We don’t want crumbs from your table, Mr. Mnangagwa!

Tendai Ruben Mbofana

I was lost for words when reading a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Nick Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary in the Information Ministry.

He went out of his way trying to convince the nation to celebrate the rehabilitation of Second Street in the capital Harare.

Really, Nick!!

Is the nation now expected to celebrate the rehabilitation of a road?

What more, a road that was not even constructed by the Mnangagwa regime but by the colonial administration uncountable decades ago.

Then, the same day, there was the Minister of State for Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Dr. Apollonia Munzverengwi.

She told a gathering of local villagers that Mnangagwa was worthy of praise as he had put in place measures to ensure that no one in the country died of hunger.

Of course, this – as with Mangwana’s statement – was intended to make Zimbabweans hail Mnangagwa as a phenomenal leader!

Wow, can it get any worse?

Indeed, it can.

Again, on that day, youth in Mashonaland West were being urged by ZANU PF spokesman Chris Mutsvangwa to praise Mnangagwa for giving them some so-called ‘income generating projects’.

Welcome to the circus called ‘Zimbabwe’!

As to be expected, those in attendance at these gatherings did not disappoint their leaders as they most certainly cheered their ‘visionary president’.

I have come to understand, though, after receiving numerous communication from people from various corners of Zimbabwe, especially in rural areas, that the cheering, dancing, and ululating is never genuine.

It is literally a matter of life and death.

These people do not attend these events by choice.

They are forced – or else!

Besides, due to unbearable poverty and hunger, they can not afford not to attend since that is where they receive life-saving food aid

Anyone who does not display the required enthusiasm may be denied these donations after being construed as an enemy or opposition element.

So why do these people need to be forced to celebrate this undeniable mediocrity?

The answer is simple.

Zimbabweans are not fools!

We know what we deserve as our God-given inalienable right.

We deserve a better life.

How many Zimbabweans are not aware that our country is richly-endowed with some of the world’s most precious minerals?

Sixty of them, to be exact.

We know very well that our country should not be poor at all.

We – yes, we, the 15 million of us – should be enjoying the same high standards of life as those in highly developed nations such as the UAE.

We should be better off since most of these countries have far fewer natural resources, some with none at all.

Yet, here in Zimbabwe, with all our wealth, millions are languishing in poverty – where we need to celebrate being given food aid.

Our government is not able to construct any significant new roads, and we are forced to cheer the rehabilitation of a colonial era street in Harare!

Our youth are left with no hope of any decent livelihoods – on account of an economy lying in the intensive care unit – such that they are left with no choice than to dance for some laughable ‘income-generating projects’.

These ‘projects’ can not even afford them a car, let alone a house, of their own – as their lives are reduced to a hand-to-mouth existence.

However, each day, we read of the looting of our national resources by those in power or aligned to them.

Why would we celebrate ‘no one dying of hunger’ when we know that this country’s wealth is enough to make us all afford the best meals this planet has to offer?

Surely, if the Mnangagwa regime can afford to dole out US$90 million on goats that are never delivered, why can our impoverished rural folk not receive at least US$500 each every month as a social grant?

If the government can easily part with  US$7.6 million on non-flushable toilets – whose cost was inflated to US$3,800 a unit instead of the proper US$300 – what stops them from buying essential medications for all our public health care facilities?

If the Mnangagwa administration can give their cronies, such as Wicknell Chivayo and his partners, US$100 million for election material whose cost was inflated by over  235 percent, why can they not pay civil servants living wages and our parents reasonable pensions?

Clearly, the money is there!

In fact, as Zimbabwe prepares to host the SADC Heads of State Summit in August 2024, the Mnangagwa regime has been feverishly fixing roads, constructing new buildings, and much more infrastructural development.

Most ordinary Zimbabweans can not help wondering where the money suddenly came from, considering how there has hardly been any significant development in the country over the past two decades.

The money has always been there in Zimbabwe, but enjoyed only by a handful at the expense of the nation.

The government did not mind at all watched as ordinary citizens endured unimaginable suffering and poverty as long as those in power were living lavishly.

However, now that there are visitors coming to the country in August, suddenly the money is there for some window-dressing cosmetic developments.

As a matter of fact, knowing how this regime operates, I shudder to imagine how much has actually been spent on shady tenders for these infrastructural developments, with costs likely inflated hundreds of times.

I hope all these tenders will be thoroughly investigated and any unscrupulous acts exposed.

Be that as it may, in a nutshell, the people of Zimbabwe know that the country has more than enough for everyone to enjoy a relatively comfortable life.

Yet, here we are, living in abject poverty but expected to celebrate mediocrity.

Let this message be abundantly and unambiguously clear to the Mnangagwa regime.

We are not second-class citizens.

We will not accept crumbs from the table of the ruling elite and their cronies.

We deserve the very best in our own motherland.

● Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: [email protected], or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/

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