daniel chigunwe
Christmas Day always brings up images of family gatherings, peace and tranquillity as part of the celebrations marking the year end, the more party-like celebrations coming next week at New Year.
It fits in with the long-established traditions of farming communities in this part of the world, when the first rains having fallen the pastures are growing again and cattle are improving, and most crops have been planted, so farmers can take a bit of a break after some heavy labour. And even in the cities, we see the first green mealies being roasted to remind us of our roots.
The traditions are reinforced by the granting of bonuses for all in State service and large swathes of the formal sectors, and those in the informal sectors enjoying good business as those bonuses get spent on the sort of goods and services that this sector makes. So there is the surge of moderate prosperity.
There is much to be thankful for by many, although we could all do with some more rains, after we have come successfully through a hard year, combating the worst drought in decades although our new resilience meant that this do not derail the country, but rather cut the economic growth rate to 2 percent. We continued to progress despite the climatic disaster.
There are those we need to remember, those in essential services who will not be with their families today such as staff in health and security services, and even those in more mundane occupations like keeping the border posts open for tourists, and the shop assistants who will come to work for businesses that supply essential needs like food and medicine.
The police have promised to maintain a strong presence across the country and on the roads to ensure the rest of us can have a peaceful Christmas and our hospital casualty departments will be fully staffed to cope with the expected influx of injured in accidents and at home, numbers which tend to rise at this time of the year.
Despite all the efforts by the Government, churches and others to ensure that no one has gone hungry despite the drought, there are inevitably those who for all sorts of reasons, such as age or ill health, who will be hungry today and we should remember them and try to do our own little bit to relieve distress.
This consideration for others extends to how we drive and move around. Accident rates rise over the festive season every year, and yet they should be falling as people relax and think more of others. Family reunions are important, but not if we have to die and kill while trying to reach them. Breathalysers are now being deployed at check points and we hope this will be the start of a process of weaning Zimbabweans off the culture of driving around after having drinks.
This year prices remained, very largely, stable in the run-up to the festive season with the exception of some bus crews on some routes. Whether this was a bright idea of the drivers, conductors and touts, or whether it was ordered by the bus owners, it needs to be stopped and it appears that some sort of fare inspection is needed at long-distance bus terminuses. So much has been done to make buses safer, and it would not need much more effort to also ensure that they maintain fair fares.
But the rest of the economy has now moved away from the Christmas gouging, largely because our local industries are producing more than enough, so there are no shortages for the deviant to exploit, and the retail sector is now so competitive that it would be impossible to impose excessive mark-ups on goods and services without a good block of retailers cutting prices to take up market share.
In fact, there has been some strong advertising of “Christmas specials” thanks to the good production, import and supply chains and the high level of competition.
The only reason why some bus crews or bus owners on some routes can shove up the fares is because there are people prepared to pay more to get to their destinations on time on days when demand for seats exceeds supply. Consumers can use their buying power to refuse to collaborate with this sort of unacceptable behaviour and refuse to buy tickets or anything else until a fairer price is charged.
Today many Zimbabweans will be in church or at least giving a thought to the religious aspects of Christmas, so it is a good time for us all to rededicate ourselves to what should be at the centre of Christmas, Peace on Earth and goodwill to all.
These are important, but to make them a reality, we all have to be involved to create that peace and by offering our goodwill to those we know and come into contact with, then we can spread that peace and goodwill. It does not just happen; we all have a part to play to make sure that this becomes the norm.
We sometimes forget our own individual responsibilities, in everything from making roads safer to making our communities stronger, to making the nation and even the whole world a better place. But everything starts with people deciding to make a difference and then doing this, and we get better community, or city, or country when all our efforts add up to something better.
