Chronicle Editor
Wallace Musakanyi
THE development of Zimbabwe through various initiatives that add value to the economy in general from education, infrastructure, urbanisation and social service delivery, extraction of resources, value addition and beneficiation, as well as agriculture, among other activities is a burden that the Government together with progressive citizens must equally share.
In the same light, President Mnangagwa has been pioneering the ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo,’ spirited exercise which translates into ‘Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo,’ in Ndebele and, ‘a country is built by its owners’ in English.
Beyond linguistics, this exercise is an organic ideological initiative that has its roots in the Pan African traits of unity and upliftment.
More interestingly, this is also a development modelled initiative as it centres the general citizenry in the economic development of the country, opening flood gates of opportunities and giving room for the development of home grown solutions.
Beyond that, it also adds a body of weight to the African Union’s Agenda of African Solutions to African Problems.
This fascinating and empowerment driven phrase, ‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’ also reminds me of how one of our best tourist resorts the Great Zimbabwe was built by our forefathers (vene vayo) many centuries back.
More importantly, our country’s name Zimbabwe was derived from the same historic tourist resort Dzimba Dzemabwe which means House of Stones. This reminds me again that as citizens of this republic we are intellectually capable of building this beloved country once again in this New Dispensation just like what we did in the past as captured by the phrase history repeats itself.
Pioneering Production and Local Development
This exercise is a lubricant that smoothens home based production and fuels local firms and organisations in order to unlock their full potential.
Upon the inception of this exercise during the early days of the Second Republic, positive developments are being noted as far as production is concerned. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce revealed that more than 70% of the goods in the local shops are locally produced yet prior to the inception of the New Dispensation, the shops were flooded with foreign produced goods and they constituted more than 70%.
This eventually depicts how serious this exercise is, it’s beyond cheap rhetoric and lip service. As the inhabitants are partaking in the building of this country through production, a thorough buy Zimbabwe campaign is now necessary to facilitate the growth and expansion of these businesses beyond Zimbabwe.
Withstanding Sanctions
It’s a matter of fact that sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe by the Western countries have stifled economic progress in the country and coordinated efforts by the citizens, local firms and companies towards the development trajectory giving heed to President’s call that a country is built by its owners is many steps in the right direction.
Such efforts combined with the unity of purpose amongst the citizens towards the development thrust, efficient utilisation of Western alternative mechanisms like the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), harnessing bi and multilateral agreements with both regional and international organisations as well as with states to unlock economic value goes a long way in check-mating these sanctions.
Most importantly it requires the active participation of local citizens towards economic development, production which contributes towards an export led growth.
A punch towards aid dependency syndrome
This exercise is also a panacea to do away with the dependency-syndrome to other countries, international organisations as well as financial institutions. Rather it places production at the epicentre of economic activity with the ordinary folks being the primary agents of development.
This is noble against a background of the devastating effects of aid dependence through policy initiatives like the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) which had boomerang effects.
As such home grown, well-equipped financial institutions like the Women Microfinance bank as well as the Youth Empowerbank have been established in the New Dispensation to quench the financial thirst of the citizens so that they can utilise those financial powerhouses to grow and expand their businesses.
These local initiatives are also key in escaping the neo-colonial traps because the aid dependency specifically from the Western countries and affiliated institutions has costly implications on the sovereignty of the republic.
This is because most of the aid is accompanied with stringent conditions that choke economic progress and advance debt-trap diplomacy, a plague especially to developing countries.
The broader struggle against neo-colonialism is therefore contextualised through the Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo exercise as local financial institutions stand ready to assist like-minded citizens who wish to partake in the development process but with limited financial resources.
Infrastructure Development
The immediate exhibitions of the Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo policy exercise has also been through massive infrastructure projects that the Government has been undertaking at national level.
Despite the dereliction of duty and neglect by the opposition run councils, the Government has assumed the implementation of the Emergency Road and Rehabilitation Program with more than $36 billion having been injected so far.
Indeed, the Government has been doing a stunning job in repairing the roads equally in all the country’s ten provinces.
Another interesting matter is, local firms and contractors have also been involved in this road repairing and construction exercise and all the funds that are being used to power these projects are being sourced locally and this means that tax payer’s money is not going in vain but towards the betterment of the country.
Innovation Hubs a Breeding Ground for Scientific Research
As part of efforts to include young professionals in the developmental process of Zimbabwe, the Government established innovation hubs at various higher institutions of learning across the country.
This was championed in order to promote scientific research as well as so incubate premium innovations. Let us bear in mind that the tap card system that is used by Zupco and Zinara was propounded by a Harare Institute of Technology student.
These innovation hubs promote youths inclusion and the efforts of the youths in the building of this country are inevitably going to be harvested through these mechanisms as these innovation hubs are convergence and assembly points of cutting-edge research and ideas and the citadel of innovative creativity.
Diaspora Policy on Cards
The announcement by the Government that it is in the final stages of creating a policy that lures the diaspora reveals the importance of the coordinated efforts of both local citizens as well as those in the diaspora in building the country.
This policy will be hinged on facilitating the inclusion of the diasporans in the socio-economic sectors. This is important because it enhances the linkages between members of the diaspora and the citizens in the home state thereby feeding into the developmental grid of the country.
Already the diasporans are expressing their keen interest towards the building of this country Recently, a team of Zimbabweans based in Dubai stretched their helping hand to Zimbabwe as they assisted in the drilling of 20 boreholes in Chitungwiza under the Presidential borehole drilling scheme to curb rampant water shortages in the suburb.
The diasporans can easily tap into the developmental space as they have been contributing more than US$ 1 billion in remittances only annually.
Devolution is work in Progress
Through the devolution policy initiative, steady progress and development has been recorded on a national basis with the policy giving a golden chance for local firms as well as citizens a chance to be part of the developmental process through service provision as well as employment creation.
The most notable success of this policy has been the revamping of the roads whilst it has also contributed much in terms of decentralising and modernising the country from the core to the peripheries.
In Manicaland, Marovanyati Dam was commissioned for irrigational purposes, fishing, tourism as well as boat cruising and wildlife corridor thereby bringing many windows of income generation in the province.
The case has been the same in Matabeleland North where the Lake Gwayi-Shangani project is underway and upon completion, it will be used for domestic as well as irrigational purposes by people in Binga, Lupane, Hwange and Bulawayo.
Through these devolution funds, Mapfungautsi Polyclinic was also commissioned in Gokwe and it caters for about 11 000 households. Scores of other successes have been recorded throughout the country as a result of this watermark policy.
In general the devolution exercise is work in progress and it is anchored on intensifying the development of the country through infrastructure development, improvgng health and education sectors and promoting decentralisation in general.
The way to go!
The destiny of this teapot-shaped republic lies within the hands of its citizens hence they form the building blocks of this country
Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo / Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo is therefore a highly commendable policy exercise as it impacts greatly on the realisation of the objectives expressly set out by the National Development Strategy 1.
The clusters of economic growth and stability, food security and nutrition, value chains and structural transformation, image building as well as digital economy require a massive buy-in from the general populace to guarantee its success.
Nevertheless, this exercise will also go a long way in curbing brain-drain as it offers viable opportunities to technocrats, professionals and entrepreneurs, the ultimate end being the building and development of the motherland.
Wallace Musakanyi is a writer and researcher who can be contacted on wallace.- [email protected].
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