GUNS
&ROSES
MAY 2021
3.0 The (Black) Roses
In the Dragonlance novel series, the black rose is the symbol for knights
who have betrayed their ideals.
The Black Rose is known as a symbol of darkness, death, destruction and in some instances, it
portrays knights who have betrayed their ideals.
In Zimbabwe, we have leaders, who have betrayed their ideals such that their priorities have
become divorced from their mandate to serve the interests of citizens.
In light of that, we look at what our government has done in May versus the situation in the
social services sector, particularly the education and informal sectors.
For who?
In May, government unveiled the statue of Mbuya Nehanda in the streets of Harare at a cost
that was never made public. Supported by two steel arch bridges, the monument site
straddles across and hovers over two major streets in Harare, that is, Samora Machel Avenue
and Julius Nyerere Way.
In February, government blew about US$100,000 to import galvanised steel for the bridge. The
irony is that Zimbabwe, during its good economic days, could produce steel at the Zisco Steel
plant in Kwekwe.
Zisco Steel has since collapsed due to mismanagement and corruption and multiple promises
to resuscitate it have not materialized.
For many Zimbabweans, the question is, for whose benefit was the statue made and
were the priorities right when there is so much suffering among citizens?
In its countrywide surveys, eight percent of the people interviewed about the statue said they
did not see the importance of erecting such an expensive monument when the country is
failing to provide basics for its people.
In the same month, President Mnangagwa handed over 18 double cab trucks to chiefs at a
ceremony held at a hotel in Harare.
Each truck costs not less than US$35,000.
The news came at the same time it was revealed that the country’s second largest city of
Bulawayo only had six police service vehicles covering a population of 650,000.
Over the past year, government has spent millions of dollars for top military officers’ vehicles
and recently it was announced that President Mnangagwa was in the process of purchasing a
new helicopter for US$18 million, presumably ahead of the 2023 election campaign.
In July last year government purchased dozens of cars including Range Rovers and Toyota
pick-up trucks worth more than $40,000, each and were distributed to ambassadors and
senior civil servants.
In June last year, government splurged millions of dollars on top-of-the-range vehicles, which
include Toyota Hilux and Land Cruisers. Senior military officials and lieutenant-colonels,
colonels and brigadier-generals were among officers who benefitted from the vehicle
acquisition.
This, in many ways shows a trend, where government has proved that its priorities are in more
ways, not about the general citizens because for whose benefit is spending millions of dollars
on luxury items and monuments when the nation is in a situation where basic social service
delivery is dead.
We take a look at some of the sectors that have been neglected in the next section of this
report
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