AS Zimbabwe returns to the summit of world economic development and political stability, it was no surprise that this spectacular comeback show would be received with endorsements outside the country and condemnation locally, through The New York Times and Econometer reports respectively.
In the foregoing, there was a temptation by this writer to take Morgan Tsvangirai head on after his meaningless press conference last week, but then the reality is that the opposition leader is now firmly residing in the stratums of political history.
The compelling issue here is Zimbabwe’s trailblazing story in particular, its continued survival in the face of seemingly never ending adversity.
Inside Zimbabwe, there is always this fascination, fed from outside the country to create a crisis there is not, a crisis there never will be in order to dampen any prospects of prosperity.
This is what the Econometer report sought to achieve through its so-called ‘gauging the public mood’ publication.
There is an attempt in the report to ‘convict’ Zimbabwe and the ruling ZANU PF party of economic crimes that have led to the decline of standards of living in the country.
Hardly any mention of the widely discredited illegal economic sanctions against the country in the ‘public mood’ report!
The report bluntly chooses to ignore efforts being made by the Government to improve the livelihoods of the majority through such measures as the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-ASSET).
Equally disturbing is the failure by Econometer to acknowledge the anticipated impact of the Chinese and Russian mega deals.
We are confronted here with a package of mischief where experts who claim to tell the true Zimbabwe story do so not on behalf of and or for Zimbabweans, but for their handlers, all feeding into a solitary agenda of discrediting the country as a failed state.
But the real Zimbabwe story is yet to be told.
Someone said that you don’t want to be the man fighting Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe; you want to be the man in the scheme of things or far away from the happenings in the tiny Southern African nation.
Ask Tony Blair; ask George Bush and even Morgan Tsvangirai.
As the many countries and individuals who have tried this before desperately hoofed the regime change ball up to rebels in ZANU PF last year in the moments heading towards the ruling party’s 6th National People’s Congress, the reality check must have hit home.
Zimbabwe is not about to be destroyed yet.
ZANU PF too is not about to collapse yet.
In August last year, President Mugabe looked dead and buried, politically.
So too Zimbabwe.
The rebels had completely dominated the ruling the party.
Just as they failed, the Econometer report takes a stake in the claim to be the new voice of reason in the country.
We have seen this before.
Zimbabweans are roundly condemned of having ‘an oldest president’ in President Robert Mugabe yet this is a man they overwhelmingly endorsed with their votes in the historic July 31 2013 harmonised elections.
“Indeed 2014 define a compelling story about Zimbabwe’s case as a lot happened since the beginning of the year,” reads the Econometer report in part.
“For the only African nation with a dollarised economy and an oldest president, the fortunes remain hanging.”
The report claims that ‘views’ of the people were solicited and all “is inspired by the need for evidence based policy approach in contrast to overreliance on secondary data compiled for convenience”.
Below are some of the ‘findings’ in the report:
l Is the nation of Zimbabwe heading in the right direction?
Sixty-eight (68) percent of Zimbabweans believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction.
Of the remaining 32 percent, it was strange that five percent are not even sure of whether it is a wrong or right direction with the remaining 27 percent convinced the nation is heading in the right direction.
l How many believe the newly reconstituted Government after ZANU PF Congress will tackle corruption head-on?
Twenty-two (22) percent believe the new administration has capacity to tackle corruption
Just as Econometer was raving about with their public mood presentation, The New York Times, America’s flagship publication was lavishing Zimbabwe with an unprecedented gift of surprising praises.
Surprising in the sense that here are people who painted Zimbabwe with a black brush over the past decade.
Their answer to Zimbabwe’s emergence from their motherland’s sponsored annihilation of Harare’s economy, more than anything, pointed to insecurity in their admission that this country is the place to be.
They subtly admit that their anti-Harare policy has failed to produce the desired results of pushing for President Mugabe’s ouster. Of course there is no need for celebrating this endorsement which should have been accompanied with an apology for the damage they caused to the country.
They owe us an apology, the same way Econometer should apologise for attempting to demonise a Zimbabwe that is on the ascendancy.
Zimbabwe is among the finest tourism destinations for 2015 due to prevailing economic and political stability, The New York Times of January 9 2015 reported.
The New York Times’ annual ‘52 Places to Go in 2015’ survey placed Zimbabwe as the 14th most attractive tourist destination in the world.
Zimbabwe, which is ranked in the survey higher than prestigious destinations like Rome, New York and Shanghai is one of the three African countries in the list.
“This country’s beauty and bounty have been overshadowed by political unrest and economic collapse over the last few decades, but today, the Government is finally stable, the overinflated Zimbabwean dollar is gone and the prices are low,” reads part of The New York Times report.
The above presents the tragedy that has confronted Zimbabwe since the inception of the Land Reform Programme where some institutions want to take glory in the destruction of this country.
But as with other anti-Zimbabwe initiatives, Econometer’s predictions will fail while The New York Times will be credited for telling the true Zimbabwean story, a story stolen from its owners, a story authored by those who created chaos.
Let those with ears listen.