President’s statesmanship shines through

THE importance of the moment when President Mnangagwa graciously turned down requests for him to extend his term of office beyond the constitutionally prescribed 2028 cannot be lost on many.

Here is a man whose accomplishments and milestones, particularly under heavy odds staked against him in the form of debilitating sanctions, are acknowledged and admired by friends and foe alike.

So, the calls by all provinces for him to stay on were perfectly understandable.

And, as the ZANU PF Secretary for Legal Affairs Cde Patrick Chinamasa emphasised yesterday, it was legally possible to extend the presidential term limits.

However, the President, for the umpteenth time, was emphatic that he did not have any intentions to continue beyond 2028.

For those who know the tortuous political journey he has travelled, sacrificing his life through the decades for the party and country, this is hardly surprising.

President Mnangagwa, who is a trained lawyer, has been a stickler for rules and regulations, and has always abided by the party’s constitution.

He has never wavered.

Sometime in August 2015, when he was still the Vice President, he had quite a revealing interview with Baffour Ankomah, a Ghanaian journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of the Pan-African publication New African magazine, which helps understand his deep ideological grounding and political thoughts.

“There are also colleagues in the leadership that I am 100 percent sure will continue to identify the correct line of the revolution and follow it. And the correct line is ‘where we ought to go’, because there is a difference between ‘where we want to go’ as a nation and ‘where we ought to go’,” he said then, adding: “A leader must not take the people where they want to go, but where they ought to go, whether the people or the leader want it or not, or whether it is hard or not.”

Profound!

This is the hallmark of wisdom and abiding statesmanship.

So, the people understandably want him to continue.

Highlighting his selflessness and determination, President Mnangagwa, at the just-ended indaba, essentially re-moored the ruling party back to its immediate and urgent task of driving Zimbabwe’s modernisation and industrialisation, lifting the people out of poverty, as well as uniting the party and country.

“Our purposes must continue to be intricately linked to the progress and economic rejuvenation of our great motherland, Zimbabwe. We, the current crop of cadres, have an obligation to ensure that ZANU PF remains the driving force for peaceful development and to build our economy at an accelerated pace,” he counselled.

“Straying from the right path can cause fatal mistakes and dire consequences to our liberation movement and the people’s revolution . . .

“Let us be remembered for uniting the party as well as helping others, and not dividing the party and our people. We must continue to persevere under the party, even at times when it is tough.

“Mindsets, counter revolutionary tendencies, favouritism, regionalism and tribalism must be opposed,” he added.

The “realistic”, “concise” and “people-centred development programmes highlighted the bold ambitions and preoccupation of the ruling ZANU PF in general and President Mnangagwa in particular.

Underlining the party’s supremacy, ZANU PF directed the Government to, among other interventions, take robust measures to strengthen the purchasing power of the Zimbabwe Gold currency and entrench its use, particularly at a time when inflation and exchange rate volatility on the parallel market is eroding people’s buying power and savings.

It also called for Government to expedite the completion of Lake Gwayi-Shangani and Kunzvi Dam, the two water bodies that would be key in supplying potable and adequate water to Zimbabwe’s largest towns — Bulawayo, Harare and, to an extent, Chitungwiza.

Further, ZANU PF also directed the Government to ensure timeous distribution of agricultural inputs to farmers to promote and sustain food sovereignty; strengthen monitoring mechanisms to enforce adherence to labour laws, especially in the private sector; urgently review public and private pension policies to improve and safeguard the welfare of pensioners; as well as adequately stock all health facilities with essential drugs, medicines and equipment.

Calls to accelerate provision of low-cost housing; ensure activities of land and space barons are curtailed by developing masterplans; and improving service delivery are an eloquent pronunciation of a party that is obsessed to improve lives and livelihoods, as well as boost the quality of life of Zimbabweans.

All told, President Mnangagwa’s leadership will likely impact current generations and posterity.

He is essentially planting a tree whose shade will be enjoy for generations to come.

And this is what has endeared him to the masses.