Dear Editor
Regards the internet shut down, the average citizen ought to appreciate that national security concerns issues of bread and butter for every citizen, the weak and the powerful. I would give a simple example understood by any commoner. If it is reported that an organised group of people are hatching a plan to blow the Kariba Dam wall, the following will be the consequences:
- Communities living downstream of the Kariba Dam will be marooned, washed away and deposited in the Indian Ocean;
- Properties, infrastructure and livestock will be destroyed;
- Wildlife will be washed into the Indian Ocean;
- Fisheries on the lake will be destroyed;
- The tourism dividend to Zambia and Zimbabwe will be decimated;
- Jobs dependant on the mammoth water body will be destroyed;
- Marine life in the water body will be destroyed;
- Zimbabwe and Zambian industries powered by the Kariba power station will be grounded to a halt as water escapes away;
- The power station’s equipment will be destroyed and washed away;
- Business establishments downstream will be destroyed;
- The national energy bill will hike, requiring foreign currency to import electricity;
- Zimbabwe will lose its international prestige as holders of the biggest manmade water body;
If discovered that the gang planning this was using the internet to communicate and execute their plan, would weaning them from the Internet considered disfavour to the nation? Food for thought.
- Tawanda Musariri via Email
