The traditional jostling and bustling festive atmosphere has been stolen for most Zimbabweans.

Many have failed to travel to see relatives and friends during this Christmas period due to a myriad of reasons such as lack of fuel, lack of money to spare and lack of cash at the banks. Most parents are already worrying about January to send their kids back to school so they have decided to forego Christmas festivities and save for “Back to School”. Prices of goods and services have gone up beyond reach of many and our civil servants are bearing the most brunt.

Traditionally, the Christmas period has been associated with receiving, giving and sharing among relatives, friends, churchmates and workmates. A period of thanksgivings.

This has all been stolen by government austerity measures which has driven everyone, except the well-connected, into abject poverty! The Zimbabwean spirit of Christmas has been lost in this maze of socioeconomic challenges.

The year has been very brutal as the government austerity measures took their toll on many people. Salary increments have not caught up with price increases of commodities.

The economy remained in the informal sector with most service providers completely ignoring the government’s call to outlaw the use of foreign currency for local trading.

Nothing else but the grace of God has brought us to the end of 2019 as a nation. Each passing day came with a new heavy load upon our shoulders. It is the year that brought us the most debilitating loadshedding. We saw the complete collapse of the healthcare system as government offloaded its medical experts into the open arms of other countries. The drought situation did not help matters and more than 50% of the population were pronounced food insecure.

The late president Robert Mugabe had set the bar so low that all president Mnangagwa had to do was show up at his office but alas, we are worse off. People are lamenting and wishing that Mugabe days were better. There can never be any bigger disapproval than for people to call Mugabe days better than what president Mnangagwa has done so far.

We remain hopeful as Zimbabweans that in the not-so-far-away future, Zimbabwe will have leaders with people at heart. Leaders who will be soft as wool and leaders who actually listern to the people.

This dry season will pass. Meanwhile, let’s all remember the less privileged during this period. Let’s all be careful and to motorists, let’s all exercise extreme caution on the roads. Drivers of public transport, let’s be patient on the national highways. The status of most roads pose a great risk to both motorists and pedestrians. Let us be each brother’s keeper this Christmas,

Happy holidays, merry Christmas and a happy new year. May 2020 be a bigger year than 2019. May you all rise above all challenges that you may encounter,

I love you all and God bless Zimbabwe,

Jacob Ngarivhume
President, Transform Zimbabwe