By Wilbert Mukori- Squaring the circle is a brain teaser as ancient as geometry itself in which one is asked to construct a square with the same area as a given circle or vice versa. 

Let us just say President Mnangagwa and his Minister of Finance have set themselves a visceral challenge of paying the civil servants; especially the teachers and health workers who are already on starvation wages of US$50 p.m. vs a PDL of US$ 650 p.m.; without fuelling inflation, which is already 848% p.a.! It should be noted here that the two have maintained that Zimbabwe is on course to become an upper middle income nation by 2030, the so called vision 2030. 

Both President Mnangagwa and his minister have said achieving vision 2030 will require great sacrifices. This is a visceral challenge, to these two reason and logic count for nothing; but still, surely the teachers and the health workers are not to be sacrificial lambs of vision 2030! 

“Government must mellow down to a more constructive approach permeable to reason and facts rather than believing a casus belli (an excuse) proffered by Apex Council in which they see opposition politics in genuine labour issues,” complained Takavafira Zhou, president of Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).

“Positive criticism nourishes leadership while self-pollination stifles debate, is parochial and weakens the ultimate output. Lies have short legs and capital and labour are strange bed fellows.

“The moment labour leaders whip members to accept hogwash and starvation salaries, such leaders would have stopped to represent workers and must be jettisoned from leadership.”

Mr Zhou was talking of jettisoning Apex Council leaders but, if truth should be said, it is the Zanu PF government leaders whom the nation should have jettisoned decades ago for stifled debate and democratic competition.

Zanu PF fostered the 1983 to 1987 Gukurahundi massacre on the nation which only ended with the signing of the Unity Accord with PF Zapu and imposition of the de facto one-party dictatorship. The Accord, Mugabe maintained, would bring national unity and economic development. 

Zimbabwe’s economy has been in decline for the last 40 years precisely because the nation was stuck for all these years with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical dictatorship that rigged elections to stay in power. 

National unity was but an excuse for stifling debate and democratic competition. Unity morphed into to conformity, into uniformity and, spuriously, ending up with brainwashed and braindead electorate incapable of even one coherent thought much less hold the regime to democratic account on anything.

It is little wonder the country’s opposition political leaders have turned out to be corrupt and incompetent, a braindead electorate cannot be expected to come up with a quality opposition.

With no quality electorate and/or opposition to hold Zanu PF leaders to democratic account and competition, it is no wonder Mnangagwa and his fellow Zanu PF thugs have too become braindead, with minds impermeable to reason and facts. 

The solution to the geometry brain teaser: 

w (width of square) = Square root (22/7) X r (radius of circle).

One does not need even basic economic, just common sense, to know:

• Cannot pay civil servants a living wage without first reviving the comatose economy, the economic meltdown is getting worse

• Cannot pay civil servants a wage increase (never mind a living wage) with first reviving the economic meltdown and not fuel inflation, inflation is already 848% p.a. and rising

• Cannot revive the economy as long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, a dictatorship, ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs who have proven beyond all doubt that they are braindead.

• Decades of poor funding have left schools and health care services poorly resourced these services have all but completely collapse. Reviving the comatose economy is tough but it is even tougher with a whole generation of ill-educated and sickly citizens. As for vision 2030, that is just a midnight mirage for the naive and gullible!

After 40 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption, rank lawlessness, over 30 000 murdered for selfish political gain and the country in total economic ruins and despair – proof we have a braindead Zanu PF regime. It is shocking that there are still people hankering for the braindead regime to mellow down and pay them a living wage!!!! 

“Government must mellow down to a more constructive approach permeable to reason and facts!” Insane!

In the long run, nations get the government they deserve; we in Zimbabwe certainly deserve this braindead Zanu PF dictatorship. 

When the penny finally drops and we finally wakeup to the reality that one does not get blood from a stone; we will demand the implementation of democratic reforms and finally end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. 

Zimbabweans’ laissez-faire attitude to the important business of electing competent leaders shows we are not yet ready for good government. Until then Comrade Zhou and his fellow civil servant can continue demanding a living wages from this Zanu PF regime; why not, it is they own visceral brain teaser!