The Sunday Mail
Zimbabwe’s elections mean different things to different people.
For Zimbabweans, it is an opportunity to crystallise and deepen their democracy, which did not come cheap.
The country’s sons and daughters selflessly shed their blood to usher in freedom and independence for the majority.
However, for some outsiders, our elections provide a window of opportunity to try and change the governing party and instal a pliant administration that can do their bidding.
This has been a consistent trend since the turn of the millennium, when Zimbabwe decided to reclaim its land from the white minority commercial farmers.
So, it means Zimbabwe’s success will be a bad example for the continent and beyond, more so, when local farmers continue to outperform the former white farmers by breaking production records for crops such as tobacco and wheat, among others.
From the outset, the authors of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Democracy Act (ZDERA) were very clear: The surest way of degrading and destroying the regime in Harare was through attacking its economy, particularly its currency, in order to make life difficult for the generality of Zimbabweans.
They reckoned that making the ordinary people suffer would rile them up to such an extent that they could be forced to either rise up in a “popular revolution” — similar to the colour revolutions we have seen particularly in Eastern Europe — or vote out the ruling party.
Curiously, we have seen the Zimbabwe dollar precipitously losing its value after the proclamation of the election date.
While retail outlets continue to be brimful with products, most of them locally manufactured, ordinary consumers seem not to have the buying power, suggesting that the market is not awash with the local currency, as some are suggesting.
And how the local unit can depreciate to such an extent when all indicators show that the economy is growing boggles the mind.
It stinks to high heaven.
But this calls for Zimbabweans to be steadfast in the wake of the current onslaught.
This is the message that President Mnangagwa delivered yesterday while addressing Anglican Church members at the commemoration of the church’s legendary missionary, Bernard Mizeki.
“Let us also remain steadfast against the onslaught by our detractors who seek to hurt our economy and inflict suffering on all of us. Such greedy, divisive and harmful tendencies are ungodly. Our collective energies, skills, ideas and competencies must be directed towards building a prosperous, modern and industrialised Zimbabwe,” he said.
The progress that has been made thus far indicates that the country will soon overcome these transitory challenges, as the economy continues to be in good shape.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe revealed recently that the country’s foreign currency receipts reached US$11,6 billion at the end of 2022, which is the highest-ever forex inflows received in the country.
Elsewhere in this publication, we report how the Second Republic has shattered most records in agriculture in the past five years.
Last year, it achieved its highest-ever wheat output, producing over 380 000 tonnes of the cereal, which is more than the national demand of 360 000 tonnes.
The trend is set to continue this year, what with the new target to put 90 000ha under the cash crop.
Encouragingly, local farmers last week achieved another record by delivering more than 260 million kilogrammes of tobacco as of Monday, which is the highest since commercial production of the cash crop began in Zimbabwe.
In addition, the ongoing development of dams, among other key infrastructure projects, show that the economy is indeed on the move.
And, over the past couple of weeks, the country has begun reaping dividends of Hwange Power Station’s expansion project through consistent electricity supplies.
It means more power for both formal and informal industries, including domestic consumers.
All this shows that the country is on the right path and there is every reason to be hopeful.
As President Mnangagwa always tells Zimbabweans, the best way to defend our heritage and sovereignty, as well as ensure a self-determined prosperous future, is through the relatively painless process of voting.
Indeed, we should not tire in defending our sovereignty and heritage, as we continue marching towards a better future.
We shouldn’t tire to defend our heritage
The Sunday Mail
Zimbabwe’s elections mean different things to different people.
For Zimbabweans, it is an opportunity to crystallise and deepen their democracy, which did not come cheap.
The country’s sons and daughters selflessly shed their blood to usher in freedom and independence for the majority.
However, for some outsiders, our elections provide a window of opportunity to try and change the governing party and instal a pliant administration that can do their bidding.
This has been a consistent trend since the turn of the millennium, when Zimbabwe decided to reclaim its land from the white minority commercial farmers.
So, it means Zimbabwe’s success will be a bad example for the continent and beyond, more so, when local farmers continue to outperform the former white farmers by breaking production records for crops such as tobacco and wheat, among others.
From the outset, the authors of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Democracy Act (ZDERA) were very clear: The surest way of degrading and destroying the regime in Harare was through attacking its economy, particularly its currency, in order to make life difficult for the generality of Zimbabweans.
They reckoned that making the ordinary people suffer would rile them up to such an extent that they could be forced to either rise up in a “popular revolution” — similar to the colour revolutions we have seen particularly in Eastern Europe — or vote out the ruling party.
Curiously, we have seen the Zimbabwe dollar precipitously losing its value after the proclamation of the election date.
While retail outlets continue to be brimful with products, most of them locally manufactured, ordinary consumers seem not to have the buying power, suggesting that the market is not awash with the local currency, as some are suggesting.
And how the local unit can depreciate to such an extent when all indicators show that the economy is growing boggles the mind.
It stinks to high heaven.
But this calls for Zimbabweans to be steadfast in the wake of the current onslaught.
This is the message that President Mnangagwa delivered yesterday while addressing Anglican Church members at the commemoration of the church’s legendary missionary, Bernard Mizeki.
“Let us also remain steadfast against the onslaught by our detractors who seek to hurt our economy and inflict suffering on all of us. Such greedy, divisive and harmful tendencies are ungodly. Our collective energies, skills, ideas and competencies must be directed towards building a prosperous, modern and industrialised Zimbabwe,” he said.
The progress that has been made thus far indicates that the country will soon overcome these transitory challenges, as the economy continues to be in good shape.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe revealed recently that the country’s foreign currency receipts reached US$11,6 billion at the end of 2022, which is the highest-ever forex inflows received in the country.
Elsewhere in this publication, we report how the Second Republic has shattered most records in agriculture in the past five years.
Last year, it achieved its highest-ever wheat output, producing over 380 000 tonnes of the cereal, which is more than the national demand of 360 000 tonnes.
The trend is set to continue this year, what with the new target to put 90 000ha under the cash crop.
Encouragingly, local farmers last week achieved another record by delivering more than 260 million kilogrammes of tobacco as of Monday, which is the highest since commercial production of the cash crop began in Zimbabwe.
In addition, the ongoing development of dams, among other key infrastructure projects, show that the economy is indeed on the move.
And, over the past couple of weeks, the country has begun reaping dividends of Hwange Power Station’s expansion project through consistent electricity supplies.
It means more power for both formal and informal industries, including domestic consumers.
All this shows that the country is on the right path and there is every reason to be hopeful.
As President Mnangagwa always tells Zimbabweans, the best way to defend our heritage and sovereignty, as well as ensure a self-determined prosperous future, is through the relatively painless process of voting.
Indeed, we should not tire in defending our sovereignty and heritage, as we continue marching towards a better future.
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