By A Correspondent
Opposition leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa has expressed his concern over the ongoing brain drain in Zimbabwe, attributing it to the actions of the Zanu PF regime. In a statement released on Friday, Chamisa lamented the worsening plight of citizens, emphasizing how the country continues to lose its brightest minds.
Chamisa shared his personal frustration, stating, “Just this morning, I received four different calls from some professionals, all planning on leaving the country to seek opportunities in other countries.” He described the constant distress of receiving calls from Zimbabweans desperate to leave, adding, “My daily agony is waking up every day to the lived nightmare of receiving yet another call from a fellow Zimbabwean desperate to leave the country searching for what is believed to be greener pastures. This is a story I have experienced repeatedly for the past 20 years.”
These calls, according to Chamisa, are not mere conversations but often pleas for help. “Often, these calls are not just conversations, they are pleas for assistance, requests for guidance on finding a way to exit and escape to a perceived better life and future,” he explained.
He criticized the country’s leadership for failing to address the crisis, pointing out the negative impact of the brain drain on the nation’s future. “The sheer scale of brain drain we are experiencing is staggering. As a nation, we are hemorrhaging talent and gifts, losing the very citizens we have invested in and educated (with meager resources for that matter), to other economies, where they go to build and strengthen economies elsewhere.”
Chamisa described this as “plainly heartbreaking” and blamed the lack of leadership in the country. “Leadership is the missing link. Those in leadership have let the people down. By leadership, I mean everyone within the ecosystem of governance and influence. Any serious leadership would not allow this hemorrhaging to continue untamed or unchecked,” he said.
He further stressed the unsustainable situation, noting, “We cannot continue with a situation where all of us, as a people, are perennially preoccupied with finding a way out of our own country. I am yet to see a nation that thrives when the bulk of its best minds are outside it. It can’t!”
Chamisa also commented on the widespread belief that opportunities lie outside the country, saying, “It has become a common disposition for citizens to go seeking opportunities in other countries. The motivation being that the grass is greener elsewhere. Granted, the grass always seems greener elsewhere, but it should be greenest wherever we are. Yet, right now, that green grass is benefitting no one here—except a select few.”
He concluded by calling for a collective effort to address the issue and work towards Zimbabwe’s transformation and prosperity. “This must stop. It will take all of us a collective effort to win Zimbabwe for transformation and prosperity, and end this nightmare,” he urged.