opinion
IF there is one thing Zimbabwe can ill afford at this critical moment in time, it is a public holiday. A holiday, by its very simple definition is “an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in travelling”.
So it boggles the mind when President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his esteemed Cabinet see it prudent to declare a holiday on October 25 just to allow some ruling apparatchiks to vent their frustration at being shackled by sanctions.
What also defies logic is: Why are we as a nation wasting so much precious time, money and energy demonstrating against the United States and European Union sanctions slapped on some individuals and entities when there are many other prosperous nations out there willing and able to help us ride out of this debilitating socio-economic quagmire?
This is Russia’s first real bold move to announce superpowers’ return to Africa. We hear that more than 50 African leaders and 3 000 delegates have been invited.
anctions which were invited upon us by the late former President Robert Mugabe.
If America and the EU don’t want to befriend us because of our bad human rights reputation, why are Mnangagwa and company dragging us into a useless fight? Is it not more judicious for him to gather the troubled nation of Zimbabwe and tell it that this is the time to put our shoulders to the wheel and work for the prosperity of this country because there are new friends out there willing and able to help us rise from the doldrums.
This holiday will only serve to make us look like fools and will completely disrupt an already disorderly environment of strikes and non-productivity. In coming up with the idea of a holiday on October 25, did the government ever spare a thought for the thousands of children who are currently sitting for their final examinations? It sounds as if this was just a rushed, off the cuff kind of decision made for political expediency.
