Cosmic nemesis on a warpath

not only a global village technologically but that the floods in the countries mentioned above are caused by global warming — a cosmic nemesis on a warpath, armed with severe droughts and devastating floods.
Already, global warming is taking a heavy toll on some parts of Zimbabwe, such as Matabeleland South Province, the Midlands as well as Masvingo provinces with severe food shortages and parched pastures caused by drought.
And as if these negative climatic conditions are not enough, experts have forecast even more drafting wealth variation caused by global warming.
Yet in spite of so many indabas on the dangers that are to be visited upon humanity by global warming, Zimbabwe continues to experience rampant and wanton deforestation, veld fires and a threat of siltation to rivers that nourish people and their livestock and wildlife.
But really, why this entire apparent disregard for the protection of the environment which, come to think of it, forms the basis of human existence on this earth?
Do Zimbabweans plug their ears to damn themselves, or are our people under the spell of a goddess of destruction? None of the causative factors appears to be to blame here; rather, serious meetings to discuss global warming appear to have become a preserve of an elite club of experts who finger their neckties and flaunt their stuff to fellow environmental gurus.
This pen challenges anyone to point to a meeting or meetings discussing global warming and its effects with chiefs or other traditional leaders who are custodians of the environment.
The pen also challenges anyone to provide evidence that deliberations as such top-level  meetings were downloaded and cascaded down to the  grassroots who are critical stakeholders in the protection and preservation of the environment, something that, for all intents and purposes, should by now be regarded as a ritual, so to speak.
As things sadly stand today, people light veld fires at will to scatter the seeds for new grass to sprout for their livestock, or use the fire to hunt small animals such as mice or bigger game for the pot or simply as a sport.
In blissful ignorance of the boomerang effects, people out there in the communal lands chop down tress for firewood for heir own domestic use or for sale in the city.
Yet if they knew that wild fires they cause pump carbon gases into the atmosphere, they would stop decimating forests as trees absorb and sink carbon gases, which trap the sun’s rays bouncing back, thereby making the earth heat up dangerously.
It is about time, too, tight controls were put in place to ensure that alluvial gold panners and poor land users do not throw any reckless practice, silt rivers and dams, reservoirs which will become more and more important in light of absolute droughts caused by global warming.
The foregoing should point, to any reasonable people in officialdom, to a strong case for meetings on global warming being held with country folk as active participants so that a meaningful and functional exchange of knowledge takes place.
A saying exists that suggests that if you want your bitch to hunt, you must teach it the art of hunting.
Viewed in its innocent import, this adage simply means that if you want people to do something effectively, you must teach them how to go about doing it and this applies to the role that traditional leaders and people under their jurisdiction must play in environmental protection in Zimbabwe.
Perhaps Members of Parliament should carry some of the blame for not promoting environmental awareness in their constituencies as much as they should.
These honourable members have a duty to promote Government policies among those who elected them, and the environment is an important component of Government policy implementation across the country.
That those who appear to do so may be counted on the fingers of only one hand, probably suggests that the effects of global warming on the lives of people are lost on those men and women whose continued tenure in that august House should be determined by how hard they work to make their constituencies safe for the electorate to continue happily to exist.
What one often hears from lawmakers are things that include blame on the Government for not building a good road or a bridge in their constituency, or sporting activities, such as soccer, or donations being organised for villagers who may also receive food or other donations to gain the electorate’s favour in the next election.
Such efforts at self-ingratiation with the voters sometimes come against a background of broken-down boreholes, for instance, that an MP makes little effort to have work done to repair the facility to end people’s suffering.
In this pen’s honest opinion, the people in the villages have the will and determination to do what it takes to improve not only their welfare but also the social and economic advancement of their country as a whole.
The thing they need the most to achieve that goal is knowledge through the expertise of our leaders in the top political hierarchy.
That knowledge does not appear continually to flow down from the centre of knowledge and wisdom in the city to the so-called periphery might be an indication that some of the people’s representatives are bankrupt upstairs, as it were, or that they shirk a commitment they promised the voters when campaigning or elections.
Now in a Zimbabwe that is in a hurry to transcend its status of under-development, leaders who sit on their brains and backsides deserve a rude awakening at the earliest, convenient opportunity.
For instance, one leader was recently heard saying at an agricultural show in Mashonaland that people should use artificial insemination to improve their livestock breed.
This remark implies that cattle owners would have to import semen in the breeding of their cattle.
But such practice is dangerous, environmental experts will advise, because cattle bred using foreign semen are susceptible to extinction whereas African crossbreeds tip the scales as hardy and indomitable against any drastic climatic conditions.
Implications of this discourse are that if Zimbabwe and other African countries drag their feet in grasping and implementing measures to mitigate the effects of global warming or to come to grips with that phenomenon, they are likely to spend a lifetime trudging in the shadow of the first world.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe might turn out to be a dumping ground of cheaper cars whose old models no longer comply with environmental laws overseas.
The second hand cars flooding the Zimbabwean markets reportedly are threatening the closure of local car-makers which have already downsized their operations as a result, with companies that produce parts for the vehicle assembly companies having stopped their work altogether, if has been reported.
In response to a question by this pen, a car industry source said that environmental laws in countries where the second hand cars were being imported were getting tougher and tougher and, because of that, old models could no longer comply legal stipulations there.
A strong case would appear to exist here for the Government to try to discover if Zimbabwe is not, in fact, being used by the overseas car dealers to offload their now-worthless products on this country.
A thorough going investigation might produce results compelling the State to ban the importation of the old models, thereby protecting the local car industry as well as preserving the huge sums of money paid out for the imported cars.