The nation is grappling with the impending introduction of bond notes. People are mixed up. They are lost in the big words and promises. The challenges ahead seem insurmountable. An announcement by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya that soon he will introduce bond notes to ease cash shortages has dented confidence, brought about panic, anger, confusion, anxiety, strain, and for some hopelessness.
CONELIA MABASA
While people are still trying to understand the implications of the bond notes, MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai is planning demonstrations against the introduction of the notes, which the party believes is a clandestine way to bring back the loathed Zimdollar. The Home Affairs ministry led by Ignatious Chombo has vowed to ruthlessly deal with demonstrators. Previously, during the hyperinflation period, especially the year 2008, people lost savings as money became worthless by the day because it was backed by nothing. Nobody cares to explain where gold reserves are, in the same way nobody is explaining how we lost $15 billion from diamonds. To allay fears, the central bank governor says unlike the hyperinflation period where money was printed at Fidelity Printers, this time it will come from a foreign company and nobody will arm-twist them into printing more than what the $200 million from Afreximbank can bond. Mangudya argues that he is trying to ease cash shortages, incentivise exporters and curb externalisation of the US$, which gets spirited away as soon as banks bring it in.
Anxious for the future and in a bid to preserve what they already had, depositors thronged banks to withdraw the greenback, just in case. There is a saying, “once beaten, twice shy”. Nobody wants to leave anything to chance given the mistrust between the banking public and the central bank. In a moment, what had been built up around financial inclusion and use of plastic money was undone and supermarkets too, turned uncanny; refusing to give or limiting cash back to people who would have bought goods online.
However, feeling anxious is not out of this world. There was a man whom I think was always on the edge by the pool of Bethesda for a good 38 years, but he did not die. He got anxious and expectant every morning when the angel of the Lord came to stir the waters for healing, but each time, somebody went in before him. The Bible says in John 5 v 1-9; Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralysed. One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
What relief for a man who suffered an anti-climax every day!
Then there was Bartimaeus [Mark 10 v 46-52], for crying out loud to Jesus for his healing, the crowds tried to quieten him. He did not give up, he got louder, until he got the attention of Christ and those who had stood between him and his salvation changed discourse. They started to encourage him. We too can encourage each other and speak hope to those we associate with. When political leadership fails, naturally, people turn to religious leadership for reassurance, but I have seen two prominent church leaders lose their cool over bond notes and other injustices; Bishop Tudor Bismark of Tudor Bismark Ministries and Tom Deuschle of Celebration Ministries International. Emotions aside, if our leadership looks to God for guidance, they will give us the confidence we need to look to the future with hope.
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The woman with the issue of blood [Luke 8 v 40-56] was a cast out. She was not supposed to be in contact with other people, let alone Jesus, but it took faith and courage to touch his garment for her wellness. One can imagine the anxious moments as she pressed against people, deaf to the crowds, but keeping her eyes on the Messiah because she believed he would cure her.
The three scenarios serve to show that, yes, situations can build anxiety and even anger in us, but God makes a way always. We are not a forsaken country and one day, just one day, when our time is ripe we will praise God again and look back to review our anxious moments and move on. Scriptures teach us in Matthew 6 v 25- 33 to trust God to provide for us for His grace is sufficient.
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