Of Coffee With Regression

If you were having coffee with me I would welcome you to my corner of the internet and ask how you have been keeping. I am well enough, all things considered, come warm yourself by the fire as we pretend it’s just for the fun of it and not because of a power cut playing with us.

Funny how it seems like our progress has gone backwards; lit a fire to cook and before that had just got back from fetching water from a well and then the other day had find a place to buy maize grain to be ground into mealie meal because it’s not as readily available as it should. Oh my gosh, it almost sounds like I am living a rustic life in the village with no modern amenities except my laptop and phone.

If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that the inflation and crazy exchange rates keep going up at a rather alarming rate. On one hand, I have a morbid curiosity to see just how far the downward spiral will go…

On the other hand, there’s a certain trepidation at the measures the government will come up with to arrest the currency madness. From experience, their cocktail of restorative measures are like a classic case of the cure being worse than sickness…

Of course, we will make jokes, laugh about it and adapt like we always do. 🤡 It’s almost understandable how the born free generation who never experienced a day under colonial rule and its trappings will remark on how Ian Smith’s government was better. As a patriot, of course, I would have to say thank goodness the colonial rule ended and that our government has been moving us forward and keeping our best interests at heart.

For example, our grain reserves are not doing too good and the country has had to start importing grain even though we supposedly had a bumper harvest. What happened to the bumper harvest? Oh, according to the government, instead of farmers selling their grain to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), farmers are preferring to sell on the black market prejudicing the country of its strategic reserves… So, of course, it makes sense to pass a ruling on controlled grains.

If you are having coffee with me, we talk about the faux pas in a local newspaper condolence message on the death of a Major General, may he rest in peace. I would like to think it was an honest mistake which happens to the best of us and not a hidden tongue-in-cheek dig at how one gets congratulated in three languages for leaving this country be it by plane, bus or in death….Oh no never!

In any case, the newspaper published an apology so all’s well, ends well…

The Herald would like to unreservedly apologise to the family of Maj Gen (Rtd) Chanakira, the Zimbabwe National Army & TSCZ for the error made on an advertisement by Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe offering condolences to the late National Hero, Maj-Gen Godfrey Chanakira…. pic.twitter.com/dEfT1htKmO

— The Herald Zimbabwe (@HeraldZimbabwe) June 9, 2022

Well, not quite well, in an unrelated incident, a lady who was missing for almost 2 weeks had her body discovered under very disturbing circumstances. This gruesome crime has roused polarizing reactions and the police issued a statement that they would leave no stone unturned in the matter while making not too subtle threats on allowing due process.

 If you were having coffee with me I would tell you that if only the state put as much effort in making sure this tragic crime was not politicised as they did in catching those behind this, then perhaps we might sleep a little better at night.

It’s tragic to lose any Zimbabwean, whether to domestic violence to ritual killing or to an accident. We all matter otherwise nobody matters. But what crass is trying to extract political capital out of a tragic domestic violence case possibly by a twisted individual?

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) June 11, 2022

Meanwhile looks like The Pomona Waste to Energy project is set to go on despite the ruckus it has been causing. The government says everything looks legit and it will be a breath of fresh air to the Sunshine City, just look at how nice it will be when it’s completed.

Oh look pretty lights! What going on in your neck of the woods?

~B  

Week 3: Stories of Awareness

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