I am not the one

An old African saying goes like this: I am not the one

It means denial. Did you take my bicycle? I am not the one

 It also shifts the blame. The British are blaming Putin for all their strikes and troubles.

Grant Shapps, a senior Tory Secretary of State, put it this way the other day:

“On the industrial disputes, we all know what’s happening. They’re happening because he invaded a country which pushed up energy prices, which pushed up inflation, which pushed up wage expectations to a point, unfortunately, the country couldn’t afford. Putin made us all a bit poorer, I’m afraid.”

For one caretaker of his country’s economic wellbeing, that’s a classic I am not the one.

The denial and blame game is not hard to find all over the planet. In Zimbabwe, there’s an ingrained habit  of I am not the one.

Poor rains have led to poor crop yields, sinking water levels at the Kariba hydroelectric dam have led to dire electricity outages nationwide, they say. Who has dipped their sticky fingers into the national purse? Not me. I am not the one.

Who or what are really to blame? Drought is a common scapegoat for empty grain silos, so are Western sanctions and colonial and imperialist agendas that don’t stop imports of mega cars and luxuries for the few.

Seeing chaotic and, in the main, impoverished Zimbabwe, a lost generation of kids not going to school… Who broke my spirit and my heart this Christmas? I am not the one.     

With our elections not far away, here’s another saying. 

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito. 

Alas, it’s an old wisdom no one heeds and nothing changes.