EMPTY FULL BASKET

Yes it's full, how come you tell me, it's empty?

Mozambique is your country, my country, our country. I always carry it at heart. It’s an amazing, well woven basket of great wealth in the world. Everyone desires the fruits it contains. And how come you tell me, it’s empty?

            Every day, the ecstasy of its natural wonders lures tourists from different parts of the world to witness its unique, exquisite beaches, luxurious, evergreen forests, different types of wild animals, and the pacific buoyance of different rivers fluxing excitingly to the Indian Ocean. There is no way in which this harmonious ecosystem lets you unsatisfied. And how come you tell me, it’s empty?

            The soil cries with its richness. The wonderful combination of fertile soil, the abundance of water from many rivers and the favorable climatic conditions sprouts large quantity of different cash crops, which are sugar cane, cassava, rice, tea, tobacco, coconuts, cashew nuts, cotton and timber.  Subsistence farming from our local farmers offers great portions of tomatoes, onions, garlic, peanuts, beans, maize, the list is endless. On another hand, livestock production of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, etc., is witnessed in every province.  And how come you tell me, it’s empty?

            Under this valuable soil, we tread on every day, many minerals are currently being mined: marble, aluminum, bentonite, coal, gold, bauxite, granite, titanium and various gemstones. And how come you tell me, it’s empty?

            The marvelous Indian Ocean coast shares with us its diversity of crabs, prawns, and fish. As we go deep down its deep down blue waters, it shares with us its oil, natural gas and a lot to be discovered. On another hand, large rivers like Zambeze are sources of hydroelectric power and irrigation. And how come you tell me, it’s empty?

            Mismanagement, greed and selfishness have become weapons of mass destruction. These natural weapons of our attitudes have left the majority of your country, my country, our country with unbearable wounds of miserableness, destitution, illiteracy and undernourishment. And that’s why you tell me, it’s empty.

            It doesn’t fit in anyone's head, when we witness our children studying under the trees, but we have enough timber of exportation to other countries. However, it only requires timber and plenty of soil we already have, in order to build schools. You see children playing, almost naked if not naked, wearing dirty rags, but we have sufficient cotton of exportation. And that’s why you tell me, it’s empty.

 This basket’s wealth has become a curse to its people. Possession has become an abstract, complex concept, which means what Mozambican people possess, by law, is not theirs.

Written by Bennie Umera

15/07/2017