LESSONS LEARNED

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The winds of change have blown through Zimbabwe where a nation united has successfully forced out long-serving President Robert Mugabe, who submitted his resignation letter to Parliament yesterday.

Scenes of jubilation decorated every street corner as the people celebrated a new dawn filled with a hope reminiscent of Independence Day, that Zimbabwe would soon become great again. The celebrations contrasted any belief that Mugabe was always the people’s choice during his 37 years of rule. Rather, it exposed the subdued suffering compounded by the fear instilled in a highly intellectual nation that could have easily saved the country from its current economic paralysis. 

Once the breadbasket of Africa, well- endowed with natural resources that include coal, chromium ore, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, tin, platinum and diamonds among others, Zimbabweans were too incapacitated by the might of the security forces to sustain the gains of post-independence.

Today, however, jubilant Zimbabweans who are scattered all over the world, are less concerned about how the president was removed but more interested in why he had to go.  They now want a leader who has their best interest at heart. Others will, no doubt, want justice for all the pain and suffering endured by hundreds of families over the years, during which many lives have been lost.

There are many lessons to be learned from this episode which is history repeating itself with different characters. The most important of all being that the will of the people shall always prevail. This message could not be any clearer than to see an entire nation rallying behind a better evil – a military coup. 

This is not the form of transition that ought to be encouraged but now that it has culminated in the wishes of the masses, we strongly urge the people of Zimbabwe to unite in restoring the rule of law and constituting a democratically elected government as soon as reasonably possible.

Zimbabweans have the capacity to determine their own future but they deserve support from African nations which have become home to many, as the process of reconstructing their lives begins.

Africa has much to gain from an economically sound Zimbabwe that should, once again, rise to play a significant role in the development of a continent that seeks to liberate itself from its economic colonialist masters.

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