adminbecause we feel left out, neglected and alienated in our country of birth.
What is more, and perhaps more worrisome to me, is that we, as a community, appear to be reinforcing this view, by our own actions or inaction. We are somewhat disinterested in participating in civic and political matters that we now appear helpless to find remedy to our circumstances and social condition.
We have buried our heads in the sand for too long. And yet we are just as affected by the prevailing situation as everybody else, more so here in Bulawayo.
We all know that the City of Kings has always been the nation’s industrial hub, but in recent years we have seen unprecedented company closures and massive job losses as a result.
I am equally aware, that this too has added to the hardships and social distress in our community, other things considered. We feel hemmed-in. we look at ourselves as victims of a hostile and uncaring political and economic system.
But I have come here today to tell you that we cannot continue to wallow in our misery and yet do nothing to change our circumstances. I have come here to tell you that it is in our hands to shape our own destiny. It is time to stand up and be counted. We can no longer isolate ourselves nor drive ourselves into a shell or hide in a cocoon.
We are Zimbabweans, first and foremost. This is where we belong. We are therefore equal to all fellow Zimbabweans. We have no reason to feel different nor for that matter to want to be treated differently. It is, however, from our full integration with the rest of the Zimbabwean nation that we derive our national identity.
There is no better time than this, when the country is undergoing such significant transformation. We now have a new Constitution in place, which among other things says no longer must we suffer discrimination, to be called “aliens” in our own country of birth and to be denied access to bank loans to start-up businesses.
The double zeros are now a thing of the past with the adoption of a new national constitution. It certainly marks a new era over which we must celebrate. It certainly was a form of discrimination to be labeled, first as a cohort, and then as alien, in your own motherland.
Soon the nation will go to general elections. It is time to stand up and participate, to make your voices be heard, to raise your concerns to the national leadership, by exercising your constitutional right to decide how you want to be governed.
But it is always important to be circumspect in your actions, that is to say, to seek to know that which is good and desirable for you in the long term, in order that you make the right choices and decisions. What guarantees your personal safety and peace and provides equal opportunity for you to pursue your personal dreams and ambitions, is what is always of paramount importance.
Our beliefs , responses, actions, attitudes and behaviour are often what determines our outcomes. Now we can decide to do nothing, sit on the fence and watch or join into the fray. The worst is when all we can do is only wallow and cry in our misery. No matter how loud you cry, you will be ignored and may not even be heard. You must come to the party if you feel like having fun.
I may sound as if I am talking in riddles but I clearly want to say to you be a part of the change going on around you. Be catalytic, make things happen for you.
Go out there and vote or even seek office and election yourself, if you feel so inclined. It is not anything to feel embarrassed or be ashamed of to belong to any political party, not least to Zanu-PF for all it stands for, a dynamic new political dispensation anchored on substantive economic transformation whose basis is equal opportunity and access for all citizens to the national sovereign wealth and resources.
Now we are all too aware that we have ensured economic hardships over the past decade or so and that for you here in Bulawayo the situation has been rather compounded. No matter how hard people may deny it, the harsh reality is that US and EU sanctions have hemorrhaged the national economy.
These were imposed, not for reasons stated by the western powers, but to frustrate economic redistribution now effectively underway to spread the national cake. We may differ on ways and means to get there, but there can be no disputing the fact that indigenisation, where broadly defined, properly articulated and carefully initiated, provides the only lasting and enduring solution to achieve sustainable economic growth, prosperity and social progress.
That we have felt marginalised and alienated in the past should not detract our focus on much bigger goals; to position ourselves correctly that we may be able to carve and create opportunities to benefit us in all aspects of economic and social endeavour.
This is only possible if we adopt the right attitude, orientation, organisation, and focus in purposeful engagement with others on a national scale. The ball is in our court and it is for us to make the call. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee.
This is an excerpt of a Speech by Senator Aguy C Georgias to the coloured community in Bulawayo where he held a meeting to address their political, social and economic issues and concerns last week.
Online Reporter