The Sunday Mail
As a governing party, Zanu PF’s annual indaba will always be as insightful as it is important and relevant.
It always provides that rare and welcome opportunity to get into the mind of the ruling party and look at the world through their eyes.
The decisions that they make, especially on policy, likely affect everyone, as the party is supreme to the Government.
In 2018, its First Secretary, Cde Mnangagwa, was elected as the second executive President of the Republic, riding on bold promises outlined in the 2018 manifesto.
Among the many promises that it made included; modernising the country’s decaying infrastructure, promoting economic growth through industrialisation, working towards food security, creating jobs and improving the living standards of all Zimbabweans.
To understand how such promises were perceivably ambitious, we need to appreciate the background against which they were made.
Over the past two decades — a period that coincides with the imposition of sanctions by the United States of America, the UK and the European Union bloc — the economy has been unremittingly declining, and with it the infrastructure and general living standards.
A country report produced by the World Bank in March 2011, indicated that Zimbabwe probably needed to invest an incredible fortune every year to clear its infrastructure backlog.
“Addressing Zimbabwe’s infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of almost US$2 billion per year over the next decade, with heavy emphasis on rehabilitation; more than half is needed for the power sector. This overall level of spending would represent 46 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), one of the largest infrastructure burdens for any African country,” read the report in part.
So the odds staked against the election promises made in 2018 were immense, which ordinarily could have made them fanciful, considering sanctions have been making it exceedingly difficult for the Government and the private sector to access cheap lines of credit to sponsor the development agenda.
This makes what we have witnessed, especially over the past four years, impressive, if not miraculous.
Zimbabwe has virtually been turned into a construction site.
Work on modernising Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport is advanced, and so, too, is rehabilitation of Beitbridge Border Post.
The expansion of Hwange Power Station to make the country energy secure by adding two new power generating units — Unit 7 and 8 — is progressing well despite disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rehabilitation of the Harare-Beitbridge road to world-class standards, which would make it a key trafficable thoroughfare in the North-South corridor, is also picking up pace.
Dam construction is underway in various parts of the country, with Gwayi-Shangani Dam — expected to be the third-largest man-made inland water body after Tugwi-Mukosi and Lake Mutirikwi upon scheduled completion by year-end — being the crown jewel.
All told, there are many other projects as well, most of which were outlined in the 2018 manifesto, at different stages of implementation.
But what is probably lost to many, is the fact that Zimbabwe has had to do all these projects, and more, at a time when it cannot access international lines of credit and has had to jump through countless hoops such as two successive drought seasons and the fallout from both Cyclone Idai and now the coronavirus.
Treasury has had to fork out $138 billion, which is about 33 percent of the 2021 Budget, to finance infrastructure projects.
Doing so and still maintaining healthy finances is quite astounding.
Perhaps the biggest promise that has materialised is making the country food secure by growing enough maize and wheat to meet local demand.
It must not be forgotten that agriculture is a key economic enabler as a supplier of raw materials to industry and employer to many people, especially in rural areas.
Against the background of such roaring success, it is, therefore, not surprising why President Mnangagwa told the 19th ZANU PF National People’s Conference in Bindura last week that the ruling party should be proud of some of the key milestones it has achieved thus far.
“The party should stand tall and proud that we are well on course to realising the promises we made,” he said, “President and First Secretary, it is my expectation that the conference will further give impetus to the party to emerge stronger, united and result-oriented.”
While a great deal has been achieved, a lot more still needs to be done to extricate the country from more than 20 years of “arrested development”.
Clearly, Zanu PF has to stay the course and double down to ensure the current economic growth trajectory is sustained as a vehicle to establish the prosperous society envisaged by Vision 2030.
