“Any revolution disrupts production.”
This is the reality of everything in life.
The reality of our politics.
The reality of our economics.
The reality of our aspirations.
And it brings many interesting dimensions, especially when looked at from a Zimbabwean perspective.
It brings to the fore many inescapable truths about our prospects as a nation.
Followed clearly and closely, it brings home the following analysis.
The opening statement, which is poignant and apt in many ways, was said in July 2017 by former Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa during a SAPES discussion forum.
The issue at hand then was the country’s economic prospects.
As has become the norm, some speakers sought to gain political currency by attacking the programmes Government has undertaken in its quest to uplift the livelihoods of the majority.
Curiously, those who were at the forefront of the denigration of the empowerment agenda were blacks, local Zimbabweans.
Nothing surprising there.
We are oblivious to certain realities about our past, our present and our future, all because we have to, time and again, seek for endorsement from elsewhere.
Let us look at the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme for example.
There are certain emotions, issues and thoughts that are invoked whenever the land issue is mentioned.
There too have been many lies peddled against the programme.
Yet facts point otherwise.
The success of that historic programme is there for all to see.
We have dealt with this issue before.
The same discussions are now centering on the economy, in particular the austerity measures introduced by President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.
They have been attacked left, right and centre as being anti-people.
Yet we are a country that is trying to break away from the past.
We are a country seeking to open a new chapter.
We are a country trying to unlock our potential.
Significantly, we have our destiny firmly in our hands.
So, when influential voices, like that of Strive Masiyiwa, speak, let us listen.
This great man has been under the cosh from angry opposition supporters who have latched on to his widely published interview with CNBC.
It is the message contained in that interview that we should heed.
The reality is that Zimbabwe is a success story that is waiting to be unravelled and explored.
Instead of listening to the import of Masiyiwa’s approbation of President Mnangagwa’s thrust, we instead attack Masiyiwa for seeing that which we do not want to see.
Let us look to the future with faith, hope and trust that our Government will never let us down.
Let us be united as a nation so that we put our focus on the critical aspect of development.
The time is now.