We don’t want crumbs from Mnangagwa’s table

The government of PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is unbelievable!

I was left speechless after reading a post on X (formerly Twitter) from Ndavaningi “Nick” Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information.

He did everything he could to convince the people to celebrate the renovation of Sam Nujoma Street (formerly Second Street) in the capital Harare.

Honestly, Nick!

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

And it is also a road that was not built by the Mnangagwa regime at all, but by the colonial administration decades ago.

That same day, Apollonia Munzverengwi, Minister of Provincial Affairs and Devolution of Mashonaland East, told a group of villagers that Mnangagwa deserves all the praise for taking measures to ensure that no one in the country dies of hunger.

Of course, according to Mangwana’s statement, this was meant to make Zimbabweans hail Mnangagwa as a phenomenal leader!

Wow, can it get any worse?

That is certainly possible.

Also that day, youth in Mashonaland West were called upon by Zanu-PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa to praise Mnangagwa for offering so-called ‘income generating projects’.

Welcome to the circus called “Zimbabwe”.

As expected, those attending these meetings did not disappoint their leaders, cheering on their “visionary president.”

However, I have come to realise, after numerous messages from people from different corners of Zimbabwe, especially from rural areas, that the cheering, dancing and booing is never genuine.

It is literally a matter of life and death.

These people do not go to these events of their own free will.

They are forced, otherwise.

Moreover, they cannot afford not to come, because of the unbearable poverty and hunger, because that is where they receive life-saving food aid.

Anyone who does not show the required enthusiasm may be refused such donations, as he or she will be seen as an enemy or an opposition party.

Why then should these people be forced to celebrate this undeniable mediocrity?

The answer is simple.

Zimbabweans are not stupid.

We know what our God-given, inalienable right is.

We deserve a better life.

How many Zimbabweans are unaware that our country is rich in some of the world’s most precious minerals?

Sixty pieces, 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 able to enjoy the same high standard of living as people in highly developed countries like the United Arab Emirates.

Actually, we should be better off, as most of these countries have far fewer natural resources, and some have none at all.

Yet here in Zimbabwe, despite all our wealth, millions of people live in poverty, and that is precisely why we should be grateful for the food aid we receive.

Our government is unable to build any significant new roads and we are forced to applaud the renovation of Harare’s colonial-era streets.

Our youth have no hope of a decent living because the economy is in intensive care and they have no choice but to dance for some ridiculous ‘income generating project’.

These ‘projects’ cannot even afford to own a car, let alone a house, as their lives are reduced to a day-to-day existence.

Yet every day we read about the plundering of our national resources by those in power or those connected to them.

Why should we celebrate that “no one dies of hunger” when we know that the wealth of this country is enough to afford us all the best meals this planet has to offer?

If the Mnangagwa regime can afford to spend $90 million on goats that never deliver, why can’t our impoverished rural people receive a minimum of $500 every month as social welfare?

If the government can easily spend $7.6 million on non-flush toilets, which have risen to $3,800 each instead of $300, what is stopping it from buying essential medicines for all our public health facilities?

If the Mnangagwa government can give its cronies like Wicknell Chivayo and associates $100 million for election materials that have been inflated in cost by over 235%, why can’t it pay civil servants a living wage and our parents decent pensions?

The money is clearly there.

As Zimbabwe prepares for the Sadc Heads of State and Government meeting next month, the Mnangagwa regime is busy repairing roads, constructing new buildings and developing many more infrastructure facilities.

Most average Zimbabweans wonder where all that money suddenly came from, given that there has been little significant development in the country over the past two decades.

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

The government had no problem with this, because ordinary citizens suffered unimaginable suffering and poverty as long as those in power lived in luxury.

But now that visitors are coming to the country in August, there is suddenly money for some cosmetic surgery.

Knowing how this regime functions, I shudder to think how much money has actually been spent on dodgy tenders for these infrastructure developments, probably costing hundreds of times more.

I hope that all these tenders are thoroughly investigated and any unscrupulous actions are brought to light.

Be that as it may, in short, the people of Zimbabwe know that the country has enough resources for everyone to live a relatively comfortable life.

And yet here we live, in abject poverty, and we are expected to embrace mediocrity.

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

We are not second-class citizens.

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

We deserve the best in our motherland.

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Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, author and speaker. He writes here in his personal capacity.