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Stephen Mpofu
ZIMBABWEANS must strive indefatigably as individuals and collectively as a nation to achieve divine establishment in face of efforts by external enemies to effect regime change and in the process turn back the clock of Independence, freedom and self-determination in the motherland.

Which suggests that Zimbabweans should shun all sinful acts among them corruption, hate and hate speech, destruction of human life, theft among other dastardly acts authored by the thief, killer and destroyer, the devil and instead exercise unshakeable faith in God so that the Lord may release the best that He has in store for each of His human creation.

The bottom line here is that both our country’s economic and political ideologies should be Zimcentric, the latter in compelling political players to disabuse themselves of desires for “political power and enjoyment now” so that they do not become instruments of external forces seeking to negate our independence, freedom and self-determination as a free people.

The economic ideology should augur well for an enduring success story in our emancipation so that we remain insular to neo-colonial pandering.

Thus rural council authorities must without much ado flex powers seeded to them by Central Government under devolution to, for instance, plug all loopholes through which strategic mineral resources such as gold have been blued out of the country for sale with proceeds obviously enriching individual culprits instead of being used to banish hunger repeatedly stalking rural folks, what with recurrent droughts caused by global warming which is continually being fed toxic fumes especially from the industrialised West where some countries are reluctant to modify factory chimneys pumping toxic gases into the atmosphere and which in turn causes global warming which affects rainfall patterns globally.

The ideal should be for revenue from mineral resources extracted in various parts of the country to be used, as in the case of agricultural resources, in the development of rural areas that lag far behind urban areas which were colonial centres for development.

Many parts of Zimbabwe are richly endowed by God with important minerals such as gold, platinum, diamond, asbestos among others, with oil and gas said to exist in Matabeleland North province and therefore waiting to be exploited and added to our country’s enrichment basket.

It should be considered natural for Zimbabweans as natural owners of the minerals in the belly of our motherland to have an agreed stake with foreign mining companies or investors in the management of the minerals extracted as well as in the revenue from their sales as a fillip for our continued economic advancement.

Investors should not be allowed to exercise carte blanche rights over minerals extracted as though they own both the mines and this country.

In retrospect, mining authorities in Government might wish to tell Zimbabweans what happened to emeralds which were once headlines in Mberengwa West, somewhere near Chegato High School where this communicologist was a student in the late 50s.

The emeralds — a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as precious stones — continued to be popular during the period of the armed struggle with “freedom fighters” reportedly selling them to teachers and shop owners but with that mineral’s name vanishing from the public’s vocabulary after independence.

In short, with God-endowed mineral rich rural areas where most Zimbabweans live should boast such economic and social development as should see a reversed urban drift by our people for various kinds of jobs there instead of Zimbabwean-educated young men and girls flocking to neighbouring countries where for instance the men provide labour in road maintenance and work while the girls are employed as domestic workers earning money to send back home where both types of work seem anathema to them.

If devolution comes with attractive employment conditions, including mouth-watering pay packets, Zimbabweans offering their slave labour, as it were, in neighbouring countries will no doubt flock back to their roots with a boost to infrastructure development as well as to other modes of economic and social development.

Add to the above skilled Zimbabweans plying their trades in foreign lands for lack of employment at home but who are wont to return to their roots, lured by any unimpeded political, economic and social development once our people put their act together.

All in all, if as uninverted patriots Zimbabweans shun all evil acts in fear of the wrath of God, breakthroughs in all aspects of their daily lives will be their portions and the Lord will put a new song in our souls to hum or sing aloud marching into a brave new future as unstoppable overcomers.