COMMENT: Here’s to you, Cde President

The Sunday Mail

The out-going Chairman of the African Union, President Mugabe, is the epitome of principle, boldness, gallantry, endurance and most importantly, African pride.
In his every actions and every word, his love for this, our beautiful African motherland, is evident for all to see.
And now that a year has passed by with him at the helm of the continent’s biggest bloc, his contagious enthusiasm for an Africa that is on a steady growth path has rubbed on to all people who genuinely want to see us go forward.
His dream for an Africa that is self-reliant and dignified has been at the centre of all he has done during his time as the Chairman of the AU.
This is a dream that we in Zimbabwe have had the privilege to see being implemented since Independence in 1980, which dream has now become the dream of all Africans.
In any mission that brings about real and sustainable transformation, teamwork is of the essence.
There has been a lot of sweat, a lot of tears, and a lot of blood shed to get Africa where it is today.
In this inexorable quest to achieve a peaceful, stable and developed Africa, some AU leaders have pushed the envelope further than others, some have set the bar higher.
President Mugabe is one of those who have sought to blaze a new path to a bold, bright African future.
During his tenure as AU Chair, it became clear that the missing link had been the lack of resolute leadership to provide direction to visionary propositions like Agenda 2063.
His elevation to the top post, which came at a time when he was Chairing the Sadc bloc, was in recognition of his tremendous contribution as a tested leader, not only in Zimbabwe or Southern Africa – but throughout the entire continent.
Mr President, as you go through the last motions of your tenure which ends this week, know that you have run a good race.
Never mind the ranting that came from the West and their pliant media poodles here and there; within Africa and to the majority of Africans, President Mugabe is a hero who has showed once again why he is so revered by walking the talk that led to the formation of the continental body back in 1963.
During his time as AU Chair, Africa’s development trajectory for the next 50 years was charted through Agenda 2063.
The agenda emphasises the importance of rekindling the passion for Pan-Africanism, a sense of unity, integration, self-reliance and solidarity as the key pillars for the socio-economic transformation that will change people’s lives for the better.
Those values are what makes us African. Those values are what President Mugabe has lived and breathed throughout his illustrious career as a statesman par excellence.
We need not repeat here the many changes he brought to the manner in which the African Union does its business as detailed in several articles in this issue of The Sunday Mail.
We need not speak again here of his efforts to bring peace and stability to various hotspots across the continent.
Indeed, we need not tell you once again how this honourable son of Africa has steered the ship towards industrialisation.
What we need to do is remind each other of the words he spoke back in Addis Ababa in January 2015 as he assumed his distinguished Chairmanship.
At that time he pledged that during his tenure he would “deliberately provoke your thoughts to pay attention to issues of infrastructure, value addition and beneficiation, agriculture and climate change in the context of African development”.
He did exactly that and Africa listened.
As a result, the continent is now singing from one hymn book — Africa is singing the chorus of sustainably taking advantage of its natural resources and adding value to them so as to unlock greater value for its people. That is a message that we will carry in our hearts as we move forward with Chad’s President Idriss Déby Itno as the next AU Chairman.
President Mugabe set a solid foundation for the continent.
The wheels are already in motion.
So here’s to you, Cde President. Thank you for making Zimbabwe and Africa proud.

CARTOON