Zanu PF hides behind sanctions to evade accountability

ONE thing Rhodesians could be trusted for was doing that which their country — no matter how bizarre — wanted done. The Rhodesians would do it, no lip service, something that Zanu PF finds hard, if not impossible altogether, to do.

Zanu PF cadres behave like visitors or passers-by who cannot make definite decisions and implement them.

Of late the most abused phrase “illegal sanctions imposed by the West” has made it so easy for President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF party to evade accountability.

Yet, towards the end of settler colonial rule, Rhodesians were under real — not imagined — economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

Instead of being crybabies, the Rhodesians made sure they displayed the best of themselves to the world.

After Samora Machel, who was about to assume leadership in Mozambique closed that country’s border with Rhodesia in 1974, Rhodesians opened another export route to South Africa by building a railway line linking Rutenga and Beitbridge.

Although engineering experts put the timeline for the construction of the 145km railway line at 24 months, such was the commitment of the Rhodesians that the project was completed in a record time of just 93 days, 21 months ahead of schedule.

In contrast, it has taken Zanu PF 41 years to plan the construction of a 30km railway line linking Harare and Chitungwiza.

Many people marvel at the engineering feat displayed at the Victoria Falls Bridge. It took the Rhodesians just 14 months to construct the 198-metre steel structure across the mighty Zambezi River.

Another jaw-dropping project, the Birchenough Bridge across Save River, at 329 metres, it was the third longest single-arch suspension bridge in the world when it was completed in 1935.

We are told it will take a year to construct the Mbudzi roundabout interchange at an inflated cost of US$85 million. At this rate, one can only wonder how many centuries the dualisation of the 900km Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway will take.

In Zimbabwe today, people are busy shouting slogans during the day, while at night they do everything to advance their personal and very selfish interests. Let us wait and see where barren patriotism and excuses will take Zimbabwe.