Online Reporter
Victoria Ruzvidzo-Editor’s Brief
I grew up hearing tales of the Second Chimurenga and all the sacrifices that many were making to get the country back to its rightful hands.
We would sing songs to encourage those at the war front and once or twice we had to “duck” bullets under the coffee table in our house after hearing some gunshots at a nearby shopping centre. It was scary, but it felt like an adventure.
At gatherings we would sing songs like “Mukoma Nhongo bereka sub tiende chauya-chauya”.
It appeared to me like war was a lot of fun, but as I grew up I began to appreciate that it was not child’s play at all, but somehow I still wished I had taken part in the real Chimurenga war to help liberate our country.
I now have a better appreciation of what going to war entailed, and felt I could still have taken part and carried a bazooka myself.
I revere President Mnangagwa and everyone who sacrificed their lives to bring the freedom and other fruits we enjoy today. In this regard, when the President announced at the burial of Air Commodore (Retired) Simon Brian Bere that we had entered the Fourth Chimurenga I got so excited.
I might not have been able to hold a gun and liberate our country when I was barely in primary school during the Second Chimurenga era, but engaging in the Fourth Chimurenga gives me and every Zimbabwean an opportunity to take the baton and do our bit as enunciated by the President.
Here is another opportunity to be part of the generation that would be known to have ushered Zimbabwe into Vision 2030. That ensured the country and its citizenry graduated into an Upper Middle Income Economy. This is definitely not a mirage, but something that is now within reach. This country has been achieving the previously unimaginable. A few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Zimbabwe’s economy grew by 7,5 percent in 2025, much higher than the Government’s 6,8 percent forecast. This is the first time that the IMF has not found us too ambitious, but in fact more humble about our own growth.
Investor interest has also been growing. On our page one today we have stories reflecting that more funds are being poured into the economy.
Dinson Iron and Steel Company is moving to invest an additional US$500 million at its plant in Manhize, Mvuma, to bring their total investment to US$2 billion by 2030, while Invictus Energy is preparing to drill the Musuma-1 well in the Cabora Bassa Basin following the landmark Mukuyu discovery.
Indeed the Fourth Chimurenga war has different strategies which do not necessarily involve going to the war front, but there is work to be done to ensure Zimbabwe realises its full potential, particularly on the economic front.
President Mnangagwa has always emphasised the need to build our country and consolidate the gains of the struggle.
“The question before all of us today is; What is it that we can contribute to consolidate the gains of our hard-won Independence? What is our individual and collective sacrifice for the attainment of our national development aspirations and Vision 2030?
“Ngatizvibvunzei kuti tingaiteyi kuti nyika yedu isimuke, uye ibudirire iyende mberi. Iwe neni, tose tine basa. Ndangariro dzedu ngadzive dzekuvaka nyika yedu, kwete kuputsa,” he said.
The President said Unity, Peace and Development remain our national guiding principle and moral compass.
“Now we are in the Fourth Chimurenga, which must see us assume total control of every aspect of our national wealth and economic development. Under this quest, Vision 2030 is a stepping stone towards greater prosperity, industrialisation and modernisation.
“Nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, inonamatigwa nevene vayo/ ilizwe lakhiwa, libuswe, likhu-le-ke-lwe ngabanikazi balo.
“All of us have the weighty obligation to consolidate national unity and work with vision and focus to drive Zimbabwe to a higher economic status.”
The environment and circumstances surrounding the protracted liberation struggle were different. Today, patriotism and loyalty, in the national interest must translate to increasing production and productivity.” These words by the President are instructive.
“It must also mean buying Zimbabwean products and services, building Zimbabwe, defending and speaking good over our nation as well as proclaiming and declaring the blessings of Almighty God over Zimbabwe”, he added.
The President reminded farmers that land and the projects currently under implementation were the present-day trenches. The nation needed to be fed in both good and lean seasons food self-sufficiency was a critical component of national security and sovereignty.
The youths, women and all stakeholders needed to play their part.
Such words implore each and every one of us to self-introspect and see how best we can contribute to the success of the Fourth Chimurenga.
The National Development Strategy 2 and the broader objectives of Vision 2030 form the basis of what needs to be done for a successful Fourth Chimurenga.
It needs individuals and institutions to strategise and be more determined to succeed. Where others shed blood, but in the Fourth Chimurenga the task is lighter, we will just sweat at in the worst case scenario..
When he officially opened the Zimbabwe International Trade Fare last month, Botswana President Duma Boko implored the private sector to become more active and deliberate in their efforts to develop and grow the economy.
“I have a little word of advice to the business community and it is this. Often you complain that governments are unresponsive, which they are, that governments are slow, which they indeed are, that sometimes governments watch and frustrate your efforts, which they actually do. But I want to advise you that you must stop at approaching governments seeking answers from governments. You must go to governments to provide answers and solutions to governments.
“You are the people in the frontlines of business, you understand where the bottlenecks are. You understand where the pain points exists. Don’t go to governments to ask, go to government with well-thought-out, well-articulated solutions because sometimes governments are not even aware of that it is a problem,” he said.
The challenges before us as participants in the Fourth Chimurenga are not small but definitely surmountable.
We can win this one. If our forebears gave us Zimbabwe, the least we can do is build the Zimbabwe into want they envisaged it to be. President Mnangagwa has laid the task before us. Let’s all rise to the occasion.
In God I Trust.
X handle: @VictoriaRuzvid2; Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; WhatsApp number: 0772 129 972.
