By Dr Masimba Mavaza | This year on the 18th April Zimbabweans across this beloved nation of ours were celebrating the momentous occasion.
The President ED Mnangagwa acknowledged Zimbabweans living in other countries who are also celebrating our 42nd Independence Anniversary.
For the first time the caring President appealed to those listening and watching in from our hospitals including those who are incarcerated, Zimbabwe’s thoughts and prayers are with them.
As we celebrated our independence let us not forget those who have come before us. We are here today because of their vision, commitment, sacrifice and service to our country. As Zimbabweans we must pay our respect and homage to them. Their blood watered our freedom. They paid the ultimate price. They paid with their lives.
They left the race for us to finish. Their deaths resonates with our slogan. “The country is built by its owners’ some owners provided their blood so that we can stick each brick upon brick. Building the country brick by brick.
Despite those who would want Zimbabwe to fail we have managed to pull through.
All Zimbabweans together 42 years ago in this very month we gained our independence from Great Britain when we achieved nationhood and joined the global family of nations. It has been a short but challenging journey since then as a nation.
We have come through some challenging times and we need not be reminded us of our most terrible experience fourteen years ago when this nation was brought to its knees by the recession and the sanctions.
Our young generations must not forget this dark chapter of our history. Our elected leaders both national and provincial too must always be conscious of what caused this.
It was the need for regime change and our own blood our own citizens advocated for our own demise. We are beginning to see complacency, carelessness and taking advantage of our sad reality creeping in. We are seeing people sabotaging our nation and people vote them for that.
As Zimbabweans Let us use the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of our independence to reflect on how we relate to these events to determine whether our personal responses are advancing peace and unity or greed and selfishness. Zimbabwe came through sweat and blood. Those who mock our freedom fighters must be ashamed of themselves.
There is a reason why we study history, and that is so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. It pains so much to see that despite our efforts we have not moved ahead as much as we would want to.
As Zimbabweans we must not shy away from the truth, it will be irresponsible of us to do so.
Our growing population is putting a lot of pressure on this country’s service delivery.
If we do not decentralize development to our provinces, we will have a big problem. To that end the President put the devolution in progress. If we allow this country to slip back into the hands of our oppressors this time the scale will be much larger, and the magnitude of what might occur will make what occurred during colonisation appear insignificant.
We cannot afford to let that happen again. This Government and every Zimbabwean will do everything in their power to prevent that from ever happening again. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again.There is more that unites than divides us.
The security and stability of this nation is of great importance.
Never again will we allow the future of this country and our children to be held at ransom by few people.
The Zimbabwe Government is committed and determined to prevent that happening again by addressing fundamental priorities which have for too long been ignored. Zimbabwe will again develop and all of us will benefit again. Our resolve is stronger than ever in this regard. Come what may, this country will persevere and prosper. There is no other option. And Zimbabwe is the only country we can call ours.
As a matter of fact, the government is fully cognizant of the fact that, the long term unity and stability of our nation will continue to be on a shaky path unless we ground it on the appreciation of our people that they are integral part of the country’s effort to develop our nation, which must be seen as fair and equitable, and that our people are actively engaged in it.
In this connection, the country is grateful to our traditional development partners and our all weather friends for standing with us during some of the challenging moments of the paths we have travelled during our 42 years as a nation.
reproach to any people.”
It is very sad to see that we as a people and country have lost our moral compass. The moral decay of our norms, values, beliefs, convictions, ideals and culture is spiraling downward at an alarming rate. It is our duty to stand for what is Zimbabwean.
The attitude of our children is becoming one of indifference and it breeds disrespect and contempt for what we hold dear as a people and country. This is a national pandemic akin to the global pandemic we are now experiencing.
If we do not act now to stop this downward spiral we will reap the consequences.We must appreciate our cultural differences and live together in harmony. Sadly, it is now common for people to use abusive words towards each other. This must stop, this has never been a part of our tradition and culture, we are better than that. We have people who are abusing our nation by saying bad things just to please those who pay them.
This attitude has been quite disappointing. We must remind ourselves that we have a duty to ensure that our attitude is one that promotes respect, tolerance, humility and love. It is sad to see people disrespecting our country by asking for the suffering of their nation.
If we do not do the right thing we are breeding a nation of social deviants who have no moral compass, or values and this is dangerous.
Our young generation who constitute our future, needs God’s wisdom and our guidance. Our young generation must learn to be responsible citizens. Parents, helping to mould our children to be responsible citizens is our first and foremost responsibility. Zimbabwe humbly call on all who are responsible for providing guidance, mentoring and leadership to our young generation to do so with the greatest of urgency.
This includes the current government and its various institutions. We must leave behind a legacy we can all be proud of – a country with a strong economy, good infrastructure and a robust service delivery system that will infuse our young generation with national consciousness and good citizenship that will promote, uphold and respect others for the greater good of all.
While our children and youth are our future. We must never allow them to be confused by those who are boys in politics. Our youth are the building blocks of this country and we must invest in them in the way that they would wish us to nurture and guide our future generation, and that includes how we leaders mentor them by the way we conduct ourselves as leaders in the exercise of our official responsibilities.
Social Media and Freedom of Expression has taken a different direction. Whilst
we appreciate its value we must also wary of its negative impacts. Social media is an important medium of communication that we must use with civilized mind.
It is a technological tool that allows people to share and receive vital information to enhance appropriate changes in life. In view of that, social media must be used with great responsibility. Not as a mode of putting your country down.
The catch words ‘freedom of expression’ must not be casually used to over shadow the importance of co-existence and cultural values. As citizens of this nation our fundamental rights and freedoms of conscience and expression are well guarded in our National Constitution.
However, we must not be egocentric and inward looking if we want to claim and demand those rights, privileges and freedoms. The Constitution is very clear that the enjoyment of the said right and freedoms by any individual does not prejudice the rights and freedoms of others or the public interest.
Here we are reminded about the virtue of taking others into consideration and affording them all due respect at all times…Social media has been used to incite division, hatred and bitterness.
Freedom of expression has been used to slander, incriminate, swear, intimidate and break down cultural norms. There is a lot of interpersonal insensitivity to say the least.
A challenging year.
This year has been one of the most challenging since we gained independence 42 years ago. About 25 months ago a virus called COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, China. In March it was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Since then it has changed the social, economic and political landscape of our country and the world. The past two years have been unprecedented times in the history of our country.
We have declared a State of Public Emergency, we also had a curfew and a lock down. We closed our borders and we embarked on a mass repatriation of our citizens and residents from abroad. Needless to say, this has put our country under a lot of strain. The circumstance have emphasized the significance of national unity and working together for the good of our country and each other.
Our economy has been hit hard by this global pandemic and the long-term outlook remains bleak.
A slowing economy and ongoing sanctions and erratic rains hurts our business, negatively impacts our farmers, and ultimately impacts our people and our communities across the country.
As a country, we have moved fast to protect our people from the risks, and we have moved quickly to design the stimulus package which will be vital to support activity to cushion the negative impact and keep our economy afloat.
This Government will work constructively to pursue priority reforms opportunities and provide a basis for sustainable long-term growth on a broader economic base. We understand the issues at play. We are closely monitoring and managing the economic situation by planning ahead while being ready to act as and when required.
Agenda of this Government
the priority of this Government is to ensure that our country maintains economic stability, remains safe and continues to progress despite the current situation. These years have been especially trying times for our country. We entered uncharted waters where our resolve was questioned and our individual and collective character put to the test not only by the global pandemic but also by our business and as usual politics. But so far we have stood tall and firm.
Our people and this country is bigger than anyone of us. Politicians come and go but our beloved nation will live on and persevere.
This country cannot move forward without your hard work, sacrifice and passion. Our children and country deserves the best out of you and nothing less.
This is a magnanimous responsibility that must not be taken lightly. Please discharge your duties with integrity and humility. “To Lead is to Serve”.
To the private sector, I understand that this is a very trying time. That fact is not lost to this Government. Your role in propping up our economy is of paramount importance. You are the engine that drives our economy and this country is indebted to your contribution.
We are one people, We are one Nation, We are Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe is the only country we can call ours.