I have thought a thousand times on why my country, so endowed with both human and natural resources, is failing. I have arrived at only one conclusion: President Robert Mugabe no longer has the capacity to think beyond a certain point nor has been able to extricate his brains from the past which hugely influenced who he has become. He is now a leader unable to think beyond a certain time frame because the times we live in are significantly different from the past in which he was quite successful as a leader. Added to this, are his diminished mental capacity and comprehension of the challenges ahead.
We then add liberation struggle hyenas made up of security chiefs, retired generals, spies, ZANU (PF) alumni and praise singers who have occupied this vacuum solely to their material advantage and not in the interest of Zimbabwe at all. They are our worst enemy.
Their role is to maintain the status quo by isolating the President from reality that he is even shocked by the state of our roads. Their interest is to ensure that one of them occupies the throne in order to maintain their comforts and safety. All this is fuelled by fear of any alternative. They will therefore protect that throne to the death.
Those who have an opportunity to make money have done all they can and we have seen an elite comprador class emerging; people whose sense of responsibility and ethics leaves much to be desired. These elite, in partnership with their political masters, have bled the country dry and continues to be "successful" through murky deals and pervasive secret corruption. This can be evidenced by the flashy cars and huge mansions that one sees in Harare. In these circles, it is not about the work ethic nor is it about conscience, but it is more about making as much as one can now by any means and at all cost.
The business sector which is reeling under ZANU (PF)'s fear and unwillingness to see an apolitical national black bourgeoisie emerge, remains locked up in a condition which they can hardly change. Over the years our business sector has been weakened as a change agent. We have seen those who want to survive the day choosing to be complicit and partnering with ZANU (PF) cronies; corruption is their creed, apathy and fear their disease.
In civil society we have struggle fatigue. The last fourteen years since 2000 have been years of struggle and anguish for a majority of Zimbabwean adults. Change looked like it was coming in 2013 but it never arrived. Unfortunately most adult Zimbabweans who have lived through terror and loss have run out of energy and motivation to fight. This has certainly entrenched ZANU (PF) while it has weakened opposition political parties whose only remaining power is to write protest articles in the press.