"DESTROYING any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or the use of long-range missiles... It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in the examination by students. The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation.”
This famous statement made by the late former South African president Nelson Mandela came to Muck’s mind this week. Muck has been scratching his head after the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education floated a new Heritage-based curriculum to ‘inculcate’ something called ‘Ubuntu philosophy in learners’.
Its critics immediately slammed it, saying it borrowed heavily from the reeling Zany party’s manifesto for the August 2023 elections.
It is easy to see why. Primary and Secondary Education ministry permanent secretary Moses Mhike said the new curriculum was meant to produce ‘patriotic students.’
“In order to produce a highly competent pupil who has a Zimbabwean outlook, the following aims of education should be pursued; strengthening measures to mold the pupils to cherish and practice the Zimbabwean philosophical orientation of Unhu/Ubuntu/Vumunhu.”
The curriculum’s core values were “discipline, manifestation of patriotism, Ubuntu, volunteerism, honesty and pride in being Zimbabwean”.
Our owners have no plan of building the more than 3 000 schools needed in the country or even resources to employ the more than 50 000 teachers needed for better quality education, but have time and resources for legislating ‘patriotism’
Chamisa Chete Chete
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- Business opinion: Branding in the age of entrepreneurship and industrialisation (Part 6)
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Our owners just cannot get enough of opposition politician, Nelson Chamisa, even if he took himself out of the political deep waters.
Chamisa quit his comedic Chamisa Chete Chete (CCC) party in January, claiming that it had been hijacked by the reeling Zany Party using surrogates like Sengezo Tshabangu.
The ‘generari’ this week piled on, calling Chamisa an immature and self-centred man who should be a goat herder.
“They said ‘Ngaapinde Hake Mukomana.’ Getting where? The boy should be a goat herder. He should grow up and do things the proper way. He cannot continue to be self-centred. If he wants power, he should join others.”
Muck was left with a lot of questions.
What is the proper way?
Rigging and manipulating elections? And join who exactly; the ruinous Zany party or the Tshabangu-infested CCC?
“The Harare East by-elections have afforded us an opportunity to correct and restore the political status quo and correct the mistake of the August 2023 elections. This opportunity must not be misused because our woes would not end,” the generari claimed.
Neither Chamisa nor his non-existent political party are participating in the latest round of by-elections. And his absence has deprived the masters of the blame game of a target. Even in his absence, he remains the drawcard, and the regime cannot stop talking about him.
To paraphrase a much-reviled historical figure, who shaped world history in the 1930s and much of right wing thinking today: They mention him (Chamisa), they concern themselves with (Chamisa) again and again. And why are we bothering with these elections? Because if the liberation party loses, they will find a way to get rid of the legitimate winners and we have this shameless charade over and over again.
Chamisa’s CCC won 103 of the 280 seats in Zimbabwe's main house of Parliament and swept most of the urban councils in last year's general election. And the party was less than two years old.
Clearly, our owners fear that whatever party he would come up with will knock them off their feed trough.
So, why not start taking a swing at whatever colour he is associated with, they reason.
Coming out of the closet
Eventually, all worms get out of the infested apple. It is becoming increasing clear who was behind Tshabangu’s purge of the CCC elected representatives and who his co-conspirators are.
At the Murambinda feed fest dubbed the independence celebrations to mark Zimbabwe’s 44th birthday.
Our owners were joined by CCC new head honcho Welshman Ncube, legislators Charlton Hwende, Maureen Kademaunga and of course, the Tshabangu, the man who hopes the title ‘senator’ hides his quisling robes.
It has been clear for decades now that urban voters have no time for the Zany party.
And that the legitimacy it so desperately desires was not going to come through the ballot. Hence the Tshabangu Plan.
Politics or the pulpit?
The VP generari made it clear that Zimbabwe had no place for Chamisa’s politics. Chamisa himself accuses our owners of turning the country into a one-party State.
“In fact, we’ve even gone further. We are worse off. It’s no longer a one-party State. It’s a one-man State, a one-family State. That cannot be. We must not have that. We can’t be that,” he said.
“What makes the difference between a millionaire and a pauper is opportunity. We must be a nation of opportunities, a nation of millionaires. Of course, we can’t all be millionaires, but when you are even a worker in a nation that’s rich, you’re a millionaire.
“Millionaireship is not just measured by the money in your pocket, it’s also measured by your dignity, your value, your wealth and your wealth. Your values you’ll bequeath to future generations. Let’s build a functional and well-maintained infrastructure system that works.”
This got Muck wondering: Is this guy a politician or a church minister?
Maybe he belongs more on the pulpit.
That ZiG, again
The debate around the new currency, Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) refuses to die. This is because of its limited use in the economy, which Muck maintains is a ridiculous thing and will ask: How does a currency with limited use in its own country maintain any relevance?
The new head honcho at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mushayavanhu says he will not ‘stampede’ fuel dealers to start selling the petroleum product in ZiG. He told Parliamentarians that deliberations on the range of commodities that could be purchased in ZiG were still underway.
Market confidence in the ZiG cannot be legislated, he said.
The pesky Gift Mugano asked some pertinent questions on X, that platform formally known as Twitter.
“So, if GoZ can legislate confidence, did it succeed in motivating people and informal businesses to bank their monies? Why is that ordinary people, businesses and (government) don’t trust the local currency if the existing legislation and regulations can foster confidence?” Mugano said.
“I will not stop encouraging GoZ to enforce the use of multi-currency regime in all markets without exception because this is the only way we can create demand for ZiG which is key in saving the ZiG - fuel stations, passport, Zimra, state owned enterprises, etc must accept ZiG.”
Muck repeats again: The biggest obstacle to the success of the ZiG, are our owners, the very people, who gave us the doomed currency, and then segmented it, keeping it away from their areas business interests while trying to force everyone else to use it.
