IN what was one of the best performances at an international event by a Zimbabwean in recent memory, President Emmerson Mnangagwa ended his country’s almost two decades of isolation, seamlessly marking its return to the global community.
In Switzerland last week, President Mnangagwa dazzled the world with not only words but actions that feed into current efforts to revive the country’s economy.
Of course the state that Zimbabwe’s economy is in needs more than talk.
Our talk must be anchored in action which we are already witnessing on the ground.
Experiences of the past should be sobering lessons, chief among them being that, it is everyone’s role and duty to revive and develop this economy.
This, though, is a lesson that is already eluding some in our midst as they seek to drag us back to the past.
ED, as the Zimbabwean leader is affectionately known by his legion of followers, is without doubt at the height of his powers and it is not surprising that investors are flocking into the country, a very rare sight for a country that has yet to witness any meaningful development in 25 years.
For a while it looked as if Zimbabwe would continue lagging behind other countries which have seen their fortunes soar in a world where capital is sensitive to rhetoric and inane political bickering.
But then there was Davos.
There too was the new dispensation.
There was also the unity and willpower of the country’s progressive minds in this quest to bring a new, fresh impetus to our ailing economy.
This is why it is important to look at Davos from the perspective of the usual noise from the opposition, the Gukurahundi issue and how each Zimbabwean fits into the grand plan that is being crafted by the new administration.
Noisy opposition in shambles
Since assuming office on November 24 2017, President Mnangagwa has been consistent in his message that elections will be held this year as scheduled.
He has emphasised that those elections will be free, fair and credible.
Nothing has changed in so far as the holding of those elections is concerned.
It is not surprising that those elections, which the MDC-T also sometimes called the MDC Alliance, have been claiming that they will win, are scaring them.
They have been singing from the hymn book of so-called electoral reforms which include among others, inviting international observers, a ‘clean’ voters’ roll and access to the media.
But on the eve of his trip to the World Economic Forum held in Davos last week, ED held an interview with The Financial Times where he revealed that monitors from the UN, EU and any country with an embassy in Harare are free to observe our elections.
That did not deter the noisy from claiming that the electoral playground is still not level.
This is despite the fact that the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) provides answers to the ‘questions’ they raise about the voters’ roll.
On access to the media, it is a well-known fact that the MDC-T is broke and that space in the media is paid for.
They simply do not have the money to pay for airspace.
Besides, the real reason the opposition do not want polls to be held this year are the mounting problems confronting them, not the issues raised above.
The embarrassing public fight over the Harare East constituency between Tendai Biti and Obert Gutu is a case in point.
We will give this issue due attention in the near future.
For now, we have heard the behind the scenes whispers that have been coming from top MDC-T and MDC Alliance that ZANU PF will steamroll past them.
They will try to hide behind reforms but that will certainly not stop the elections from being held this year.
Yet the reality is that the opposition is in shambles and another split is looming, given serious disagreements over their coalition, lack of a clear message to the electorate and the infighting over the succession issue.
Gukurahundi as political capital
Emotions, some raw, some genuine and the rest fake, are invoked each time this issue is raised.
Money, lots of it, is made by those who have assumed the role of curators of this issue.
They have waved it each time there is an election on the horizon.
Now with the new dispensation, all that is set to end as the Government has indicated that it is in the process of bringing closure to this issue.
The Sunday Mail had the following report earlier this week:
“Chiefs will work with President Emmerson Mnangagwa to bring closure to the matter of civil disturbances that rocked Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s, a respected traditional leader has said.
Chiefs Council of Zimbabwe deputy president Chief Mtshane Khumalo told The Sunday Mail that the President had invited them to participate in healing and reconciliation efforts.
His remarks follow President Mnangagwa’s revelation in Davos, Switzerland, last week that he had signed the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill into law to, among other issues, tackle the emotive issue better known as Gukurahundi.
He was speaking to the BBC’s Mishal Husain on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
In the interview, the President said appointing Vice-President Kembo Mohadi to head the Organ on National Peace and Reconciliation showed Government’s high-level commitment to the matter.
A National Peace and Reconciliation Commission has been appointed.
President Mnangagwa said, ‘We are not saying the past must be thrown away from history. It has happened, it is there… The communities that are affected, if they ask me to come for any reason, I will. The most important thing is that what has happened has happened. What can we do about the past? We have put up a Commission to deal with that issue.
“That should not stop us to have a better future where all the communities should be united, should co-operate, should love each other, should work together; this is the message which we have’.”
Economic development for everyone
There are those who resent the vast changes that are taking place in the economy.
These are the people who have benefitted from the crisis that the country was in.
But now that the Government has introduced a raft of measures that will transform the economy, they have not hidden their disdain of the economic revolution taking place in the country.
There is nothing that can be done about those because this Government has a plan to incorporate everyone into the new economy.
I am talking about Biti’s video on YouTube in which he attacks President Mnangagwa’s Davos trip. The video presents a sorry sight of a man who cannot accept that Zimbabwe is now an unstoppable train which is moving towards the Promised Land while he froths at the mouth waiting at the station.
Those who believe in what is happening are already on board.
This is not about individuals and their inflated egos.
This is about every Zimbabwean.
Let those with ears listen.