By Shephard Manjengeta

HE story of Peter, the disciple of Jesus, walking on water, is loaded with very important lessons, especially for us Zimbabweans as we work towards achieving Vision 2030 of an upper-middle income economy.

It is a story which applies to our own nation at this stage in history. 

And Peter answered him:“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 

He said:“Come.” 

So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out:“Lord, save me.” 

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him:“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying:“Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:28-33)

When Peter saw Jesus walking on water, he asked if it was truly him to command him to do the same, walk on water.

The Saviour ordered Peter to come to him and he jumped out of the boat and walked on water. 

And as he walked on the water, waves became violent and instead of keeping on course and focusing on Jesus, Peter doubted and began to sink.

And one would ask how this story relates to Zimbabwe’s situation and our achievement of Vision 2030.

The answer is very simple; it is easy to forget certain realities when in the midst of problems. 

When the waves rose, Peter instantly forgot the reality that he was already walking on water. 

And Zimbabwe is in the same scenario.

We are braving economic sanctions brought about by the Land Reform Programme which benefitted more than 400 000 households countrywide, but is this the time to start sinking now? 

My answer is no!

We must refuse to sink because, like Peter who had the saviour in front of him, watching him put his faith into action, we, likewise, must not forget the reality that, in the Second Republic, we have a stable foundation on which we can rebuild ourselves.

Why I say this, Zimbabwe has a literacy rate of 92 percent, making us one of the highest in the world.

Despite the hardships induced by the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe, our systems remain functional, defying the odds.

And Zimbabweans are an innovative lot who have not been put down by difficulties.

The world economy, in its entirety, is facing a critical shortage of specialised human capital. 

The advent of the information era has also resulted in high value being placed on intellectual property. 

We just have to observe the big American companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, X and even Facebook trying to outmanoeuvre one another in shaping innovations and patterns, indeed the era for human resources has arrived and Zimbabwe is well placed to take advantage of this on the global stage.

India has done it and now, not only is India respected in the international information technology community, but their success is also reflected in the huge improvement in their standard of living. 

We cannot afford to ignore this reality!

We must not forget that Zimbabwe is not the first nation to face what we have faced and what we are still facing. 

Acknowledging this fact allows us to see our position from the right perspective. 

The current reality is that we are already walking on water. 

We have come through an astronomical inflation rate.

We have come through empty supermarket shelves and we have come through negative economic growth. 

And now we are on a recovery path. 

The pace may not be as fast as we want, but when we compare economic indicators year-on-year since 2018, we have to admit that there is a miracle taking place in Zimbabwe.

Challenges and problems continue to exist and it is not the purpose of this column to encourage you to ignore them; rather it is intended that you receive a burst of new energy to tackle these issues by improving your perspective. 

Let us not forget that we are already on a recovery path. 

I am saying when you reach rock bottom, the only other direction left is upwards and we have already started the climb and that is reality!

We may not agree on the cause of Zimbabwe’s problems — indeed we may not even agree on the course of action towards a solution. 

Whatever viewpoints we may have need not be a hindrance. 

Let us instead be grounded on reality, on the developments happening on a daily basis. 

Let’s continue walking on water.

We will not sink!