Op-Ed: Zimbabwe at the crossroads

via Op-Ed: Zimbabwe at the crossroads – NewZimbabwe 11 April 2015 by Obert Gutu

A LAND of shattered dreams; an island of tyranny in a fast-democratising sub-region; an extremely poor country that is otherwise very rich. A pariah state; a failed state. Is this the Zimbabwe that thousands of gallant men and women paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to liberate us from colonial bondage and racist exploitation? My heart bleeds.

This is an appeal to all patriotic Zimbabweans across the political, ethnic, racial and religious divide. As a human being made of flesh and blood, I will be the first one to admit that I have several weaknesses and shortcomings. I am not perfect. Indeed, I cannot be perfect. But comrades and friends, kindly lend me your ears. I write this piece as a concerned Zimbabwean; a husband, a father and also as someone who deeply loves his country.

I make absolutely no apology for my political and religious beliefs and, in similar measure; I strive to respect other peoples’ political and religious beliefs. This is the time for us as Zimbabweans to genuinely reach out to another and to appreciate that there is unity in diversity. I claim no monopoly of wisdom and as such, please kindly forgive me if I come across as conceited and arrogant. I am just an ordinary Zimbabwean; born and bred in rural Gutu. I am one with you; comrades.

The time has come for all concerned and patriotic Zimbabweans to accept the cold, hard fact that our country is facing a serious crisis; a crisis of political illegitimacy, a crisis of socio-economic trepidation, a looming crisis of hunger that will ravage no less than seven million of our people in the next few months. Comrades and friends; it cannot continue to be business as usual. Something has to give.

With the abundant natural and human resources at our disposal, surely, Zimbabwe doesn’t deserve to be in this hellhole. We deserve to be up there with the movers and shakers in this fast globalising world. We deserve to be the Singapore or Hong Kong of Southern Africa. Oh yes; we have no business being relegated to the miserable group of struggling and failed nation states. We deserve better.

If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, today I plead that you should take me as your brother and comrade. We don’t have to be close friends in order for us to push Zimbabwe in the right direction. All we have to do is to share the same vision and love for our country. There seems to be no love, tolerance and empathy amongst us as Zimbabweans.

There is so much hatred, malice, bitterness, anger and intolerance. We seem to have mutated into a nation of haters and back-biters. We find it extremely difficult to celebrate a fellow Zimbabwean’s success. Brother is rising up against brother; sister against sister and husband against wife. Marriages are breaking up and families are fast becoming theatres of hatred and primitive competition. Where has the spirit of ‘’ubuntu’’ gone? Why are we at each other’s throat, all the time?

Surely, all the political and economic challenges that Zimbabwe is facing can be promptly resolved if we start reaching out to one another. We don’t need any foreigners to teach us how to rebuild our shattered homeland. All we have to do is to start by acknowledging the sad fact that we are now at the deep end. There is no need for us to adopt an ostrich mentality and bury our heads in the sand; in the forlorn hope that when we remove our heads from the sand everything is gonna be alright! We have to take the bull by the horns.

If the beautiful and world class modern city of Dubai could be built in the middle of a blisteringly hot desert in the Middle East; what is there to stop us from building the city of Bulawayo into becoming Africa’s industrial hub? Comrades and friends, we have to dream big. This can be done. Indeed, this should be done.

This is time for us as Zimbabweans to join our hands together and chart a new trajectory going forward. The people of Zimbabwe have suffered for too long. It is now time for real action to be taken.

Obert Gutu is the MDC national spokesperson. He writes this opinion piece in his personal capacity.