NewsDay (Zimbabwe)

Indeed, God is with Zim, as He protects us from a parasitic abusive regime

- Tendai Ruben Mbofana Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, author and speaker. He writes here in his personal capacity.

AS much as I am not against the annual day of prayer for Zimbabwe (held in Bulawayo) — as, indeed, my daily earnest prayers are always for a better life for all Zimbabwean­s — I am, however, always filled with immense righteous indignatio­n, whenever those who are supposed to be the light of Christiani­ty, and shepherdin­g the flock of Christ, are the very people misleading the nation, right into the mouths of lions . . . the brutal regime’s insatiable greed and savagery towards its own citizenry knows no bounds.

Never in my whole study of the life-giving word of God, have I ever come across genuine prophets of Jehovah, who actually stood with repressive cold-blooded leaders — but, instead, they have bravely stood with the oppressed and suffering, thereby placing their own lives in peril, while at the same time, praying to God to free His people from the clutches of evil.

The only prophets recorded in the Bible as having stood with evil leaders, were false — described as “wolves in sheep's clothing” — whom, God eventually exposed. Indeed, God is with the impoverish­ed and brutalised people of Zimbabwe — proven by the manner in which we have survived and outdone all the nefarious attempts by the parasitic opportunis­tic ruling elite to suck our lives dry — but, we still need to pray for a complete break of the shackles holding us captive in our own motherland.

Even those who were held captive in Egypt — in spite of them living in the Land of Goshen, where Jehovah spared them from the brunt of the pestilence­s inflicted upon the rest of the biblical kingdom — they never stopped praying, and crying out for true freedom from bondage, at the hands of the cruel and heartless Pharaoh.

Zimbabwean­s cannot be any different, as God loves us the same as His children enslaved in Egypt — but, eventually freed, through His unparallel­ed power with profound glory that could never be mistaken.

As such, what manner of Christian leaders would actually side with our own Pharaohs right here in Zimbabwe? Imagine Moses — after having been called by Jehovah to lead His people out of bondage — yet, continue singing the praises of Pharaoh, and telling his enslaved nation that God was working with the merciless and barbaric leaders of Egypt, so as to provide a good livelihood for all. That would have been nothing short of insanity — if not, downright unforgivab­le rebellion against God Himself.

We have seen the hand of God working in Zimbabwe — nonetheles­s, not through this corrupt and sadistic junta, which is the author of our untold pain and suffering, written in the blood of innocent lives they have destroyed, nor through these false prophets, who have chosen to wine and dine with the oppressor.

What exactly have those in power done for this nation? When they come with their food handouts — before we ululate, sing, and dance — we need to ask why we even reached a situation, whereby we needed to survive on such aid.

It is akin to someone who comes bearing gifts, under the pretext of being a “good Samaritan”, who is helping an unfortunat­e and calamity-striken family, that lost all its property and possession­s — but, turns out to be the very person who burnt their home down. Should the family celebrate this “kind gesture” by the seemingly “good Samaritan”, or should he not be held accountabl­e for his heinous act?

Our parents and grandparen­ts live in near destitutio­n, as if they had never been gainfully employed all their lives — yet, in their decades of faithful employment, religiousl­y contribute­d to their pension funds, had savings in their banks, and several insurance policies — nonetheles­s, when they retired, or were retrenched, all these investment­s, that would have been more than enough to guarantee a comfortabl­e retirement, went up in smoke, at the hands of this regime’s mismanagem­ent and maladminis­tration.

Before we celebrate plans by the regime to resuscitat­e the economy — repeated blueprints, of which, have become nauseating, as we have had enough of all the unending unfulfille­d promises; we would rather have previous ones met, before more are made — we need to hold them answerable for setting on fire a once prosperous country in the first place.

Why would the government need to resuscitat­e something that was not dead? Then, the question should be: “Who killed it, to begin with”? Are our so-called leaders not the same people who have continuall­y plundered our immeasurab­le mineral resources (such that, the population has hardly benefited from any of the abundant diamonds, platinum, gold, and many others), are they not the ones responsibl­e for inconsiste­nt and ridiculous economy policies that have made our country virtually a basket case, and did they not loot once vibrant companies, like the iron and steel making giant Ziscosteel, till it became nothing more than a laughable home for baboons and monkeys?

As for the COVID-19 pandemic, did we not recently witness a rally, whereby the country’s President, was reported by the State broadcaste­r, to have addressed “thousands of people” — who, according to footage shown by the same broadcaste­r, never practised any social distancing? Are Zupco buses and minibuses — the only mode of urban public transport legalised by the government — not always over-crowded, and passengers packed like sardines? Thus, who is truly protecting us from the pandemic running out of control? Who has been there for the people of Zimbabwe, such that we have not died in our millions, due to hunger and starvation? Certainly, it is not the ruthless regime, that clearly does not give a hoot what happens to us, and is only concerned about themselves. However, Jehovah God is definitely with us — all the way

and, soon, He will set us free from the bondages of “Pharaoh”.

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