Online Reporter
Dr Obert Moses Mpofu
THE task at hand requires us to move with both speed and precision. What most people have not realised is that we have been learning as we go.
Surely, there have been hurdles along the way. We have had to revisit and revise some of the steps that we initially took. If we are to be honest, nation building is not an easy task, particularly when you are emerging from the jaws of an oppressive regime, which not only sought to subjugate you for an eternity, but was also intent on your annihilation from the face of the earth.
Such has been our journey — difficult and hard to navigate.
We have had to endure a lot of hardships as we tinkered with different formulas to find the perfect one. To make things worse, some of our people, who were compromised along the way, have not been patient or kind.
They have instituted an onslaught on us as we strive to improve and uplift their livelihoods.
We have received a lot of criticism, but all that doesn’t matter now, for we have stumbled on the perfect formula. If we are to be honest with ourselves, it has not been as bad as they have tried to portray.
We have managed to clear all our debts to the International Monetary Fund; we have expanded our power generation infrastructure both at Kariba and Hwange, and we have initiated works on further establishing more hydro and solar electricity plants across the country.
We have even managed to build our first-ever interchange using domestic resources without a single cent having been borrowed from any external funders.
On top of that, we are now attracting world-class investments that we were previously unable to attract. Our gold production is the highest it has ever been, and our agricultural sector has been doing wonders in the past few years, such that we are among the few countries on the African continent that are self-sufficient in wheat.
We are now slowly gaining our breadbasket status. It is astonishing how a people determined in the face of adversity can find their way towards prosperity if they have the focus and are united towards a common end. All this is positive progress, and it is truly astonishing that it has been achieved within the short period that the Second Republic has been in office.
There are a lot of corrections that still need to be made. The Second Republic inherited a system that needed a total overhaul, and we have been doing it at both the party and Government levels. We are striving each and every day to regain the years that have been lost.
There is no denying that it is a tough exercise. There is quite a lot that needs to be unlearnt, so that there is a new relearning process. The keyword in all of this is “process”. It is not and cannot be an event.
“I will never tire”, is stating that nothing worthwhile was ever built in a single day. There are a lot among us, who neither have the patience nor the foresight to see that we are, for the most part, on our own, and we should be the ones making the first steps to ensure that we achieve all our aspirations and take our beloved nation where it needs to be.
It will be a painful process if some of our people keep running off to distant lands and fail to develop their own country.
Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo! This is an undeniable fact. Some of our misguided people have been expending their sweat and blood in distant lands, instead of putting all their efforts towards taking our nation to the next level.
Those who have stayed and toiled day and night to build the Zimbabwe that we so desire, should be applauded as they are on the right side of history.
One should never be ashamed of their own roots, but must at every opportunity work hard to improve the livelihoods of their own people. Zimbabwe is for all Zimbabweans, and we should all work for its development as well as equally enjoy its benefits.
No one will have our country’s best interests other than us. That is the truth, sons and daughters of the soil. Let us all come together and build our nation for the benefit of our future generations. There is no denying that Zimbabwe is at the verge of entering its golden age.
n Dr Obert Moses Mpofu is an academic and the Secretary-General of Zanu-PF. He writes in his own capacity.
