REVERED poet, Mbizo Chirasha, has published a 3D version poetry publication titled ‘Letter to the President,’ which is a scathing attack on the 93 year-old President Robert Mugabe, for presiding over the suffering of the Zimbabweans.
In the poem, Chirasha criticises Mugabe and his government for allowing foreigners to extract the country’s minerals at the expense of the ordinary Zimbabweans, the majority of whom are wallowing in poverty.
He also bemoans corruption among politicians and the fact that those politically connected were immune from the effects of the so called sanctions while girl children were surviving on prostitution, putting their lives at risk.
“Foreign monkeys are finishing our berries, burying our diamonds in their caves. We remain beggars.
Fat cats are drinking corruption drugs; politicians munching sanctions pills.
Daughters hunting syphilis in the avenues, Babies sulking on dry empty nipples; our story is a sad story.”
Chirasha also speaks about the heavy handedness of the government when dealing with its disgruntled citizens, saying Zimbabweans were watching the drama.
The celebrated wordsmith also blames the President for the xenophobic violence that Zimbabweans are facing while trying to search for greener pastures in neighbouring countries, and asks; “Where are you Mr Government?”
He says those who fought for the land in the country have not benefitted, adding villagers are depending on hand-outs from the government, which also comes with political strings attached.
“I see them in the latest, wives dancing in reggae of slogans, Villagers stretching for the last drop of the President’s gift-Shefu. I last saw you on the drumbeat ; this freedom is burning peasants to death”
The poem, published by Ticktakti, brings out the trials and tribulations that are being faced by the ordinary Zimbabweans in a country that has been reduced to rags by a regime that is only concerned about maintaining their grip on power.
Chirasha is a performances poet and writer who has been published in more than 60 journals, various anthologies, newspapers, blogs and poetry collections.
The Stellenbosch Literary Project describes him as an internationally acclaimed Performance poet, Writer, Creative/Literary Projects Specialist, an Advocate of Girl Child Voices and Literacy Development.
Kenyan poet, Wanjohi wa Makohha, says Chirasha is one of the seven African poets that inspired his works.
Chirasha is the Outreach Agent for the Zimbabwe Book Development Council, and was a Delegate of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair dispatched to the Goteborg International Book Fair in Sweden in 2003.
He was also a writer in residence in Egypt in 2006 and was invited to participate in the UNESCO Photo Novel Writing Project in Tanzania in 2009.
The poet was part of the International Conference of African Culture Development in Ghana as a poet in residence in 2009 and was also Producer/Coordinator of the I am the Artist project, an Artist in Residence program by the Zimbabwe Germany Society in collaboration with the Goethe Zentrum.