By Tawanda Chenana
THANK you Mr President, is all I want to say this week.
This village boy from Murehwa is brimming with pride and gratitude.
It could have been any rural area but ours was the chosen one, to be the pioneer, to be the first rural setting offering e-passports.
We are quick to complain, grumble and rarely make time to say thank you.
On behalf of my fellow villagers, from all the villages in Murehwa, l want to take this opportunity to express appreciation and gratitude for the work done and being carried out by the Central Government.
Indeed, true to the word of our leadership, no individual and place is being left behind.
The newly opened Registry Office present us with a lot of opportunities.
First and foremost, these offices inform us that we are part of the grander development agenda. Seeing the President in person, with us the villagers, was a clear message that we matter.
It was a message that we are needed.
It was a message that we too should play our part in the development agenda.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited our beautiful land to officially open the Registry Office and, thereafter, had other equally important engagements he had to attend to in the capital.
But he took time from his busy schedule to interact with us.
It is not everyday that the Head of State visits, thus we truly appreciate your taking time to address us, reassure us, encourage us and inspire us to continue working for the motherland.
That you are a listening President we could not agree more. Your respect and consideration humbles us.
You could easily have sent any one of your lieutenants to speak on your behalf but you did not, you came in person.
We, the villagers, had you to ourselves while some important people in Harare waited for you.
You made us feel special. It is difficult to think of any other President on the continent who has operated under difficult conditions and still delivered.
The President has managed to combine economic competence and political flair into one decisive package that has seen projects implemented and completed despite the crippling illegal economic sanctions that the West continues to maintain.
Our leadership is sending a powerful message when it makes a commitment to delivering — that goes beyond rhetoric.
The President has embraced people of all backgrounds, skills and competences and promoting them to help the country has become his personal mission.
And that has set the tone for everyone and is helping the country to find solutions to the challenges we are facing.
Students in our tertiary institutions, with brilliant ideas, are being funded to deliver solutions to our problems.
Medical gas and syringes are now being manufactured by our students supported by the leadership of the country.
Clearly the President is cognisant of the bigger picture; success for all, for every citizen.
Leaving no-one and no place behind is the President exhibiting clarity of mind and affirming boldly that the success of Zimbabwe will be meaningless unless it is linked to every citizen, in every part of the country.
By bringing us facilities and institutions necessary for sustainable development the President is showing his belief and confidence in the ability of the indigene to manage his/her own affairs.
And since the ushering in of the Second Republic, the President has delivered on his promises — to the horror of the West.
President Mnangagwa is proving Zimbabwe’s merits to the world, under our own terms and for the benefit of all Zimbabweans.
Kwameh Nkrumah’s 1957 speech which stated that: “There is a new African in the world, that new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the blackman is fully capable of managing his own affairs…,” gives us a clear image of ED leading his people towards Vision 2030.
New and authentic ideas are being promoted with the clear message that Africans must start looking within and not beyond. Indeed, we must think of unique ideas to solve our problems and take authority for our progress. The advantage and strength of President Mnangagwa is that he has shown consistency in serving the country since the liberation struggle.
Thank you Mr President!
Tawanda Chenana is a businessman and social entrepreneur. He writes in his own capacity