AS we celebrated our 38 years of independence on Wednesday, April 18, what came to the fore, like always, is the memory of the ultimate sacrifice by those who made this occasion possible.
Memory of the blood spilled by our gallant sons and daughters was a timely reminder of the meaning of independence to those celebrating at various centres. Those who perished had not relented because they knew it was the necessary price tag for improving the livelihoods of those in their motherland.
The struggle was future-centred. Indeed universal adult suffrage and the end to racial discrimination were a given. That is why when there was ‘forced’ stagnation, nay retrogression, in the state of affairs, be it political, social or economic, Operation Restore Legacy was an inevitable sequel.
A ruthless cabal, oblivious to the ideals of the liberation struggle, had captured the State.
Operation Restore Legacy had therefore to extricate the then President from the jaws of sharks bent on derailing our revolution.
Thus, when Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed the presidency, his arduous task was, and still is, to make Zimbabwe great again with programmes anchored on the original ideals of the liberation struggle.
As outlined in his independence speech, the country had a mountain to climb in agriculture, mining, tourism and education, among other imperatives.
Although the goals are straightforward, execution has its own limitations. This is especially so in a country which had been ostracised by the international community for close to two decades.
President Mnangagwa’s war cry: ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’, might well prove to be a master stroke.
For, as pointed out by the President in his speech, this mantra has seen Zimbabwe being steadily accepted by countries of the Western world, which only recently regarded it as a pariah state.
Consequently, Zimbabwe has already been guaranteed of substantial Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with some Chinese companies already prepared to immediately invest billions in infrastructure development.
There is also an attempt to resuscitate moribund parastatals while abandoning loss-making ones. Of course, substantial recovery will ride on the creation of the much-needed jobs and availability of cash from banks.
Signs of progress are there, but impatience from a people whose economy has been static for some time is not unusual.
Civil servants, who must be among the worst affected by the economic meltdown, must have been relieved by the President’s assurance that their conditions of service and remuneration would be improved with the expected buoyancy in the economy.
During the liberation struggle, we were all united because our mission was very clear, hence it was possible to achieve it.
Come today, the objectives spelt out by President Mnangagwa are in line with the aspirations of our liberation ethos, which we all respect.
Just as today we are united by a common National Anthem and Flag, brought about by our independence, we see no reason we shouldn’t be united in our goal to be a middle-class nation by 2030.
Surely that is an achievement we should all be proud to bequeath to future generations. This is despite our different political persuasions.
However, it is difficult to imagine how some people, supposed to be genuine indigenous Zimbabweans, expect the economy to have fully recovered in 100 days, let alone six months.
Not only that.
These are the very people who are calling for nationwide industrial action for improved pay.
What looks obvious is that it is an attempt to derail attempts to rebuild the economy.
Sometimes we wonder at the motivating force behind such thinking.