The Sunday Mail
THE year 2017 — which was defined by Operation Restore Legacy in an eight-day period in November — will be indelibly etched in the annals of Zimbabwe’s history as a momentous period that birthed a new epoch in both our politics and economics.
In the four years leading up to the watershed year, the revolution, which had delivered the country’s independence in 1980, was clearly floundering, as it was riven by bitter recriminations and increasingly attritious relations between cadres.
For the first time in living memory, the rare spectacle of the internecine strife in the revolutionary movement was playing out in the open, as fellow comrades were pilloried and purged.
And, for people such as Bishop Lazi, seeing the revolution devolving — rather than evolving — in a manner reminiscent of the internal struggles that weakened the Mutapa State, opened it to outside interference from the Portuguese and eventually led to its collapse, was both worrying and ominous.
More land is being opened for irrigation, while old schemes, especially in communal areas, are brought back to life
It resulted in an economic stasis that arrested development and had become a threat to the security of the State, including the political, social and economic wellbeing of Zimbabweans. The resultant political and economic morass naturally bred disillusionment, angst, anxiety and hopelessness.
The country stood at the crossroads.
However, the speech by the then-General of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), Cde Constantino Chiwenga, on November 13, 2017 essentially located Zimbabwe’s challenges and consequently set off a chain of events that reconfigured the revolution and brought it back on the rails.
“It is with humility and a heavy heart that we come before you to pronounce the indisputable reality that there is instability in ZANU PF today, and, as a result, anxiety in the country at large,” he said.
“Zimbabwe’s history is hinged on the ideals of the revolution dating back to the First Chimurenga, where thousands of people perished. ZANU PF is the political party that waged the Second Chimurenga for our independence; the struggle that caused the loss of over 50 000 lives of our people; the struggle in which many Zimbabweans, in one way or the other, sacrificed and contributed immensely for our liberation.
“Many of these gallant fighters still live on with the spirited hope of seeing a prosperous Zimbabwe, but also the hope of leaving behind inheritance and legacy for posterity.”
Inheritance and legacy for posterity
Spirited hope of seeing a prosperous Zimbabwe and leaving behind inheritance and a legacy for posterity are all cross-cutting intergenerational aspirations shared by every Zimbabwean, regardless of political tribe.
They are at the core of the values that define and drive our nation-state.
Proverbs 13 verse 22 says: “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children . . .”
Those who paid the ultimate price by shedding their blood for our freedom and independence, whom we celebrate tomorrow, expect us to pick up the baton and complete our generational mission to build a prosperous country that Zimbabweans would be proud of.
Now, more than at any time in our post-independence history, we are well on our way to attain these lofty hitherto elusive goals.
With the same focus, acumen, dexterity and determination of the biblical Nehemiah when he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, or, more relevantly, our forebears when they built the Great Zimbabwe, we have since put up imposing pillars of a new majestic Zimbabwe in the past five years, which are there for all to see.
Our reclaimed land, watered by the blood of martyrs and defended by our patriotic resolve, is now producing enough food to meet demand.
The new army of black farmers has eclipsed the production records of white former commercial farmers in both wheat and tobacco, pushing us closer to reclaiming our breadbasket status in the region.
The maize donations that we made to Malawi after the fallout from Cyclone Freddy and exports to Rwanda, including mulled shipments to the Democratic Republic of Congo, symbolically highlight the country’s bold ambitions.
Encouragingly, our harvests will only grow bigger, as more land is being opened for irrigation, while old schemes, especially in communal areas, are brought back to life.
For instance, fairly recently — in fact, on July 29 — the Biri Irrigation Scheme in Mberengwa, Midlands province, which covers 117 hectares, was commissioned.
There are similar heart-warming success stories across the length and breadth of this teapot-shaped Republic.
In Matabeleland South, the land under irrigation has remarkably doubled from 600ha in 2020 to the current 1 200ha.
All this shows how President ED is laser-focused on ensuring that more than 350 000ha are irrigable within the next two years.
We are also casting our eyes further into the horizon by partnering with Belarus to expand our silos to accommodate the envisaged bountiful harvests. In Mount Hampden, a new majestic seat of people’s power — the new Parliament building — dominates the skyline.
Every day, we continue to add kilometres of new road on our highways across the country.
And two new dams — Kunzvi, whose progress stands at 36 percent, and Lake Gwayi-Shangani, which is nearing completion — to feed Harare and Bulawayo, respectively, will help boost business and the quality of life compatible with modern metropolises.
We have also fulfilled the age-old rumoured ambition of our forefathers, who wanted to build a tower to the moon, by sending our own satellite into orbit.
If ever there was need for a clearer and bolder statement of intent by our revolution, then this is it. Just last week, we learnt that our economy is forecast to grow by 5,3 percent this year, spurred by phenomenal growth in agriculture and mining, making it one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.
For context, the Sub-Saharan region is projected to grow by 3,6 percent in the same period. Behind these impressive numbers are new schools and clinics being built for our rural folk and life-changing empowerment projects.
These are all signs of a revolution that is back on the rails and steamrolling its way into the future.
Counter-revolutionaries
But every revolution has its fair share of counter-revolutionaries.
As we put our back into rebuilding our great nation, puny cynics will always ridicule our efforts, while counter-revolutionaries will plot and try everything possible to derail progress.
Nehemiah 4: 1-9 says: “When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, ‘What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble — burned as they are?’
“Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, ‘What they are building — even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!’
“Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.”
It further adds: “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.”
None but ourselves
A major lesson that we learnt over the past 127 years fighting colonialism and its successor “isms” is that none but ourselves can shape the future we want.
A revolution cannot be outsourced.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the phenomenal progress that we are now making, despite having our hands tied behind our back and our feet manacled by sanctions, is precisely because we are leveraging on both our natural and human resources.
While reading the opposition CCC’s manifesto, which was hurriedly put together and released last week, Bishop Lazi cringed on learning that the party’s plans to develop Zimbabwe are premised on “aid” from “its international partners, including international financial institutions and international development agencies”.
Do they mean support from the same International Monetary Fund that was recently accused by Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of asphyxiating Argentina’s economy?
Do they mean the same World Bank that is currently at loggerheads with Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni over signing the Anti-Homosexuality Act?
Such thinking can only be a product of a comprador-bourgeoisie class, whose ethos and values are incongruent with the aspirations of the revolution.
Show the Bishop any African country that has succeeded owing to support from these American-controlled institutions — which are merely instruments to anchor the hegemony of the West — and he will show you hen’s teeth.
The annual sacred ritual that we observe this week, through commemorating both our comrades who perished to advance the revolution and those who defend it, is an eternal source of inspiration that we shall overcome against all the odds.
Make no mistake, the objectives of the revolution will be achieved through building a prosperous Zimbabwe and leaving an inheritance and legacy for posterity.
Bishop out!
