via ZBC hails ‘inspirational’ Mugabe – The Zimbabwean 23 April 2015
So many sycophantic sonnets have been composed in praise of President Robert Mugabe – every despot has a team of toadies, to scatter rose petals before his feet. The bootlickers at ZBC have a new title to add to his already elongated epithet.
They now speak of him as ‘the head of state and commander in chief of the Zimbabwe defence forces, first secretary of Zanu (PF) who is also the chairman of the African Union and Sadc.’ But of the many descriptions by which he is known, the one that stands out is ‘inspirational.’
Between 1980 and 1999, travelling was a big deal. Most school leavers and college graduates aspired to jobs in the industries of Belmont, Coventry and Workington. Nobody ever thought of leaving the country. In fact most people never bothered to get passports. What was there to see beyond Beitbridge, Chirundu and Plumtree? But at the turn of the century, the wheels came off. Long queues wound like serpents around Makombe Building, as thousands stood in line, anxious to get their hands on the ‘Greenbomber’ passport.
Harare International Airport received Zimbabwe’s children in their thousands; most of them catching a one way flight to Britain, Australia and America. Others did not even bother with formalities. They walked, passport-less, to the border and swam the crocodile infested Limpopo. ‘Kwese kufa – if we stay we die, so may as well die trying to get away.’
The United Nations estimates that there are over three million Zimbabwean migrants scattered all over the globe. In one of his many jibes aimed at Zimbabweans living abroad, President Mugabe sarcastically asked, ‘muchienda kunaani?’ – where the heck are you going? The answer is simple; anywhere but here, anywhere but under your oppressive rule, Your Excellency.
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