Zimbabwe has come a long way in just 40 years to become a
fully-fledged Banana Republic, George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs, the ruling elite, flouted
the golden rule “All Animals are equal!” from the word go by keeping the milk
and other goodies to themselves. It soon became the norm that whilst all the
other animals on the farm worked like slaves, the pigs did very little work or
none. When the other animals’ food rations were reduced again and again so that
many were starving; the pigs had potbellies from feasting. The golden rule was
doctored to read: “All animals are equal; some are more equal than others!” to
reflect the reality on the ground.
Four decades of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and
rank lawlessness have left Zimbabwe’s economy, once upon a time robust, in
ruins and left the country a Banana Republic. The economy has all but collapsed
sending unemployment into the stratosphere of 90% plus, basic services such as
education and health care are barely functioning and 49% of the population are now
living in abject poverty.
The poverty has hit the ordinary Zimbabweans hard as the
country’s Zanu PF ruling elite, the pigs in George Orwell’s allegory, creamed
off the nation’s wealth to feed their own insatiable greed. The criminal waste
of human and material resource is the root cause of the country’s economic meltdown,
and it was a matter of time that the rising flood of poverty would soon affect
the ruling elect. And the ruling elite have been squalling like pigs at the
sight of a member of the ruling elite living and dying in poverty!
“In news just received I’m deeply saddened to hear of the
passing of the first former First Lady, Mai Janet Banana. I’m angered by the
fact she died a pauper, once again another example of Govt not looking after
our National Heroes’ wives,” tweeted Mliswa, himself a former Zanu PF bigwig and
now Independent MP for Norton.
“After the immense contribution her late husband made to the
country, regardless of anything, she died a destitute in Luveve. I thought the
2nd Republic would address issues neglected by the 1st Republic and it’s about
time we’re able to move motions in Parly to this effect.”
So, Temba Mliswa is angry about Janet Banana dying paupers has
hardly ever notice the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans are born paupers, live all
their days on this earth in heart breaking poverty and die paupers!
Indeed, it was this callous indifference of Zimbabwe’s
ruling elite to the suffering and deaths of others that inspired Robert Mugabe
and his Zanu PF cronies to ruthlessly deny the masses their freedoms and rights,
including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and
even the right to life.
Zimbabwe is a Banana Republic, a pariah state, ruled by
corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who have remained in power these last
41 years by rigging elections. And as long as the country remains a Banana Republic
(there is no difference between Mnangagwa’s so called Second Republic from
Mugabe’s the First it is the same Banana Republic under a different dictator),
there will be no meaningful economic recovery.
As long as nothing is done to revive the national economy then
more and more Zimbabweans will be forced to live in abject poverty and die
paupers; Zanu PF ruling elite including Temba Mliswa himself will not be spared
the hardships of ever-rising flood of poverty.
Parliament can pass a law stipulating a king’s ransom allowance
to every member of the country’s ruling elite and their family; the country
broke, the ransom will never be paid! You cannot legislate prosperity, no one
can; not even you Temba Mliswa.
“I’m angered by the fact Janet Banana (wife of Zanu PF
ruling elite grandee) died a pauper!” So, you expect Zanu PF’s ruling elite to be
born with a silver spoon in their mouth, to enjoy a pampered lifestyle of
wealth and luxury and to die in a five-star hospital in a far away land (there
are no such hospitals in Zimbabwe); untouched by the rising Noah flood of
abject poverty sweeping the country -poverty brought on by and fuelled by the
ruling elite’s unbridled greed. How naïve!
7 comments:
Zimbabweans are a naive and gullible lot and we are paying dearly for it! When Mnangagwa and his co-coup plotters staged the November 2017 military coup they sold it to the naive populous as a "Second Republic and New Dispensation with new democratic space". The people, led by the MDC leaders leading from the front for once, swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker!
Mnangagwa was Mugabe's henchman and was the man behind most of the Mugabe era's heinous crimes such as the blatant vote rigging in 2008, the Gukurahundi massacre, etc. The coup plotters needed legitimacy and the people gave it by coming out in streets their hundreds of thousands in support of the coup. With their legitimacy secured, the coup plotters reverted to the dictatorship, and it was business as usual.
The people should have demanded meaningful political change from Mnangagwa and company; they did not and so the chance was missed.
Mnangagwa went on to blatantly rig the 2018 elections and still got legitimacy, thanks to Chamisa and company who participate in the flawed and illegal election.
In the so-called Second Republic, Zimbabwe is still a Banana Republic, a pariah state, ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs as it was during Mugabe’s days. A few individuals were booted out and new faces taken their place but nothing of substance has changed.
It is no surprise that the likes of Temba Mliswa are in parliament wasting the nation’s time and opportunities designing laws to protect the ruling elite from the ravishes of economic meltdown. Of course, this is a fool’s errant because it is the criminal waste of the nation’s resources by the corrupt and wasteful ruling elite that got us into this mess and it should be clear by now that this is unsustainable. Clear to everyone else, that is, but our honourable members of parliament like Temba Mliswa and company, from both sides of the political divide.
Temba Mliswa is angry that former First Lady, Janet Banana, died a pauper because he knows the same fate awaits him and many other Zanu PF ruling elite. Poverty is not naïve nor gullible; it does not discriminate between povo and the chef, if you do not have the economic means you are all paupers!
We, the people of Zimbabwe, were certainly naïve and gullible to believe in the Second Republic nonsense in 2017 and now we are paying dearly for it.
Part 1 of 2
The 2021 World Happiness Report is out, and Zimbabwe ranked one step above Afghanistan, the world's unhappiest country in the world. A total of 149 countries made the pool of countries that were ranked in the 200-page report.
Finland retained its top spot with a score of 7,84 points, followed by Denmark with 7,62 points and Switzerland with 7,57 points. Zimbabwe, in comparison, achieved a score of 3,15 points and ranked 148th.
The report calculates scores based on six variables, namely (i) GDP per capita, (ii) social support, (iii) freedom to make life choices, (iv) health life expectancy, (v) generosity, and (iv) perception of corruption.
Zimbabwe's score has been on a downtrend since 2013 when it ranked 103rd with a score of 4,83 points. While statistics pertaining to Zimbabwe were dim in 2020, 2021 is shaping up to be a good year for the country despite the pandemic, and this could point to a happier nation on the next edition of the World Happiness Report.
Zimbabwe's GDP per capita took a knock between 2019 and 2020 as the economy reeled under consecutive drought seasons and volatile policies.
However, the agrarian economy received above-average rainfall in its latest season, and this is likely to result in a better GDP per capita figure in 2021. Overall GDP growth is largely driven by the performance of the agriculture sector, after all.
The level of social support in Zimbabwe in 2020 was largely dismal relative to other nations because of sour relations with the international community.
Another key point that is expected to put smiles on many Zimbabweans' faces is the successful efforts by the central bank to tame inflation. Zimbabwe's year-on-year inflation has simmered from 837,5% in July 2020 to 56,4% in July 2021. The slowdown in CPI growth was driven by the introduction of the FX auction system in June 2020 which improved foreign currency availability in formal channels, as well as a reversal on directives that prohibited pricing goods in foreign currency.
We maintain that the economy's year-on-year inflation rate will continue to soften to levels below 35% by December 2021. Given the largely inverse relationship between disposable incomes and inflation, the prospects of incurring smaller losses in consumers' wallet through relatively marginal currency depreciation and lower inflation holds promising implications for Zimbabweans, especially for Zimbabwean dollar earners.
Part 2 of 2
We also opine that this will be complemented by the vaccination drive in the country which will have the impact of improving health life expectancy.
To date, Zimbabwe has fully vaccinated over 1,2 million citizens, and more than 600 000 people have received their first jab. Persuasive measures by the government have also prompted many to get their shots, warranting persistently strong vaccination data in the coming months. In addition, cases of infections from returnees from South Africa and other countries are expected to dwindle as vaccination drives progress worldwide.
South Africa, for example, has administered over 6,6 million doses of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines, and the figures are expected to grow exponentially since the vaccines were opened to citizens below 35 years a few days ago.
Zimbabwe is a Banana Republic, a pariah state, ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” is long dead in the water, no investor was ever fooled by the rhetoric. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. None!
The country has a chance to turnover a new leaf if it can have free, fair and credible elections in 2023 but that is not going to happen. Zanu PF is set to blatantly rig the elections confident the opposition will, once again, participate in numbers to give the flawed process credibility and the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
Chamisa has just announced he has a "solid plan to bring real change!" This is just a cover to justify why MDC A is once again participating in the flawed and illegal elections. He is as keen as mustard to win the few gravy train seats Zanu PF is giving away as bait so he in crowned leader of the opposition; that is all he and MDC A can ever aspire for.
MDC leaders wasted their golden opportunity to implement the reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and have since given up on delivering free and fair elections and settled to give Zanu PF legitimacy in return for the bait Zanu PF offers as the reward.
If Zimbabwe is ever to get out of the political and economic mess it is stuck, then the people of Zimbabwe must open their eyes and the new reality since the GNU – to end the curse of rigged elections they must fight not only Zanu PF thugs but MDC leaders too who are giving the regime legitimacy!
Even now with the country's economy in total meltdown, Temba Mliswa and his fellow ruling elite believe they cushy lifestyles must be continue. The ruling elite have creamed off the nation's wealth to bankroll their extravagant and wasteful lifestyles and now they want the impoverished taxpayer to foot the bill to guarantee their extravagant lifestyle.
With 49% of the country's population living in abject poverty it is naive to think the country's ruling elite can continue to enjoy their extravagant lifestyles untouched.
Temba Mliswa and company should have learned the lesson that government cannot legislate economic prosperity after parliament ordered the payment of $50 000 to every war veteran in the late 1990, firing the starting gun on the inflation which soared to a world record 500 billion percent by 2008 when the Z$ was scrapped.
As long as Zanu PF is allowed to retain its carte blanche dictatorial powers to rig elections the country will continue to be ruled by men and women like Temba Mliswa who have no common sense. We really need to step up our demand for democratic reforms to be implement BEFORE elections.
Chamisa and his MDC A friends’ foolish idea of trying to win rigged elections has been tried since 2013, it was a foolish idea then it is even more so now! SADC leaders were right in asking the 2013 elections to be postpone until reforms are implemented.
How long is it going to take for the penny to finally drop that Zanu PF owe the nation free, fair and credible elections as a birth right and not a privilege the regime can deny willy-nilly!
“I support the Polad approach. I will use the vehicle to spread the Polad philosophy and build the NCA. The vehicle is not a personal gift from the President: it is from the Government. For the NCA it is the first form of support we have received from the State. We welcome it,” tweeted Madhuku after receiving his Isuzu Max-D truck from Mnangagwa.
By participating in 2018 elections opposition, including Chamisa and MDC A, gave credibility to process and legitimacy to Zanu. Mnangagwa is smart enough to know that and rewarding them to guarantee they participate in 2023 regardless certainty of another rigged election.
Chamisa did not want to join POLAD, he was very happy with the few gravy train seats plus the share of the Political Party Finance Act until the high court ruling that that away. He will certainly be participating in the 2023 elections to win these goodies back.
Meanwhile the Chiefs are also getting their Isuzu twin-cab trucks from Mnangagwa, down payment, for their part in frog matching the rural voters to attend Zanu PF rallies and then to vote for the party.
Everyone has their assigned roll to play and are rewarded accordingly!
The only real losers here are the ordinary Zimbabweans who keep participating in these flawed elections hoping this will bring about real political change, an end to the curse of bad governance. They are naïve and gullible enough to believe Chamisa’s foolish claims that MDC A has “solid plan to deliver real change” and the solid plan is winning rigged elections! Ever since the 2013 elections MDC have made one such foolish claim after another and Zimbabweans never learn. In a way they are paying dearly for their foolishness.
“Hunger stalks Covid-19 patients at Rujeko isolation centre as authorities fail to provide food. Council and MOHCC cast blame on each other over who should supply food,” Masvingo Media Centre wrote on Twitter.
In a related issue, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe national coordinator, Harrison Mudzuri has accused the Zanu PF regime of exposing civil servants to stressful conditions due to poor salaries.
Mudzuri argues Zanu PF is killing teachers softly through stress- related conditions.
The blundering incompetence with which Zanu PF has handled the corona virus pandemic has made a bad situation much, much worse. The number of isolation centre available are wilfully inadequate to meet the demand and now it turns out the regime is failing to look after even this tiny number in isolation!
If Zimbabweans would only open their eyes and minds, they will know the nation is paying dearly for having a corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless government at a time such as now with the corona virus pandemic. The importance of a competent and accountable government is obvious and, if Zimbabweans had their thinking cap on, they would see to it that the 2023 elections are free, fair and credible for that is the nation’s guarantee for good governance.
@ G Nyarota
In the final analysis, the level of commitment on the part of Mnangagwa to uprooting corruption as the 2023 elections fast approach will be determined on the basis of how Zacc handles the comprehensively documented allegations of corruption against certain extremely wealthy individuals who are close to him.
Even as the president waxed lyrical as he ploughed through his Anti-Corruption Day testimony on July 12, his fellow Zimbabweans were struggling to come to terms with the 12 startling revelations that had just been published about his sidekick and advisor, the controversial and larger-than-life tycoon, Kudakwashe Tagwirei.
Zimbabwe’s descend into the hell-on-earth the country finds itself stuck in has been a relentless slog. We have all seen it unfold before our own eyes and, except for the few brave souls like you Geoffrey Nyarota, we never lifted a finger to stop it. Many pursued the policy of going along to get along with the opportunist going the full hog of if you cannot beat them, join them! It is little wonder Zimbabwe’s ruling elite have become some of the most powerful, corrupt and arrogant individuals ever, their appetites for power and wealth is matched only by the wastefulness.
“I'd build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen
Right in the middle of the town
A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below
There would be one long staircase just going up
And one even longer coming down
And one more leading nowhere, just for show.”
Chaim Topol: Fiddler on roof
Well Robert Mugabe was filthy rich and the only thing missing with his sprawling Blue Roof mansion is the staircase going nowhere! The mansion costed a staggering US$ 2 to 4 billion, enough to have built and equip Batoka Gorge Dam (a second Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River) and related hydro power generation and transmission plant.
The Blue Roof mansion has been abandoned and family cannot afford the US$100 000 per year maintenance bill and so rot and decay have set in. Soon Blue Roof will just be another ruin, “Zumbu rakapinda nyoka”, as one would say in Shona.
The economic benefits of a second Kariba Dam would have done wonders to Zimbabwe’s economy particular in the light of all economic damage caused by the decades of ZESA load shedding and power cuts!
Nations get the government they deserve and we, in Zimbabwe, certainly deserve this Zanu PF government of corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs complete with their entourage of equally corrupt, incompetent and utterly useless MDC opposition!
Mnangagwa will never stamp out corruption. Why should he when he is benefiting from it and there is no one holding him and his cronies to account! May be some day Zimbabweans will demand good governance but until then, Zimbabwe will remain a Banana Republic governed by corrupt and vote rigging thugs.
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