By Cde Bekezela Mkonto kaMthwakazi

China has given Zimbabwe 3,000 tonnes of wheat and rice. 

Ambassador Zhou Ding calls it “deep-rooted friendship.”

Deep-rooted indeed — deep enough to mine every inch of the country while Zimbabweans work for peanuts in Chinese-run pits.

The aid came under “Leave No One Behind.” 

Yet, our minerals are leaving daily for Beijing while poverty stays behind like an uninvited relative.

We’re trading lithium, gold, and rare earths for a few plates of rice. 

Dambisa Moyo calls it dead aid. We call it a raw deal.

Once the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe is now a basket case. 

Remember Command Agriculture’s grain that was “enough for 10 years”? 

We’re still waiting — maybe it’s stuck in traffic.

This “free” rice feels like an another colonial treaty. 

Today, we lose our minerals for a sack of carbs.

Free rice, yes. But the bill is written in lithium, gold, and the future of Zimbabwe.