04 Jan 09
“how much money and where does it go?” So penned Aaron Sorkin (who’s, let’s just face it, a minor deity of language command!) in an episode of West Wing. The line was delivered to the Congolese Ambassador upon the kidnapping of an American journalist. Upon replying that the Congolese Government does not deal with terrorists, the retort was , “The Congolese government is a MYTH!” Now, keep the first sentence about every bloody facet of life, take the second sentence and replace Congolese for Zanu, and we have a textbook example of life imitating art! And oh how I wish I were being my usual hyped-up overmelodramatic self!!
Example one – upon traveling out to Nyanga recently – there were SEVERAL “police” checkpoints. And I use that term loosely. Highway unarmed uneducated bandits is more like it. And apparently their ONLY job description is to stop vehicles, pretend to look at paperwork they ask for, which I’m pretty sure they can’t read or understand. Look around inside the vehicle for whatever it is they can appropriate is their only purpose. I swear as we were stopped – they didn’t even look at paperwork, just looked inside the vehicle to ask what we were eating. We gave over some Christmas cookies. Sigh.
Example two. Our power (Zesa) went out on Friday at 1pm. And as it was not on 12 hours later (the usual for an out), I presumed there was a bigger issue. There was - ALLEGEDLY – there were two fuses out that the entire company could not afford to replace. There was a neighbourhood “collection.” They say collection, I say shakedown. At twenty dollars a house – the thing was up and running within a couple of hours. Will someone please explain in a country that produces NOTHING (except cholera and ineptness) was able to magically procure fuses that fast? And now we’re back to “how much money and where does it go?” For that truly is what makes Zimbabwe go round. Surely the ancients who founded the “Great Zimbabwe” upon which the country was renamed upon independence (Which that in itself is a misnomer) look down from wherever they are and shake their head in disgust upon a group that turned upon ITS OWN people to destroy for their own greedy good. And a leadership of liars, beggars and thieves, merely produces a trickle down population of the same. Profiteering and bullying – this is the great Zim legacy.
