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Stephen Mpofu, Perspective
Does anyone earnestly and honestly believe that Zimbabweans and their compatriots in SADC, the African Union as well as other progressive forces will trample on each other’s feet in a scramble to buy a concoction to the effect that the United States government passed the Zimbabwe Democracy Act, or ZIDERA, not to effect a Zanu-PF regime change but, rather, to punish individuals and organisations for human rights and other violations of basic governance principles.

But let us for argument’s sake believe for a moment that Zidera was primarily intended for this purpose.
How on this earth does a foreign government legislate against any errant individuals or bodies in another country far, far away and, in the case in point, as though Zimbabwe were a banana republic of the United States of America?

One Western imperialist power allied to Washington reportedly attempted a military invasion to remove Zanu-PF from power, and not against the said individuals and organisations, but was denied landing  rights for its soldiers by a friendly SADC country thereby preventing a blood bath which might have resulted from potential confrontation by the Zimbabwe National Army.

In any case, is our Government pursuing a re-engagement exercise with the international community on behalf of those so-called individuals and organisations that were targeted by Zidera and not on its own behalf as the overall custodian of Zimbabweans and their rights?

The veracity of the saga in point in this discourse is that the opposition MDC-T of the late Morgan Tsvangirai requested the US government, on behalf of white settler farmers who supported his organisation, to impose the sanctions in a bid to remove the Zanu-PF Government which had introduced the land reform programme to restore to the original black owners land blatantly occupied by white settler farmers.

What immediately happened was that other Western countries as America’s illegal economic sanctions entourage zoomed  in with their own anti-Zimbabwe barricades to help remove the Zanu-PF Government from power and into the shade so that the opposition here might rise to power by any means possible.

That this country’s incumbent government has since the introduction of sanctions found it literally impossible to source funding from international institutions controlled by the West proves beyond any shadow of doubt that the Zanu-PF Government has for two decades virtually become anathema in the West with its ministers as non grata.

But the majority of our people should rejoice and lavish our Creator with praise for, in spite of some members of the opposition still gunning for the Government by calling for the intensification of sanctions by their Western masters, this country can be  said to have almost gone past its chronos season of trials and tribulations and is now smelling a Kairos season of the accomplishment of political, economic and social prosperity.

Witness the following.

Since this communicologist graduated in 1963 as a journalist and creative writer from the African Literature Centre – the only journalism school on the African continent at the time and before eventually obtaining a degree of the University of South Africa in communication and sociology – went on sponsored study tours from Zambia and later from this county to both South and North America, Wales, England, West and East Germany the latter as a communist state then, the Island of Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Iraq after dictator Saddam Hussein’s ouster, Egypt in North Africa, Kenya in East Africa, Swaziland now Eswathini, Lesotho, South Africa and Botswana I never saw at any time in any of those countries the kind of telescopic and inclusive economic and social development programmes such as is now being witnessed in our country at this moment in time through, for instance political and economic enlargement under devolution.

Then we have emerging roads rehabilitation countrywide to facilitate smooth travelling as a fillip for accelerated economic activity in the massive renaissance of agricultural activity with young people being encouraged and facilitated to engage in farming as also an income generating activity so that the youths do not flock to towns in search of employment which is scarce or jump borders into foreign countries to render slave service for slave pay and risk being roped into criminal activities out there.

The country is also witnessing at this moment in time socialisation of children and women and their empowerment with the First Lady, Mrs Auxillia Mnangagwa at the helm of things as the mother of our nation.

Then there is the provision of better housing for everyone both in the countryside under devolution and in urban settlements so that no Zimbabwean lives as squatters in their country while leaders saunter in and around poshy suburban residencies.

Add to our Government’s approach to inclusive economic development the current crackdown on saboteurs of the country’s micro economic stability through financial indiscipline causing parallel market prices going berserk and in the process impacting negatively on prices, commodities and goods with overall negative effects on government policies intended to catalyse economic recovery and growth to counter the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and those of the illegal Western economic sanctions on our motherland.

Consider also community radio stations being setup countrywide to synchronise government policies with economic and agricultural development on the ground, and digitalisation as an aid to learners in rural schools during lockdowns with schools temporarily shut down.

A synthesis of the ideas expressed in the above with the omniscient God and great restorer doing what He knows best in aid of our total recovery from the sanctions and Covid-19 abominations is that Zimbabweans regardless of their different political ideologies must be united by an imperative need for our country to march resolutely into a brave new future as one people with one destiny for present and future generations.

Our detractors, no matter how some  of our people lick their backsides, will never, never enter our skin to live the same lives as us.

Those with uncongested ears have heard.