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Benny Tsododo
Remarks by the MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora that President Robert Mugabe’s annual holiday is “immoral and abnormal” are rather disrespectful, incomprehensible and a shining emblem of his crumbling party’s ideological barrenness. Mwonzora was reported in a local independent paper castigating President Mugabe for taking his annual holiday in January. He was quoted as saying: “This holiday is a clear negligence by the President. The fact that the President leaves the country at a such time shows that he is no longer fit to meet the daily demands of his office.”
What claptrap! Who could question the President for taking such a well-deserved vacation? Mwonzora and the MDC-T want to appear oblivious of President Mugabe’s rigorous countrywide electoral campaigns that forced them to bite the proverbial dust.
No one can deny that President Mugabe traversed the length and breadth of this country to address rallies in a bid to protect the country from falling into the pliable hands of the neo-imperial puppets. Delivering history-making speeches and dancing to the revolutionary tunes, President Mugabe was fired up to defend the nationalist principles. Subjected to a similar energy-sapping itinerary, any normal human being would crumble but President Mugabe remained strong.
Despite deserving a long vacation after his unshakable victory against the MDC-T on July 31 2013, the President, being the tenacious leader he is, never took the break immediately. Instead, he took his time to chart the way forward for the country. Without delay, he delved into the business of setting up the requisite Government structures to steer the country forward.
Even before the 2013 elections, the President was immersed in energy-demanding and essential national exercises such as the constitution-making exercise. President Mugabe presided over the process and vigilantly ensured that the new Constitution is not contaminated by Western-borrowed practices such as homosexuality and the emasculation of the security sector. The exercise was successfully conducted and the country was rewarded with a people-driven Constitution, which they endorsed through a credible and fair referendum.
He indeed deserved the rest.
All along, the President had to deal with persistent nagging from partners in the inclusive Government who were trying to drag the country into the wretched hands of neo-imperialists. It was not an easy task to oversee a Government where other portfolios including the all-important Finance Ministry were in the hands of uncooperative political opponents.
His honest efforts to end the dysfunctional government for the good of the country were vociferously frustrated by his power-hungry partners in Government. His efforts to duly hold elections in line with the country’s Constitution, however, got support from the country’s Constitutional Court that ordered Government to hold elections by July 31.
After elections, his untiring commitment saw him representing the country well at the annual SADC summit in Malawi. In recognition of his electoral victory against neo-imperialism together with his pan-African convictions, he was appointed the vice-chairperson of the regional grouping and will assume the chairmanship this year. What else would a country need for a leader? It is clear that SADC has endorsed President Mugabe as a true statesman.
Proving to be indefatigable, President Mugabe continued with his constitutional duties. He appointed a competent Cabinet, which he commanded to deliver on the electoral promises contained in ZANU-PF’s manifesto. Within a short time, President Mugabe and his charges started to report on several deals entered into by Government and foreign partners to rehabilitate the country’s antiquated infrastructure.
Reports were made on the US$1.3 billion expansion programme for the Hwange Thermal Station whose tender was awarded to China Machinery Engineering Co-operation (CMEC). Another US$354 million deal to expand the Kariba Hydroelecrtic Power Station was recorded. The deal was awarded to Sino-Hydro of China. These deals were complemented by several other deals to establish solar farms countrywide in the short term. All these efforts were meant to address the severe power shortages that the country is currently experiencing.
President Mugabe and his team also entered into grain import deals with Zambia and South Africa to augment the national grain stocks. The grain imports were meant to stave off food shortages that were plaguing the country, particularly in the rural areas. The grain imports were fairly distributed through various food relief programmes that also included the food-for-work programme. President Mugabe declared that no one would starve in Zimbabwe.
President Mugabe also re-introduced the agricultural input supply programme that was unceremoniously abandoned after the then MDC-T-controlled Finance Ministry could not fund agricultural activities. The agricultural input scheme was valued at US$161 million and saw the distribution of 51 218 tonnes of compound D fertiliser, 30 020 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, 16 668 tonnes of maize and small grains and 9 967 tonnes of lime. This time around, President Mugabe ensured that the agricultural inputs reached the farmers before the rains. Maybe this is where some of the inexplicable gripe against President Mugabe by the anti-land reform MDC-T party is emanating from.
Moreso, inexhaustible as he was, President Mugabe also presided over the announcement of the 2014 Budget that heralded the coming in of the new economy guided by the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Agenda (Zim-Asset). Zim-Asset and the 2014 Budget became the reliable compass to guide the economy into prosperity. It is apparent that in the fullness of time, Zim-Asset will deliver jobs, revive the economy, rehabilitate infrastructure and, in short, revive the economy.
Against such a strenuous efforts, it is baffling why the MDC-T would not want President Mugabe to take a well-deserved holiday. After all, it is business as usual in Zimbabwe as the President left the country in the capable hands of Vice-President Joice Mujuru and the rest of the dependable ZANU-PF team. Already there are reports of a US$1 billion mega fuel pipeline deal that is being worked on by the team. There could be challenges here and there, which is expected of a country besieged by sanctions, but Government has everything under control.
After the hectic and eventful 2013, President Mugabe deserves a restful break from work. President Mugabe worked hard in 2013 and set a workable stage for 2014. His work was well-capped and acclaimed when he received a thunderous ovation before the envy-smitten Western leaders during the late Nelson Mandela’s memorial at the FNB Stadium, in South Africa. The acclamation was a naked reminder of President Mugabe’s tenacious and unflinching fight against neo-colonialism.
How can the MDC-T then deny the President his annual holiday? The so-called crisis the MDC-T is talking about is merely a product of their depraved and boat-rocking imaginations. These unashamed attempts to denigrate President Mugabe for taking a well-deserved holiday, and wishing him ill, are plainly diversionary, satanic and a monumental sign of the MDC-T’s pettiness. It is a pointer to its ideological bankruptcy and political cluelessness
Benny Tsododo is a philosopher and social commentator.
Online Reporter