Zimbabwe need food not guns

 Zimbabwe need food not guns
Published: 11 June 2019
GOVERNMENT'S recent purchase of weaponry as reported in media circles has shown that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration is gearing itself for a brutal confrontation with defenceless Zimbabweans. Instead of addressing people's concerns that range from the daily skyrocketing of prices for basically everything - Mnangagwa's government is trying to instil fear in a hapless populace.

As we speak Zimbabweans seem powerless; they have nowhere to run to neither is there anyone listening to their problems.
The worrying question is why Mnangagwa should be buying weaponry now using the scarce foreign currency when the country is broke?

Hospitals have no drugs, there is no forex for fuel, there are no chemicals to treat drinking water, there is no electricity and households have to endure a 24-hour load-shedding regime.
The current electricity load-shedding is killing the little that has been left in industry while winter crop farming for this year is already a disaster at a time when the nation faces hunger due to drought.

Industry and manufacturers are up in arms with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which is not releasing enough forex and I find it very odd when foreign currency is splashed because government is running afraid of its own people.

Mnangagwa and his government know what is required of them and they just have to do the right things. They should not intimidate people by purchasing thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, sniper rifles, water cannons and tear gas canisters.

Is Zimbabwe at war with itself? This kind of response from government shows that it knows that it has failed and that people are angry; hence prospects of a revolt are at their highest. And who wouldn't protest given the situation on the ground where salaries and wages have been eroded eight fold?

Accommodation rentals, school fees and transport are all being pegged at the accelerating USD, a result that has seen increases at every turn. Amidst this crisis that has affected all facets of our lives, I would expect the president to step up and protect the people; he should speak to the people and tell them of the remedies he and his government are putting in place. People are wondering where our president is as the country burns.

Yes, we see the president on television commissioning various factories and mines, but is that what the ordinary people want from their head of State at the moment? No. The people want assurances from Mnangagwa because he is employed to protect and defend the people of Zimbabwe.

There is nothing as stubborn as the economy because there are no short-cuts to commerce and bad governance usually ring bells throughout world markets, hence we have such high inflation now officially hovering around 75 percent while independent analysts are putting it at well over 300 percent.

Zimbabwe is just like any ordinary company that has to make money to survive; pay its workers, invest and expand, it has to employ the right people and those not performing have to be replaced.
The country cannot afford to keep dead wood in government because there are several Cabinet ministers who have proved clueless in solving our myriad problems and these have to pave way for competent people.

We cannot continue to suffer because of incompetent ministers who were appointed because of their political correctness.  We need professional people who can take our company - Zimbabwe - to greater heights because what we currently have are mediocre managers.

It is sad that Mnangagwa keeps such characters in his government and as it stands Zimbabweans are of the opinion that Mnangagwa is failing to steer the ship.  And they are whispering in office corridors, in farms, factories and in beer-halls that the country seems to be on auto-pilot.  You cannot blame them! It is time for the president to smell the coffee and be a listening leader, not one who harbours confrontation to solve problems.

We do not need guns and teargas. We need affordable food, fuel, medicines, transport and electricity!

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Wilson is president of Democratic Opposition Party
- Harry Peter Wilson
Tags: Guns, Food,

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