sundayword:BY PROSPER TINGINI
Zimbabwe as a land is one of the richest in terms of natural resources, not only in Africa but on planet earth. It offers diverse opportunities for development, yet for some reasons its people are failing to harness this heritage. Efforts and promises of all kinds have been made to reap the benefits of our God-given riches, but most of these have come and gone with little tangible results. It is as if there is some kind of curse that afflicts the nation and its people.
There is this politically motivated outcry that blames the situation on the “limited” sanctions applied by the western nations. The major targets of those sanctions are affluent people living large, having already accumulated enormous wealth over the years. These targeted sanctions have no effect on such people.
Most of them are millionaires with huge investments scattered everywhere. Most of them being of the ruling elite, blame the nation’s dire economy on these sanctions as an excuse to the voters, who keep them in power. Let’s stop this blame game and look inward into ourselves as a nation. There is something we are not doing right and God knows it. He has the keys to our success. He has the answers locked up until we do that which is right in His eyes.
There is also this tendency to want to blame it on corruption. Yes, corruption is there and it has always been there all over the world since time immemorial.
It will never be eradicated completely, but can only be suppressed to a point and controlled. Yes, some people have amassed wealth through corrupt means, especially those in the corridors of power. While it can be classified as evil, it is by no means the reason why a country cannot prosper. Some of the ill-gotten wealth can actually drive the economy if ploughed back into economy’s investment coffers, whether by choice or through state capture.
Capital is another major reason advanced for our failure to improve the living standards of the population. True, every business needs capital of some sort to start up, but the nation already holds unlimited capital in its soils. We are all walking and sitting on gold, diamonds, platinum, iron and a vast range of other resources which are at our disposal, yet we cry of a paper currency shortage while we sleep on all those resources.
History tells us that as early as the 16th century, the Arabs and some Portuguese nationals came to our parts of Africa to do some barter trade with our forefathers. There was no paper currency that we cry for today. The currency was the gold and the other precious things that were traded with the foreigners in exchange for other goods. The forefathers mined without a dime in their pockets, but they mined loads of the sought-after minerals. They used their own unsophisticated ways of mining, but they got the gold. Even today a large chunk of the mineral is mined without the cherished capital, by the makorokoza. What is required is an organised control system to harness and market the minerals, to capitalise ourselves. Our forefathers did it, our present generation is still doing it, so let us convert our minerals into the capital needed by the available means at our disposal. We need proper management, and not to sleep on our resources waiting for capital handouts.
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The president of the nation has on numerous occasions spoken of the need to improve on the ease of doing business, but I don’t think this call is being taken heed of in most of the government offices. There are still many processes and bottlenecks that make business applications for permits or certificates to be issued. A simple application can take years to be processed. This is what promotes bribery and corruption, in an effort to speed up documents. I will use my own example: My son and I applied for two mining prospecting licences in April 2018; Numbers 011842AA and 011892AA. We engaged the peggers and had our claims inspected and verified by the mining surveyors from the Midlands Mining Office. We paid the registration fees for the two applications on September 12 2018.
Despite making numerous visits to the relevant office to pursue the matter, we are still waiting for the registration certificates almost two years down the line. We are continuously told the issue is awaiting the last signature. The only reason for the delay being given to us is that the official is busy and has loads of other paper work on his desk. Surely how do you expect businesses in Zimbabwe to flourish when applications are held up in offices for up to two years or more? Someone told me in earnest that unless I pay a bribe, those papers will rot in there. I have steadfastly refused that bribing temptation. While some of us want to follow the rules, the government’s red-tape is still pulling back the nation’s economy. It breeds the corruption that is also afflicting us. Let us walk the talk.
Zimbabwe is a God-fearing nation. Almost every adult knows there is God above us and among us. The president of our country has said it openly on the grand stage. Our respect for the Lord should be the foundation of our living as a people. It is paramount that we should place the Creator at the front of everything we do. The 2013 Constitution has a flimsy insertion of our Godliness in a small paragraph, a small mention of Him. I believe strongly that Zimbabwe is a chosen nation of God and as such we also need to put Him at the forefront of our daily living and putting that boldly in black and white in our constitution as a nation. If we ask ourselves which is the most important law in our constitution, the majority of us would be at a loss, lost.
Jesus Christ, the Son of our Lord, was asked many times about the laws of Moses, of which is the most important of all the laws. In Mark 12:28-31, Matthew 22:35-40 and many other verses of the Scriptures, Jesus openly declared: “The first and most important is this, hear, O people; The Lord our God is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” And he proceeded to say, “The second is this; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. There is no other commandment greater than these.” Could you please all join me to put pressure on our legislators, our government and/or president to include these two laws to be at the top of our national constitution, in Jesus, example?
l Prosper Tingini is the scribe of God Missionary Assembly. Contact 0771 260 195 or email: [email protected]
