Chronicle Editor
AS the curtain comes down on 2023 tonight, it is important to look back as a country and celebrate the milestone achievements reached during the eventful year which saw the successful holding of peaceful elections in August and high points scored in our developmental programmes.
It is not in doubt and all evidence is there even for doubting Thomasses that under the able leadership of President Mnangagwa, the Second Republic has outshone itself on developmental targets it set itself. This is because the year that is folding today has been a fruitful one as far as development is concerned.
An unprecedented number of projects were completed across the length and breadth of the country in fulfilment of the “leaving no one and no place behind” development philosophy espoused by President Mnangagwa. The actualisation of devolution, itself a Constitutional provision has seen a number of communities revelling in the glory of services brought so close to their doorsteps.
They no longer need to walk long and arduous journeys to clinics and schools while a number of roads have been reworked and given new leases of life. Irrigation schemes that were lying dormant had life breathed into them giving the communities a food self-sufficiency cushion while the Government has promised to drill 35 000 boreholes that will support an equal number of nutritional gardens in 35 000 villages across the country.
The developments are life-easing and economically empowering too.
At a broader scale, a number of capital projects of national scope were taken up too. Some that were abandoned because of a combination of lack of funds and political will were funded and are at different stages of completion.
Projects such as the Lake Gwayi-Shangani in Matabeleland North Province, which is a panacea to the perennial water problems of Bulawayo were taken up by the Second Republic and would most likely be completed in the year that we are starting tomorrow, according to President Mnangagwa. The upgrading of the Victoria Falls International Airport, the refurbishment and commissioning of Hwange Unit 7 and 8, the construction of Cowdray Park Clinic, Lupane Government Offices, Lupane Provincial Hospital and a number of other projects in Binga and Hwange is ample testimony of the deliberate development trajectory taken by the Second Republic.
It is our hope that the exciting development momentum be maintained as the country takes bold steps that shape the realisation of the country’s economic blueprint — the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) that points to Vision 2030 whose import is of having an upper middle-class economy.
We, therefore, call for a shared national vision among all development stakeholders and institutions to rally behind the clarion call by President Mnangagwa not to remove the foot on the developmental pedal.
As we conclude the year, there is a tendency of over-indulging especially tonight which is the New Year’s Eve. While there is nothing wrong in gallivanting and merry-making, it is important to remind each other to do so with restraint and a sense of responsibility.
We urge the country’s citizens to enjoy the New Year’s Eve within the confines of the country’s laws while also respecting each other at individual level. The spirit of Ubuntu that is defined by love, unity, respect, giving, kindness that enjoins us as Africans should be allowed to flow seamlessly.
In law they say “a right ceases to be a right when it violates other people’s rights.” Let us therefore enjoy without infringing on the rights of others.
Disturbing images of adults giving alcohol to minors show an irresponsible society and should be frowned upon while those driving on our roads should be reminded to stick to the regulated speed limits.
We all do not want an addition to the scary 87 road deaths that were recorded immediately towards Christmas. Our responsibility is to ensure we remain alive to see an envisaged accelerated economic development in 2024. We, therefore take this opportunity to say Happy New Year to all our countrymen and women. We believe that as long as we put our heads under the same thinking cap, we will realise our aspirations as a country.
Online Reporter