AS President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa wound his inauguration speech on November 24 2017 at the giant National Sports Stadium, there was little doubt that the moment to reunite Zimbabwe and revive the economy had come.
It had been a long, sometimes painful wait for the hard-pressed people of this country to finally emerge out of the abyss.
But there were some, on the sidelines, watching closely and sharpening their tools, ready to pounce and denounce anything that the country’s new leader would say or embark on.
Not that President Mnangagwa is immune to criticism; he is not, just like any other person under the sun.
It is the kind of criticism that lays bare a long held plan that we have been witnessing in the recent past that smacks of a nefarious agenda to make the country remain cocooned in the past.
It has been an almost one-way traffic for President Mnangagwa’s new administration thus far as he forges ahead with his vision of reviving Zimbabwe’s comatose economy but the usual anti-development suspects are back in full force, trying to derail the progress that has been made in the intervening period.
In just two months since assuming office, there has been, as widely expected, a visible mixture of renewed vigour and optimism in turning around the country’s economy, that has been embraced by the globe.
There has been a raft of changes, a plethora of interventions that have stabilised the ship.
There have been policy pronouncements that have changed the thinking among the international community which had developed a negative perception of the country after almost two decades of isolation from the global community.
We have heard from the opposition that there should be what they call electoral reforms and these include inviting international observers to monitor elections which President Mnangagwa has said will be held in the next four to five months.
In an interview with the Financial Times last week, the Zimbabwean leader revealed that the door is open for observers from the UN and EU to monitor the polls.
Still that has done little to quell the opposition’s unfounded fears of ‘rigging’.
They are now trying to steal the thunder from the globally accepted country’s leader through outright lies that the army has been deployed across the country to intimidate people.
Where ZANU PF is busy mobilising people, especially youths to register, they are busy trying to mask the cracks that are emerging in their opposition parties and fear of an impending electoral defeat through lies that the electoral field is not level.
This election is coming and it is forgone conclusion that ZANU PF is set to win.
Forget about ‘renowned’ expert Brian Kagoro’s lies in Harare last week that President Mnangagwa can only win the forthcoming polls if he has the backing of the military.
Here is a ‘supposed expert’ who has been used in the past by the now friendly West to proffer advice on how to assist them in removing ZANU PF from power and he is still living in the past.
Facts are that his expertise failed dismally to instigate any change and he naively believes that he is still a factor in the new dispensation.
We also have the issue of the economy which has been flooded by serious investors and the revival of mothballed entities.
The news in town is that ZISCO Steel, Shabanie/Mashava mines, and the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway dualisation are part of Government’s 100-Day Plan.
Already there is visible activity at ZISCO and Shabanie.
Several other investors are lining up to claim a stake in the country’s economic revival drive.
Last week at Meikles Hotel, itself a rare occasion for the President to be in the city centre, President Mnangagwa was there, assuring the nation and the world of respect for rule of law and property rights.
Speaking at a preparatory meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Business Club, President Mnangagwa said there was need for patience as his Government works towards improving the economy.
“On public sector enterprises, there should be timelines, you need to realise that there is no need to rush in making decisions. There is debate and dialogue between the public and private sector on how best we can deal with parastatals.
“Some we have to abolish, (others) we have to capitalise and (the rest) to privatise. It’s a process that most of you think that in the last six weeks, I should have resolved all those issues which we didn’t for 37 years. This means you have so much faith in us,” he said.
“We are doing our best as a team to work towards the target. At the end of the cycle of 100 days, we are going to publish to the nation what we have achieved and what we have not achieved.”
As we move forward as a country there is need to unite and work towards economic revival.
Let those with ears listen.