As a nation more serious introspection has got to be done. In the year just past there were many issues that vexed our minds. Although the year panned out better than the others in the decade, the general feeling among the people is one of trepidation.
The decade beginning at the turn of the millennium was about the most difficult for the country.
The politics were just not right. After two decades of Zanu PF’s totalitarian rule the Zimbabwean body politic had by 2000 decided that enough was enough and they demanded change. Little did the nation, or the world, know the lengths to which Zanu PF was prepared to go to retain power.
During that whole decade the country was reduced to a Golgotha, the Biblical place of execution.
As the New Year beckons, the nation sits precariously on a knife edge; the fear is that the country might tilt and plunge back to the murderous past.
The fear is made very real by the call to hold another election midyear. Elections in Zimbabwe have never been peaceful, and the proposed ones are unlikely to be an exception.
Besides the poisoned politics, our economy is still very fragile. Signs were beginning to emerge that our economy, with concerted effort, could be turned around. World-record hyperinflation had been tamed and supermarkets whose shelves had gone bear two years ago had filled. Although access to the US dollar remained difficult for the majority, there was never any threat of mass starvation.
But how to remove the fear that pervades our land is an issue that will continue to tax the nation’s thinking. Sadly, our politics are unlikely to change for the better any time soon.
