By Kuda Matizanadzo
Life is a game. You win or you lose. Sometimes you win so often you forget you can lose.
CR7 is a serial known winner, but he has lost sometimes.
Messi is another known serial winner, but he, too, loses sometimes.
Take Messi as an example: before his World Cup glory in 2022, he had actually retired from playing for Argentina after losing two Copa América finals and a World Cup.
The world was shocked by his decision.
Regarded by many as arguably the best football player ever, Messi retired because he had failed to achieve his biggest dream.
But fate, as it would have it, saw the little maestro persuaded to reverse his decision.
Reverse he did. What followed later was one for the history books.
Messi won two Copas and a World Cup with Argentina.
Imagine if he had stuck with his initial decision.
We will never know. But what we know now is that Messi has won everything, cementing his position as the GOAT.
Back home, Zimbabwe celebrates her 46th birthday.
Birthdays are a moment of reflection—taking stock of what is, what was, what could be, what will be, or what never can be.
Someone wrote on Elon Musk’s app, X (formerly Twitter), that if Zimbabwe was a person, she could be that vagrant turning 46 (dai riri rombe raine 46).
That hit home.
What went wrong with this once-promising jewel?
Rather, what did we do wrong?
…are we Uhuru??
Trust me, the men and women who went through the struggle will tell you life was worse under Rhodesia.
But there is a generation born after 1980. They know their forefathers fought for a Zimbabwe that would accord equality.
A Zimbabwe where talent would be rewarded for what it is.
Today, the most hilarious if not sad thing is that Zimbabwe’s daughters and sons are flocking to her former colonial master.
Not because they love the cold weather—no. There is so much trouble at home that the question becomes: was the struggle worth it after all?
They listen to tales from their grandfathers about how life was under the colonial masters.
They would get their “paltry” salaries on time.
That “paltry” salary would afford them to marry, make a home, build in the settlements, and most importantly, drink throughout the weekend without breaking the bank.
Where is this going?
Am I saying Zimbabwe needs to be colonized again to regain her position?
That is a definite no.
Zimbabwe has one problem she needs to fix—and she alone can do that.
Today she celebrates her 46th. But what has she to show?
95%+ unemployment, ragged roads, dead malls, hustlers everywhere.
Life can’t be sustained with hustling. You can break bank today, but if anything goes left, you are back to square one—if not in a coffin.
As Zimbabwe celebrates her 46th, we have to ponder.
We have to hold honest discussions in which people of courage stand up and speak the truth.
The truth is the most uncomfortable thing in life, but the only cheat code to this life thing is honesty.
We all see what has become of this once jewel.
Colonized by greed and prestige.
From the West, now the East has its turn.
These are things that could have been solved in her infancy, but now it’s far too gone. It will take more than just an election.
We can elect who we want, so far as the constitution allows and in honor of the fight those boys and girls went into.
But now it’s escalated. It’s no longer just about that. The real fight is to bring this beautiful baby that was birthed on the 18th of April to her true destiny.
It’s 46 years now, and she doesn’t know whether she is going back or ahead.
Forty-six years and no signs? They say she has minerals to make her Miss World. Is it true?
This is not a fight but a plea—to fight in the same direction.
2 comments
This profound and blameless.
This profound and blameless.