Online Reporter
AS Zanu-PF faithful gather in Mutare for the 22nd National People’s Conference, the air is thick with political anticipation. Yet, amidst the expected calls for unity and party discipline, President Mnangagwa has laid down a challenge that must transcend partisan lines and become a national imperative: the unwavering and singular focus on the economy.
The conference theme, “Attainment of Vision 2030 through Economic Empowerment and Value Addition,” is not merely a slogan. It is the most critical item on Zimbabwe’s national agenda. The President’s call for delegates to be “exhaustive, objective and thorough” must be heeded not just in party matters, but in crafting a concrete, actionable economic blueprint for the nation.
The Second Republic under President Mnangagwa has staked its legacy on achieving an upper-middle-income society by 2030. This is an ambitious goal, but the foundations are being laid. The reported bumper harvest for the 2024/25 season is a testament to policies that, when effectively implemented, can yield tangible results. This success in agriculture — the backbone of our economy — must be the model we replicate across all sectors.
However, a bumper harvest can be a fleeting victory if not consolidated. The President’s call for “speedy preparations for this season’s cropping” underscores a vital point: economic gains are fragile. They require relentless focus, discipline, and a forward-looking strategy. The conference must be a platform that moves beyond political rhetoric and injects “fresh momentum” into the real engines of growth: productivity, industrialisation and modernisation.
This is where the promise of value addition becomes paramount. Zimbabwe has, for too long, been an exporter of raw materials, leaving the immense profits of beneficiation to others. The Mutare conference must produce sharp, actionable strategies to build local industries that transform our minerals, agricultural produce, and human capital into finished goods. This is the surest path to economic empowerment, job creation and sustainable foreign currency generation.
The distribution of vehicles to Central Committee members, while a logistical necessity, should be symbolic of a greater purpose. As the President stated, these tools are “for the benefit of the people and the party as a whole.” They must facilitate not just party business, but the mission of bringing economic development to the grassroots. The ultimate measure of this conference’s success will not be the unity of the delegates, but the improvement in the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Therefore, as the breakaway committees deliberate, their discussions must be ruthlessly focused on the economy. How do we remove bureaucratic bottlenecks for investors? What policies will spur SMEs in value-added chains? How can we better deploy technology to modernise our agriculture and manufacturing sectors?
The political unity President Mnangagwa implores is a prerequisite, but it is a means to an end. That end is a prosperous, economically independent Zimbabwe. The Second Republic has set a bold vision. The Mutare conference is an opportunity to consolidate the gains, sharpen the strategies, and reaffirm a national commitment to the only thing that will truly uplift our nation: a single-minded, unwavering focus on economic transformation.
We say let the resolutions from Manicaland be a clear signal to every citizen and investor that Zimbabwe is open for business and steadfast on its path to 2030.
