COMMENT: So far so good, but . . .

17 Apr, 2016 - 00:04 0 Views
COMMENT: So far so good, but . . .

The Sunday Mail

When the clock strikes the midnight hour tonight, Zimbabwe will be turning 36-years-old.

Indeed, the nation is free from the clutches of colonialism and its accompanying injustices – forced labor, physical abuse, unfair application of the law, inequality of salaries and limitation of political rights, etcetera.

Since April 18, 1980, each year has come and gone with its own triumphs and disappointments.

The road has not been smooth, far from it. We have reached where we are by blood, sweat and tears.

Those are the pains we must endure as we dismantle the residues of economic and cultural colonialism bequeathed to Zimbabwe by around 100 years of minority settler oppression.

Sadly, while Zimbabwe’s heroes and heroines shed blood at the battle front to deliver a free Zimbabwe, there are some amidst us who still believe in white supremacy and act as the puppets of the West 36 years after Independence.

Future generations will remember such traitors with scorn.

Fortunately, not all hope is lost because as things unfold on the political and socio-economic arenas, the younger generations have since grasped a very vital lesson in national consciousness – that the despairs of yesterday should never have a negative bearing on tomorrow.

Instead, let yesterday – good or bad – be the foundation for a better tomorrow.

Using that principle, our beautiful motherland, small as it is, stands solid and strong like the Biblical David against the Goliaths of this world; talk about the Americas, Britain, their sanctions, hyperinflation, deflation, health disasters, you name it.

On this eve of the country’s Independence Day, the natural temptation is to remind the nation how many schools, universities, hospitals and dams have been built since 1980.

But enough pages of this publication have already been dedicated to that and therefore focus will now zoom in on the future.

Any wise person is aware that only a fool will spend much time blowing their own trumpet.

Michael Dell advises the world to “celebrate for a nano-second and then move on”.

True to his word, we cannot risk losing focus on the present and the morrow by getting too engrossed in yesterday.

Granted, our achievements are additional feathers to our national cap and no one can ever take that away from us and therefore we can wear that with pride.

However, we also need to look forward with clarity. We need to share a common vision for the future.

Our accomplishments to date should be able to tell us where the nation will mostly probably be in another 36 years.

We need clear answers on how we can efficiently turn our vast resources into revenue; how we can guard the nation against hunger, against diseases, against natural disasters and against economic terrorists, those who seek to hijack our wealth at the expense of the indigenous people of Zimbabwe.

In 2002, President Mugabe addressed the UN Summit on Sustainable Development and pledged that, “…We are committed to that not just now, but in the future because we want a heritage as a legacy. We want that to pass on to future generations.”

That vision should reverberate in the heart and mind of every citizen of Zimbabwe. Unity should be the glue that binds us.

The President cannot build that legacy on his own.

When he is talking about future generations, he is not only talking about his own lineage, he is also talking about our children and their children and those to follow.

We cannot let those generations down and a lot needs to be done as soon as yesterday.

We need to deal with the corruption cancer decisively. The nation needs to maintain a stable political and economic environment so as to attract investors. Those who benefitted from the Land Reform Programme need to up their game and ensure food security. We need to play our part in liberating this country economically.

There is no room for intellectual laziness and economic cowardice at this decisive moment of the struggle.

Happy birthday Zimbabwe. Tomorrow is ours.

CARTOON:

18APR

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