As one traverses through the rugged terrains of Zimbabwe, the perennial question that hangs heavily in the air is, what good is a piece of land without access to basic healthcare, a constitutional right that seems to have been buried under the rubbles of political misadventure? The situation takes a darker shade of irony when this piece of land becomes a symbol of misplaced loyalty, with deceased relatives lying underneath, their demise a result of a health system in shambles or perhaps, a tragic end on dilapidated roads neglected by the ruling Zanu PF.
The narrative gets murkier as you dig deeper into the lives of the three hundred families holding onto their ancestral lands with a vice-like grip, oblivious to the approaching storm of land seizures orchestrated by Zanu PF for platinum exploitation by foreign hands. It’s a tale of about three thousand, two hundred votes, tethered to a fleeting sense of legacy while ignoring the glaring atrocities committed by the ruling party whose essence reeks of self-enrichment and power retention.
Peering through the looking glass of unemployment, it’s a bleak picture for the sons and daughters of these landowners. A terrain that once symbolised self-sufficiency now echoes with the cries of dependency on non-governmental organisations and remittances from diasporas. The relentless plunder and looting by Zanu PF have seemingly blinded them to the grievous reality that their lands, once a source of pride and livelihood, are on the verge of being snatched away, leaving in its wake a barren field of broken dreams.
The irony twists further into a cruel jest as the same individuals, threatened with land seizures, view the sadistic party orchestrating this heist as their guardian since independence. They remain oblivious to the erosion of the rule of law, the mutilation of the supreme law of the land, and the exiling of democratic governance cornerstones like devolution of power, which ironically, could have been their shield against such exploitations.
At the heart of this quagmire is a destructive mindset, rigid in its loyalty to a party that continually violates human and property rights, plunges the nation into aggressive inflation, and exacerbates food insecurity. The question then arises, should individuals entrapped in such a destructive paradigm be allowed to vote? It’s a harsh contemplation, yet it unveils the stark reality of a nation paralyzed, its citizens caught in a vicious cycle of political deceit and economic despondency.
While the debate rages on, the looming land seizures cast a long, ominous shadow across the Zimbabwean landscape, a grim reminder of the shackles of illegitimacy that continue to bind the people to a future filled with uncertainties. Amidst this grim narrative, the essence of accountability, transparency, and responsibility remains a distant echo, a forgotten verse in the tragic opera that is Zimbabwe’s political landscape.
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