THE late great Dr Joshua Nkomo’s list of achievements, his records and leadership track are so many and continue to inspire the nation, in every situation that we find ourselves in.
He remains a great man.
“Among his numerous occupations were those of; a magical auctioneer, lay preacher, social worker, politician, farmer, businessman, trade unionist, prisoner, diplomat, husband, father, grandfather, ZIPRA Commander-in-chief, Cabinet minister and Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe to name but a few,” his former Special Assistant and now ZANU PF national spokesperson, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo said at the Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Legacy Dinner on July 10 2014.
“His work was his life and his life was his work. The late Father Zimbabwe was not a man of fixed appointments. He was flexible in his operational diary, at home or at his offices. His doors were always open and security personnel were under strict orders never to turn back anyone who wanted to see him.”
On Thursday last week, the nation commemorated the 22nd anniversary of his passing on with President Emmerson Mnangagwa leading the honours, while two critical issues lingered on the minds of a progressive disposition in the country.
“Twenty-two years ago today, Zimbabwe lost a great man. Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo is a hero of the liberation struggle, a man of the people, and a visionary who built a better Zimbabwe. Every day we strive to continue your legacy of unity, love, and peace,” said President Mnangagwa.
The first compelling issue is that the time has come for Zimbabwe to have a Dr Joshua Nkomo Day as part of the processes of honouring the country’s heroes that the country has embarked on in recent times.
This is in consideration of the great works that the late great Father Zimbabwe did for the country especially on bringing the country together as enshrined by the December 22 1987 Unity Accord.
Secondly and connected to the above, is his support for the economic empowerment of the majority through the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme of 2000.
It is an aberration to the country’s stellar and glowing history that the MDC was formed on September 11 1999 to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle, slightly over two months after the passing of Father Zimbabwe on July 1 1999.
“His vision on land reform and economic empowerment to the majority of our people became a beacon of our development thrust. By and large our current policies and programme to improve the lives of our people are in fulfilment of his dreams,” said Ambassador Khaya Moyo at the Legacy Dinner.
The MDC and Father Zimbabwe’s visions and ideologies are in stark contrast especially where nation building is concerned.
Whereas the latter was a visionary, whose love for the country was premised on uplifting the livelihoods of the masses, particularly youths, the former is driven by exploiting young people in the country and handing the country back to the hands of its former colonisers.
As recent as Friday last week, the MDC was ‘secretly’ recruiting young people in the country through mainly Twitter to take to the streets over what they say is ‘failure’ by Government to turn around the economy.
We have not forgotten how they used and abused one of their supposedly ‘brave’ youths, Makomborero Haruzivishe who is now languishing in prison for incitement to cause violence and resisting a peace officer.
As usual, Western embassies are involved in the plot to cause anarchy the same way it has been unleashed by sponsored goons in Eswatini in recent times.
Illegal regime change is not going to happen in this country.
But while the MDC activists are planning anarchy, the country’s economy has been steadily growing with projections showing that Zimbabwe’s economy is in a positive direction.
Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, told a webinar meeting with the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) recently that he expects the economy to grow by seven percent this year.
The IMF and the World Bank, said in their recent updates that the country’s economy will expand by at least six percent this year.
Those projections were of course accompanied by the usual and now nauseating mantra that ‘if the right policies are implemented’.
The country’s annual inflation rate fell to 106,6 percent in June 2021, from 161,9 percent in May according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which has projected the rate to fall below 55 percent this month and 25 percent by December 2021.
“As Government we are quite pleased in terms of the economic trajectory, we are in recovery, we should expect growth of just over seven percent. Inflation is falling year-on-year, month-on-month bumps along, but the trend is downward,” he said.
“Mining as well, which is quite stable, in fact, we are probably on the verge of a commodity super-cycle. The manufacturing sector as well; look at (industrial) capacity utilisation numbers, those are rising.
“Exchange rate stability is the most important thing because that engenders predictability in the economy, then it also ensures value preservation in domestic currency.”
While the country continues to celebrate and honour Father Zimbabwe, it should never lose sight of the fact that the enemy continues to strike hoping to deliver a fatal blow.