The reality of Robert Mugabes catastrophic failure In January l drove to Mutoko to collect 70 chickens from my mother and helped in marketing and selling them. I gave mainly my neighbours here in Harare on credit with agreement to have the payment made by end of February. Today, two months later, several clients are still owing amounts ranging from $15, $10, $7 and even $2. I visited a number of them recently and got very discouraging responses. One woman was very honest and said, Mukwasha, l feel very ashamed that l havent been able to pay the $7 for the chicken l bought on credit. And, l have to be very honest, l cant promise when l will be able to pay. I just have no idea, but l remain committed to settling the debt as soon as l get the money. I felt pity as the woman clearly showed a sense of shame, at the same time betraying a very deep spirit of fatigue and hopelessness. Three other debtors told relatively similar stories. Another woman had promised to bring the money that day but has not shown up, more than a week later - and l know why. A lady in Murewa where l left some chickens at a backyard canteen has been promising to clear the balance for over a month now. She has stopped responding to my communications. My mother had reared 100 chickens, which she has become accustomed to doing since l was a boy. She always engaged in such projects after retiring from nursing, and previously realised good profits that contributed towards paying our school fees and added to my dads civil service salary. In the past, teachers at the school, war veterans and hoticulture farmers in the village used to provide a solid clientel base for the chickens. This time my mother sold less than 15, on credit and much of which may remain outstanding until December. These stories and experiences are a microcosm of the national situation obtaining in Zimbabwe. I had a chat with a colleague in the freight industry recently and he said his company has not issued a single receipt since January. It has sent all but two workers home simply because there is nothing going. I met a top banking executive a fortnight ago who whispered to me that one of the biggest entities on the market is planning to retrench 500 out of 900 workers. Just about everything, everyone l meet, and everywhere l go, the stories are of similar nature - gloom, disaster and hopelessness. This is the reality of Zimbabwes economic story, and worsening by the day. At the centre of it all is an old doddering failure called Robert Mugabe. A serial liar and deceptive political crook, this Mugabe has varying versions of excuses and lies to justify this national disaster under his watch. He attempts to exonerate himself and construct the ruse of blaming other things and factors. But as each day ticks away, it becomes apparent to all Zimbabweans that what started like a joke of electoral evil and madness of 2013 is increasingly snowballing into a terrible menace that consumes all the dignity and spirit of humanity. Mugabes record of indiscretions is scandalous, yet the 2013 electoral evil was just culmination of 33 years of theft, plunder and destruction by a monolith system supervised by an ostantatious intellectual masked in royal apparel to hide his frailty and inherent failure. It is now that all Zimbabweans have come to understand the reality of an unmitigated failure that Robert Mugabe has always been, because everyone is grappling with the dire effects of his harvest of thorns. July 31, 2013 madness became the straw that broke the camels back but unfortunately for the suffering masses, poor Mugabe just wont repent. He is both too stubborn and stupid to continue putting an arrogant face and pretend to be having things under control. My prediction is that just nothing will stop the economic collapse unless the evil regime stops running into the darkness in the forlorn hope for a miracle. My assessment shows that the unemployment rate is now at 95%, yes, 95%. The talk of informal sector and huge numbers surving there is utter rubbish. I did a survey and established that the bulk of what is being referred to as informal sector adds up to nothing in terms of earning income by the participants. Our experiences with the chickens are clear and illustrative about the reality in the informal sector, contrary to the fictitious stories of substance and viability, which Mugabe and company pontificate about. Halls for sports betting sprouting all over now spend the whole day filled to capacity by university graduates, qualified technicians and skilled individuals - who have become a whole society of gamblers. These home truths and realities vehemently rubbish Mugabe and Zanu PFs claims of landslide victory last year. All the people l speak to in Mutoko, Harare or Johannesburg are clear that they knew prior to July 31 last year that giving poor Mugabe the vote would plunge the nation into this trouble. Therefore, the majority simply wouldnt vote for this cruel failure. So, Mugabe stole the peoples vote by a margin of more than 50%, to further punish them with the worst economic conditions outside of a war - and further destroy hope and potential for future generations. Through this, Robert Mugabe has effectively eroded what remained of his legacy. The ghost of July 31, 2013 shall haunt the nation until it is arrested and destroyed. And, its living symbol is Robert Mugabe.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:34:34 +0000
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