We all have to know the reason we elect a government. If we do not, then, we may as well stay at home and allow the country to go to the dogs. However, having gone through what we have as a nation, I believe we now are ready to elect men and women who will perform outstandingly and lead our troubled nation out of its straits and usher in a new period of prosperity. The world has a mixture of expectations, and as our spectators, different nations are watching us predicting different outcomes to the impending election. It is however, our sole role to choose the best candidate and to call for a clean and fair election. Anyone who disputes this obviously knows they are not fit to be in our government and would be trying to be by hook and crook.
What we went through as a country in the past decade may have made many of us forget what role the state plays in the livelihood of the people. A government state is there to secure a nation and its territory. It is there to safeguard the interests of the people living within its borders as those in neighboring states. Without going far, this is almost non-existent in Zimbabwe at the present moment. It would be a blue lie to say the government currently truly commits to this. For example, the people want freedom to express their concerns without fear. They do not have that freedom because of the censorship laws piled upon them.
Another role of the government is to guarantee the welfare of the people. Reflecting upon this, we find that our government does not put a hundred percent in dealing with the people's welfare. Look at the major sectors that suffered in the past decade, health, education, primary production etc; they all had huge implications on the people's livelihood and as a result, many people perished, fled the country while some simply lowered their heads and got busy to adjusting to the new ways of living. Operations like Murambatsvina were a complete disregard of the rights to safe and sound shelter of the people of Zimbabwe. Many of the victims of this government authorized operation were left for dead in the cold, shelter-less and humiliated to the core! Now those who think because it happened in the past, under a ZANU (PF) led government, it will never happen again, history always repeats itself.
A government is supposed to protect its people, not expose them and take their lives at will because the people running it are bloodthirsty. That was the case, and one of the epic failures of the ZANU (PF)-led government and gross display of disrespect of human life was during the times of the Gukurahundi, the elections since 2000 which have been marked with lots of bloodshed and human loss of life. Such measures have shown how desperate and power hungry the men and women who ran the government were and still are. Take this into consideration when deciding who to put the X on in this coming election. Forget about the immediate result, think about the future generations, how they will blame all of us for having not taken action against a band of thieves who went out to rob our nation.
Apart from that, a government is supposed to ensure the creation of an environment that allows growth of business and ultimately economic success. We have noticed over the past years that the Zimbabwean government only created conditions suitable for the people in the party's success while shutting the rest of the nation out. 2009-10 saw the efforts by the government to support youth run businesses around the country. The money was injected into the economy through banks such as CBZ and authorities like SEDCO and Ministry of Youth. Top secret; the money was siphoned out of these accounts by officials and the dregs were given to ZANU (PF) stooges. Are we not tired of their lip service?
Political goods delivery in Zimbabwe has been shoddy; there has never been a sensible economic policy for the past ten or so years and even before. When I was a little boy, the government flighted a Vision 2020 campaign on national television. It gave me hope for a brilliant future. Its tag-line was, Together, we can build the nation. That was maybe before the greed settled in. Politicians seem to have very short memory because they have since forgotten this pledge. A lot has also happened in terms of respecting the constitution, the proper use of the judiciary system of our country and the mess that is of having to stick to our African values in the advent of modern living. Once again, the 'champions of Africa' of government officials seem to have a taste of exotic things from medical attention to suits. They take the money from Zimbabwe and spend it across the seas while they always have things to say negative about those who run away from home seeking for greener pastures regionally and internationally.
After these elections, we have to see a significant change in the levels of corruption, unfulfilled promises, unfairness and then we can begin a new era of our nation's history so it is all up to us, to vote and do it wisely.
