Mthuli Ncube Resorts To Jingles Ala ‘Rambai Makashinga’

One of the things I have always admired about Mthuli Ncube as Finance Minister is that he makes an attempt to communicate to the citizenry. Some of what he communicates is of course not so useful and hard to believe for example he has said a number of times that things are better right now than they were at the end of 2017 but we don’t see any evidence of such.

I think though that he has slid down a dangerous and insulting path: there is a new song/jingle that talks about his Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP). We were surprised to receive a link to the song from his official PR channels. This just reminds us of the crazy times when we were bombarded by numerous propaganda jingles commissioned by the government. One of those was called Rambai makashinga which means “Keep up being strong and brave.” Always scary when a government asks its citizens to be brave.

Here is the TSP song:

The lyrics

Those who don’t understand Shona, don’t worry I got you. Here is my transcription into English:

Verse 1
Listen grandchild, open your ears, sit on the stool
I speak about progress
Ululate and listen to what the elders have done and are planning
There is what is called TSP
Gather yourselves and listen
All of you even those with PhD's
This is the goal to progress, listen to me
TSP means Transitional Stabilisation Programme
Stability of the country and renewal of prosperity
This is the path that the government has planned for us to walk in
From 2018 to 2020 and onward to Vision 2030

Chorus
Because of it the country is coming to order
(Yes TSP)
They have done well for us
(Yes TSP)
The country's debts are being paid
(Yes TSP)
Because of it roads are being built
(Yes TSP)
Renewal of dams for electricity generation
(Yes TSP)
Even in schools, excellent education
(Yes TSP)
Pursuing good relations with other countries
(Yes TSP)
Solving for employment
(Yes TSP)
Bringing back our currency in this country
(Yes TSP)
Renewing the economy and workers getting paid
(Yes TSP)

Verse 2
Right now the government is working very hard
To fight the rise of prices: inflation to be defeated
Right now the government is working very hard 
For food prices to go down
Look, the government did well by us
Kombies are now expensive so they gave us ZUPCO's
All farmers are celebrating
Seed to sow they were given
Senior citizens look, they are getting treated for free and getting food for free
Well, this is paying off
More than 300 former white farmers look, they were compensated

Sign of the times

This song just tells you how bad things are. This is not a government communicating to citizens. This is a government demonstrating their highest condescension towards citizens. They even call themselves our elders and us their grandchildren. The song is full of how much they have done for us. How can this economy move forward when the government thinks it’s owed gratitude for incapacitating us and leading us on a roller coaster to nowhere?

The only thing they forgot to remind us that they did for us is that they gave us t-shirts…

Have a Merry Christmas Zimbabwe. For 2020, ramabai makashinga.