical oligarchy to maintain the status quo. The
blessing of the diamond has now become the nation’s curse!
These
man-made tragedies are enough burden for one to bear so please, Professor
Ncube, stop making the burden even harder to bear with all you pontificating
about how Mugabe has turned nation blessings into curses when it was you and
your MDC friends who failed to stop the tyrant doing this when you had all the chance
to do so. I bless Professor Ncube for bring up the subject of how Zimbabwe, a
Garden of Eden, has now been turned into hell-on earth by our incompetent,
corrupt and oppressive political leaders. I curse these corrupt leaders,
including Ncube and his MDC friends for failing to put an end to Mugabe and
Zanu PF waste and tyranny when they had the golden chances to do so during the
GNU.
The nation rightly curse Mugabe and Zanu PF for landing us into this hell-hole but curse MDC too for
failing to get us out when they had the chance during the GNU to do so!
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