“Africa's future is being sold out even as we speak” by Kenneth Mufuka in Bulawayo 24 and The Standard is a “must read” to all Zimbabweans out there.
There is no denying that Zimbabwe is in a serious political and economic mess. Mankind is a creature of reason and, per se, Zimbabweans should be asking ourselves why the country is in this mess. In the article, Professor Mufuka is asking these pertinent questions and offering so answers too; which is why the article is a “must read”!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic and political mess is bad governance. If Zimbabweans had risen to the intellectual challenge making sure we had a robust political system capable of delivering competent leaders who remained democratically accountable to the people; Zimbabwe would not be in this mess.
41 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship have taken a heavy toll on this nation. Basic services such as education and health care have collapsed and 49% of the population now live in abject poverty. Zanu PF has murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans and the regime is set to commit even more heinous crimes in its desperate effort to hang on to dictatorship at all costs.
The economic and political mess in Zimbabwe cannot be allowed to continue; the situation is unsustainable. The call for Zimbabweans to think and find a way out of this mess is more urgent now than ever!
“African leaders today pay no mind whatever to new research showing the intentions of our former colonisers and the approaching new colonialism of China. On the other hand, the new globalists, are ahead of us. They have adapted, speak new languages, and above all have assimilated blacks to speak on their behalf,” argued Professor Mufuka.
“Thus Katherine R. Gerbner, in her Harvard doctoral thesis (2013), wrote the following:
"Missionaries argued that slave conversion would solidify planter power, make slaves more obedient and hardworking, and make slavery into a viable Protestant institution. They also encouraged the development of a race-based justification for slavery and sought to pass legislation that confirmed the legality of enslaving black Christians."
Ms Gerbner’s missionaries brainwashed the blacks to become “obedient and harding slaves” is wilfully inadequate on many fronts. Blacks are not the only people to be conquered and enslaved; so why is it that only blacks were so easily brainwashed one national group after another, one generation after another and century after century.
Even when slavery was finally abolished blacks have moved from one form of servitude to another; from slavery to West colonial oppression to black oppression and now Chinese colonial oppression.
“We are being enslaved in broad daylight,” Mufuka argued.
“The colonial Africans, the worst being our present leadership, are deeply embedded in colonialism to the extent that they are completely unable to think for themselves. They have respect for any other race, other than their own.
“The treatment of blacks by blacks in South Africa and perhaps in Zimbabwe is unspeakable.”
In blaming our own black leaders Mufuka was zooming in on the real cause why Zimbabwe is in a real mess. But even he failed to zoom in on the real cause - ourselves, especially the so called intelligentsia.
In June, Zanu PF Acting National Political Commissar, Patrick Chimanasa, announced that Zanu PF was denying the 3 million plus Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote, for example. The announcement was water off a duck’s back to Zimbabwe intelligentsia, both in the country and outside, proof it is not only the leaders but the people themselves who are incapable of thinking for themselves.
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic and political mess is the nation’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. The nation have been stuck with the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship, unable to remove it from office, because the party rigged elections. And by cherry picking who can and cannot vote in the coming elections; Zanu PF is blatantly rigging the 2023 elections already!
Free, fair and credible elections is not only a right; it is the very essence of good governance and democratic accountability; the very things Zimbabwe needs to get out of this mess.
“Poor blacks, as mentioned above earlier, the think tanks encourage religious zeal to mollify the poor,” concluded Professor Mufuka
“Lastly, here is another shocker. Black thinkers (yours included) have no room to exercise their calling in their homelands. Those at home are wise to keep their peace, or they will find themselves in some jailhouse, or disappear like Itai Dzamara.”
This does not make any sense at all! So Zimbabweans back in Zimbabwe must say nothing for fear of imprisonment or worse and those outside Zimbabwe cannot speak because by leaving the country they have lost their voice too!
None Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe and outside have denounced Zanu PF’s blatant human rights violations including the failure to hold free and fair elections. The foreigners have also condemned Zimbabwe’s opportunistic opposition politicians’ betrayal of the people by failing to to implement reforms and the insanity of participating in flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy.
If foreigners have found a voice to express their concerns what more Zimbabweans ourselves whose interests in what is happening in Zimbabwe is much more than humanitarian concerns. Zimbabweans in the country and outside have elected to say nothing out of self censorship.
Peace! Zimbabwe is in a country in total economic meltdown the 49% of the population now living in abject poverty are as restless as rumbling volcano. By resisting all attempts to peaceful and orderly change through the holding of free, fair and credible elections, the nation has, per se, elected violent and disruptive change.
There is a limit to how much economic hardship and political repression the people can endure, in Zimbabwe, that limit was been exceeded a long time ago. The nation has been sitting on a ticketing time bomb, there will be violent social unrest as the only way to end the Zanu PF dictatorship; it is a matter of when and not if.
Zimbabweans have certainly become renowned for blaming others for all our problems, we are the helpless victims in everything.
Still, when Zimbabwe attained her independence on 18 th April 1980, Zimbabweans because masters of our destiny which meant we must take ownership of all that happened. The victim mentality is symptomatic of one who will not take responsibility preferring the comfort of the helpless victim.
Indeed, given Zimbabweans’ helpless victim mentality it no surprise the country’s sunk into the abyss must be one of the quickest in human history. The men and women, the so called intellectuals to whom the nation should have looked up to lead in thinking have instead been leading from the front in offering scapegoats and excuses for every failure.
8 comments:
If there is a group of people who have let Zimbabwe down, it must be the intelligentsia. Soon after independence, the intelligentsia turned a blind eye to Robert Mugabe and his thugs' corrupt and tyrannical rule; they opted to go-along to get along or, worse still, they joined the thuggery - if you can't beat them, join them. Zanu PF has never felt any restraining force in the party's drive to establish and retain a de facto one party state.
Professor Ken Mufuka is probably one of the handful of Zimbabwean intellectuals who have dared to put their heads above the pulpit to speak on behalf of the million voiceless masses.
No one can deny that Zanu PF is a ruthless regime and very vindictive against its critics and opponents. Still it is naive, to say the least, to say there was no price to be paid by keeping quiet. The economic and political mess in Zimbabwe today affect us all, even those who have left the country for distant lands. Many have left but have always a relative or friend left behind and many would return if the country was not in such a mess.
It is high time Zimbabwe's intellectuals got out of their cosy comfort zone and engaged in the search to end the Zanu PF dictatorship and political madness of the sell-out opposition.
Of course, participating in flawed and illegal elections, winning in rigged elections, is madness personified! The opportunists in the opposition are frustrating those demanding reforms and rule of laws and helping Zanu PF stay in power by giving some modicum of credibility to the flawed process.
It is the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans who are caught up in this political madness and are paying dearly for it with sweat, blood and their very lives. It is high time we put an end to this madness!
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou said some of the affected schools included Masase, Mnene, Chegato and Msume.
“The situation remains bad. Several schools are getting infections in Midlands and the ministry (Primary and Secondary Education) has adopted a sinister motive of ordering COVID-19 positive students to stay at home for two weeks rather than quarantining them,” Zhou said.
Zhou said the affected schools in the province did not have adequate test kits, which distorted the figures of students who were positive to the virus.
“Tests kits are not in schools. In fact, the ministry is not even testing many pupils that are showing clear signs of COVID-19 in order to keep the figures low in schools,” he said.
The one thing Zanu PF has done ever since the corona virus outbreak, was to carry out as few test for the virus as possible and thus keep the official covid-19 cases and deaths very low. This has only helped the virus spread far and wide because those who should be in isolation after the test were allowed to mix with the rest and thus spreading the virus.
The regime needed low official covid-19 cases to hide its blundering incompetence in the handling of the pandemic.
WATCH: Mirror-Video Exposing Nick Mangwana Over Chamisa Attack
It is one thing to publicly denounce use of violence but unless we implement the democratic reforms to empower the Police, Army and other state institutions to enforce rule of law the violence will continue. The Police, Army and other state institutions are Zanu PF departments in all but name.
The only sure way to end Zimbabwe’s culture of violence, is by implementing the democratic reforms!
Some of the officers allegedly confronted him on their lowly salaries and questioned why it was not being hiked while senior government officials were amassing wealth at an alarming rate.
A chat leaked Monday also revealed resignation from the army had been banned up till the end of 2023.
“Many servicemen are throwing in the towel but recently when General Sigauke took over he banned all resignation applications until 2023,” reads the chat.
“Those burnt beans that had been banned by General (Edzai) Chimonyo as they were not fit for consumption have been brought back by General Sigauke as he is the one who supplies them. It is bad. Sigauke recently had a meeting with soldiers in Harare and addressed them then gave them an opportunity to ask (as a drill of course), junior ranked soldiers asked about salaries and why commanders suddenly got silent about promises they made in 2017.”
“Sigauke responded by giving a directive that the whole Harare District Unit be taken to Hwange, 12 Infantry Battalion for retraining. As we speak they are undergoing retraining in Hwange because they asked for better salaries and why they were not being hiked yet senior politicians were stealing and not getting arrested.”
The President Emmerson Mnangagwa regime is now clamping down on members of its state security, including police officers who were last week called to order for posting pictures and videos dismissing their poor salaries.
As long as there is no meaningful economic recovery in Zimbabwe there will be political unrest as the millions now living in abject poverty demand redress to end their suffering. And as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs there will be no meaningful economic recovery.
President Mnangagwa has only managed to stop inflation soaring to the same dizzy heights of 2008 by starving health care and education services of funds, teachers and nurses have all but thrown to the wolves. So far the regime has tried to keep the wages of those in the security services above starvation wages without fuelling inflation but even this was not going to last for long. Inflation is soaring and the regime will have no choice but to throw many of the low rank officials to the wolves.
Zimbabwe is stoking the fire of social unrest because throwing millions of the people to the wolves is socially, morally and politically unsustainable.
Since the country has failed to hold free and fair elections; peaceful and orderly change is therefore out of the question. Zimbabwe is ripe for violent change, street protests or yet another military coup.
“The Mashonaland Central Zanu PF leadership descended to Mupandira Business Centre in Musana on a fact-finding mission after party officials were beaten by police officers at the instruction of Kazembe. The area is believed to be a stronghold for his opponents, and he is taking no prisoners,” a source said.
Sources further said villagers were savagely beaten and arrested.
The official version given was that it was in retaliation to the beating of a police officer there earlier, but sources indicated that this was only used as an excuse to disrupt party members who were conducting district elections.
“Armed police officers came from Bindura with three unmarked vehicles. They also had vicious dogs. They then started beating everyone, including Zanu PF officials who were conducting district elections nearby. They were tearing Zanu PF regalia. Party members were handcuffed and beaten by police officers and had dogs set on them while in handcuffs,” a party official said.
If the Police, under instructions from the powers that be, are not taking Zanu PF officials prisoners we can be certain opposition officials will get even worse treatment if the regime’s hold on power is threatened. The only sure way to end Zimbabwe’s culture of political violence is to insist on implementing the reforms before elections. But, of course, Zanu PF will never implement even one token reform as long as the party knows the opposition will participate in the flawed and illegal elections!
Chamisa and company had the opportunity to implement the reforms themselves during the 2008 to 2013 GNU but failed to do so because Mugabe bribed them. MDC leaders are participating in these flawed elections because they cannot resist the bribe of a few gravy train seats Zanu PF is offering.
Ignorance is the worst curse there is! The ordinary people have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power on the understanding the party will bring about the democratic changes to end the Zanu PF dictatorship, the changes the nation has been dying for. The people have kept faith with MDC not knowing Chamisa and company have sold-out and are now keeping Zanu PF in power by participating in flawed elections t give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
The people have become desperate for change and in their desperation they cannot even see that MDC leaders are running with the povo by day and hunting with Zanu PF by night!
If the Police, under instructions from Zanu PF, will not take Zanu PF officials prisoners we can be certain the opposition will get even worse treatment.
Until we implement the democratic reforms designed to restore the independence of the Police, Army, Judiciary and the other state institutions Zimbabwe will never stamp out the curse of political violence, rigged elections, etc., etc. What is really frustrating now is that it is MDC leaders who are stopping the implementation of the reforms.
MDC leaders had the opportunity to implement the reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and the wasted it. And now they are the one participating in the flawed elections to give vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy!
What makes the situation truly tragic is that the masses are not even aware MDC leaders are sell-outs and so follow to follow they blindly like sheep to the slaughter! Ignorance is the curse worse than death!
"What is needed is to try to balance the two. On the one hand, we have a Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) protocol that says member States should not recruit medical professionals from other countries where there is a shortage, and on the other hand, we have Zimbabwean health workers who are underpaid and live under poverty, and are looking for greener pastures," Mabhena said.
"A domestic worker in South Africa earns more than what a medical professional earns in Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe is a dysfunctional Banana Republic and as long as that situation remains there will be no meaningful economic recovery and the economic meltdown will remain. The regime has only managed to stop inflation soaring to the dizzying heights of 2008 by starving these services affecting the poor of public funding; the teachers and nurses have been thrown to the wolves.
The economic meltdown has continued and so the regime is looking for others to throw to the wolves - the low rank in the Police, Army and other security services are next.
49% of the people now live in abject poverty, the situation is not socially, morally and politically sustainable. Since the Banana Republic cannot be dismantled peacefully through the holding free and fair elections, the only option left is violence - street protests and/or another military coup!
The only way to avoid this nightmare is for Zimbabwe to implement the democratic reforms and dismantle the Banana Republic peacefully. EU, SADC, etc., are all calling for reforms before elections and Zimbabwe’s sell-out opposition are the ones who want elections without reforms!
That the West wants to recolonise Zimbabwe, is a first degree lie and propaganda meant to woodwink the masses into supporting a moribund regime under the pretext of losing sovereignty.
Such fiction and the emergence of Zanu-PF factionalism has distracted the people from issues that really matter.
Yet it is these excesses, errors of judgment and argument of force instead of the force of argument by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his clique that has plunged us into this economic and political decay.
No matter what Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF tell the gullible, the truth is they have shamelessly brought the nation to its knees through a cocktail of toxic political and economic policies which no other country has ever tried to implement in the 21st Century. Mnangagwa is solely responsible for the economic mismanagement and political crises which have turned Zimbabwe into a basket case.
Could not agree with you more!
One hopes the UN rapporteur will have the common sense to acknowledge that political reality in Zimbabwe - Zanu PF has remained in power for 41 years and counting only because the party rigged the elections.
The internal Zanu PF change that took place in 2017 was a result of a military coup and the UN said nothing about it and pretended not to notice. The last thing we want is another military coup and unless there is meaningful progress in implementing the democratic reforms, there is no other recourse!
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