,the country continues to float aimlessly ,leaders less ,soulless and with out direction . Without a doubt we are are on auto cruise to stagnation ,if not down right destruction . Spirits are low ,and confidence particularly business confidence is extremely low. That low confidence is reflected in seriously depressed domestic demand coupled with evidence of capital flight and population movement from Zimbabwe . That the economy is shrinking ,remains incontestable . .Retrenchments are on the increase.Compan ies are going for months accruing wage and tax arrears. The unlawful decision to cancel water and rates arrears continues to wreak havoc in the balance sheets of local authorities,wit h many now unable to pay for their recurrent obligations ,never mind their normal service delivery obligations. Where there is no leadership ,chaos fills the vacuum.This is country is gripped with fear uncertainty and apprehension. So rumors ,slander and idle talk are gripping the country.Every one has a story .Everyone knows something from an undisclosed ,reliable person. The question ,What is to be done?is one that needs answers at micro and macro level. It is however one that will not be answered very quickly. The country is battered by the the pain of a stolen election .It is also deeply divided and deeply suspicious and in suspense. Their are no signs of future direction and every opportunity to address people has not been taken advantage off.Instead the Wananchi has been subjected to the same old vitriol. The language of hatred .The language of the past. This is all a result of exhausted nationalism ,now both literal and metaphorical. Exhaustion allows impunity and patronage.It also creates a dangerous culture characters whose job is try and hijack the tired leader and lead him further into isolation and alienation. There are courtyard battles ,so heinous ,so tiring and so exhausting. The king is unable to resolve same. Thus the nightmare of the majority of Zimbabweans is that we could be stuck with this lot for some time. By the time they are through with us ,whatever remains of the country would be a shocking wreck. Surely those "elected "to govern must govern . The country is faced with major crises requiring urgent attention. Take the food situation.The country has had two years of drought.But as any scientist will tell you hunger and droughts are by products of failure to plan. As they say failure to plan is planning h to fail. The country now faces this pain. The WFP for instance estimates that 2.2 million people have to be fed in the next four months,translat ing to one in every four requiring food assistance in the rural areas. This thus means there is an emerging humanitarian crises at the present moment. Good and visionary leadership would demand an immediate attention to this problem . The solution in my view is not the unscientific knee jerk response of attempting to import food from Zambia. Rather ,as we are already in September ,invest every cent available into the 2013-2014 summer crop. It is key that there should be full preparation of the next agricultural season.Thus the banking sector must mobiles resources to finance compliant farmers. The seed and fertilizer houses I am sure are ready.Farmers must have proper land preparation . The existing deficit must be dealt with by liberalizing further the capacity of private millers to continue to import grain from the region. They have this capacity and they have been doing it anywhere even the years of plenty. Further a Consolidated Appeal needs to be made to the WFP to deal with the vulnerables and the indigent. Connected to this issue is the burning question of livestock . .Cattle in places like Mat South are dying and rich traders are really exploiting Wananchi by buying these poor beasts at sub optimal prices. There are just to many of these challenges.The crises of unemployment ,of social delivery particularly in areas such as BEAM,the Educational Trust Fund and the Health Trust Fund need to be assessed . Another foreseeable challenge emanates from decline in revenues in mining as it is becoming self evident the return of low commodity prices. I could go on but the fact of the matter is that there are huge problems which I have no doubt in my mind the "victors " of yesterday do not have the craft competence of effectively dealing with same. Therein lies the challenge. It would be irresponsible for any one to think and assume that the status quo ante is sustainable. No. The sooner we all find each other and understand the imperator of a political solution to restore legitimacy to the country ,the better. Zimbabweans have a duty and right to choose leaders of their own choice. That is the condition sine qua of moving foward. Without this ,the motherland will be caught up in the vortex of a prolonged transition ,if not a derailed transition altogether . Without this we are pushing this country back to the sterile years of the pre Federation period . We are constructing permanent potholes to development and all we will do is to fertilize conflict ,attrition and failure. Of course some in fact do not care.They think the country can move on under the veil of self induced isolation . Also Utopia is not of this universe. Besides long gone are the days of proper social democracy where solidarity was the order of the day. Today s world order is different.Gover nments have enough structural problems of their own. If a mad man decides to cut his wrist ,the new world order may even cheer you. That is why in general terms there is fatigue about Zimbabwe.The Sadc actions could be in fact emanate from this solve - your - problems - on -your -own syndrome . In the short history of this country,there has never been such a period of tension and cold war conflict in this poor country. But continuously we continue keeping the flame alive . For now stay blessed ,strong and clean. Zikomo.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 21:39:26 +0000
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