Yes you can borrow, but . . .

21 Nov, 2021 - 00:11 0 Views
Yes you can borrow, but . . .

The Sunday Mail

For some workers, life has become so difficult that they have been left with no option, but to borrow to make it through the month.

But reasons for borrowing are many and varied. While there are people who borrow for the sake of it, most people borrow out of need.

People are raiding banks, loan sharks or well-heeled relatives to pay for food, medication, school fees top-ups or to cover funeral expenses. Just to look chic at a relative’s wedding, some end up borrowing to buy trendy clothes and pricey cellphones.

As I commit pen to paper, many are running around looking for money to pay bail for a relative who is rotting in prison. Others are doing so to meet lobola demands from in-laws.

Though generating one’s own extra income is the surest way to avoid problems associated with borrowing, most people often take the easy way out.

“Ndiyambutseiwo ndatambura. Please help me cover these embarrassing expenses,” have become common lines in the ghetto, at church or even workplaces.

“The going has become tough. I need a bit of cash to cover the current challenges and I know I will pay back when my situation improves. Ndikungoda kasmall financial push ndozoona yekutamba pamberi apo,” has also become the common saying in communities.

Called “soft loans”, “credit”, “chikwereti”, “gwembi”, “gwembaldo”, “chikwezozo” or “rescue package”, these financial aid packages are condemning people to even deeper challenges.

The moment you borrow something from someone, you temporarily cede your rights to them. There are some indiscreet loan sharks who have the habit of making it known to everyone who cares to listen that you owe them.

Some of them would have the audacity to remind you during a beer drink with friends that you need to pay up.

“Eh! Mudhara kana matambira musazokanganwa kundikandira twekwangu,” they will tell you in front of acquaintances.

Others will even use you to market their services.

“I am big in town. I have lent money to so and so and I have been sustaining him for close to five years now,” they will say.

And did you know that some people now have a reputation for borrowing? Each time people see some individuals approaching, they automatically know that whatever conversation they will have with them, it will not end without a request for financial assistance.

“Oh, oh . . . there comes Lloyd! I bet he will not end whatever discussion we are going to have without asking for money. He is an embarrassing fellow who is not ashamed of asking for assistance from equally troubled people.

“His challenges are getting bigger and bigger because his wife has grown a reputation of borrowing maize-meal, cooking oil, sugar and whatever is needed in the home from people,” I heard some people saying about a colleague at a bar in Budiriro last weekend.

When the gentleman arrived, it did not take long before he had started bumming cigarettes and asking for bus fare from his drinking mates.

Well, some people have become a nuisance to siblings and close relatives because of their penchant for borrowing.

While it is one way through which people can survive hardships, it definitely has many consequences. Not everyone who inclines an ear to your problems is kind-hearted and committed to easing your plight? Criminals are making a killing by lending large sums of money to people they know cannot pay back so they can take away their vehicles, houses and other valuables.

“Be careful each time you go to seek assistance. Some loan sharks will demand collateral in the form of houses and cars before offering loans that have stringent conditions which make it difficult for you to repay. I have seen people losing refrigerators, television sets, housing stands and vehicles this way. You should control your appetite for nice things and always wait for the right time. Poverty will not kill you, so stop borrowing and you will live happily,” warned one elderly guzzler called Thomas Mujenge in Glen Norah.

Some lustful men are also in the habit of entrapping women through lending them huge sums of money they cannot pay back before asking for sexual favours from them.

So be warned.

Inotambika mughetto.

 [email protected]

 

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds