The Sunday Mail
Richard Runyararo Mahomva
Contrary to the state of nascent advancement, the economy was disarticulated due to a parasitic bourgeoisie. The economy was largely defined by self-aggrandisement and extravagance effectually delimited to the minority.
The nationwide embrace of Zimbabwe’s new political dispensation demands commitment to economic recovery from both Government and the general citizenry.
Consequently, engaging global counterparts with fraternal aspirations to the Zimbabwean dream is also essential.
While engagements in this regard are commendable, it is apparent that the economy must equally augment developments defining the present political euphoria.
In the wake of the State of the Nation Address and exchanges with businesspeople in South Africa, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has exhibited astute principles of statecraft. He has clearly set out his terms for constructive nation-building in a manner that transcends binaries of race, ethnicity, class and creed.
And given the direction he has taken, he has left critics with no room for legitimacy, hence the futile attempts to bring in retarded sentiments to discredit how he has acquitted himself as a progressive leader.
Looking back, looking forward
As the nation celebrated Unity Day, others took the opportunity to throw sponsored tantrums to undermine the relevance of December 22 in mapping the unitary political culture desired for the future of our country.
The thousands who thronged President Mnangagwa’s outreach to the business community in South Africa last Thursday demonstrated that Zimbabwe is fast moving towards inclusive economic co-operation. On the same day, a clique of “protestors” chanted anti-Mnangagwa slogans in an attempt to refresh the Gukurahundi tale. I call it a tale because of its selective ignorance of Cold War dynamics that gave rise to insurgency at the time; and how the Unity Accord was birthed.
These “mourners” mourning more than the bereaved under the civil society banner ignore the role of the apartheid South Africa government in their unorthodox revisit of the past.
Their turning to the dark side lacks justification while their protest was oblivious of white massacres that Africans have long erased from their minds at the behest of pronouncements of tolerance from the “international community”.
On the other hand, the same global experts on forgetting the past are stuck on rewriting history selectively and curating paintings with crippled imaginations of national memory.
Is this the future we want?
Numbers speak
It’s clear, the “protestors” were outnumbered by those who hearkened to President Mnangagwa’s commitment to build Zimbabwe.
This substantiates the majority’s expectation of the new Government.
Our unity at home and commitment to international synergies is all that’s required to underscore the path towards unlocking the vistas of economic growth.
There is more to life than being engrossed in nation-dismembering scores. This narrow course has been undertaken before by regionalist civil society groups and political movements.
In a liberated sovereignty like ours, such nation-dividing antics will always be crushed by the majority’s yearning for economic development.
Moreover, the solution to Zimbabwe’s problems inherited from historical and structural deficiencies does not lie in essentialist devolution.
Zimbabwe’s path to progress resides in the hard work of progressive thinkers. After all, it’s only democratic that we have diverse views on the course of nation-building which Zimbabwe has taken.
President Mnangagwa must be applauded for taking the bold step to promise developmental deliverables and not to solely focus on political scores.
Politics alone is not enough. We must talk of a political-economy transition.
The pan-Africanist stride
President Mnangagwa’s assurance to serve as every Zimbabwean’s President – not of a particular ethnic group or race – denotes dedication to inclusive nation-building.
In the same context, this speaks of sustaining a tradition of pan-African framing of power and promoting social cohesion and integration.
Moreover, his business dialogue with the Diaspora symbolises his confidence in the African component of Zimbabwe’s economic development.
As such, he opened the first door of international economic co-operation by engaging a neighbour whose diplomatic leaning towards Zimbabwe is unquestionable and is framed within a cordial nationalist fraternal context.
It is, therefore, refreshing that the President appears poised to continue on the trajectory of pan-Africanist interventions in the quest for Zimbabwe’s growth.
SONA: Unpacking affluences of
economic growth
Resolving the national question continues to depend on addressing the economic question. Including the majority in promoting economic growth stands as a priority of legitimacy for the ruling.
As such, dwelling on economic recovery is crucial in infusing confidence.
President Mnangagwa’s position on economic recovery takes into account how national capital has largely been absorbed by international capital.
Coming to terms with such realities helps prioritise economic competences that define our mark in the global economy. In that way, Zimbabwe will be able to compete with structures of international capital, particularly in terms of challenging and determining dependence on international markets.
This is the obvious reality we must confront in addressing the international monetary system’s obligation to create stable exchange rates and rational trade regulation mechanisms with those of us in the so-called developing world.
This is crucial for Zimbabwe because the country has numerous raw materials which international capital needs.
Therefore, our openness to engagement must be situated in navigating national growth and asserting our contribution to the global economy.
In 1980, Zimbabwe was the second most industrialised country in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa.
Contrary to the state of nascent advancement, the economy was disarticulated due to a parasitic bourgeoisie. The economy was largely defined by self-aggrandisement and extravagance effectually delimited to the minority.
In the face of this systematic rundown of the country, agriculture remained the economy’s mainstay, generating 40 percent GDP income for the newly-independent State. This subtly staggering economy created 70 percent employment for the population (Stoneman and Cliffe, 1989).
As time went on, there was gradual economic collapse owing to public administration system failure under a draining colonial prototype of governance. Stringent Western prescriptions and ills like corruption also took their toll on the economy and sanctions compounded the situation.
As it stands, Zimbabwe must undo what has been for decades.
All eyes are on the new man at State House.
However, all of us must equally work to get Zimbabwe to her feet again. With total commitment to national unity and abhorring a culture of lethargy, Zimbabwe can rise again.
Iwe neni tine basa.
Richard Mahomva is an independent researcher and a literature aficionado interested in the architecture of governance in Africa and political theory. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.
