Four years of ED: A reflection on successes
Hosia Mviringi
“As I have repeatedly said in the past months, real change does not happen overnight. However, inspired by our national anthem, we must work together, nothing is beyond our reach. With love and unity, we will reach the Promised Land, we will build the Zimbabwe we all want, brick upon brick, stone upon stone.”
These were the words of President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, exactly four years ago, on August 26, 2018, in a speech at the giant National Sports Stadium in Harare to mark the beginning of his first five-year term as President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
On this day, the giant 75 000 seater stadium was overflowing, this time not for another grudge match between bitter rivals Dynamos and Highlanders.
It was a celebration of a new beginning for Zimbabwe, considering that the country had gone for almost a month in suspense following a court challenge by the MDC Alliance Party.
The Constitutional Court had just upheld the people’s will as expressed in the July 30, 2018, harmonised elections to declare President Mnangagwa duly elected leader of the Republic.
Today, looking back at his moving speech on that historic day, one can not help but conclude that the man has lived up to his word, and continues to see through an accomplishment and fulfilment of his promise to the people of Zimbabwe.
Perhaps that epic speech delivered to thunderous applause is what can safely ne referred to as his Presidential manifesto, whose contents and benchmarks he has religiously followed and implemented.
It forms the basis upon which his performance as President is to be judged.
*Infrastructure Development*
In his speech, the President singled out Infrastructure development and modernisation as one of the key pillars to support the envisaged growth of this rather stunted economy.
The President recognised that a giant economy can not safely be built upon fragile infrastructure, thus the emphasis on infrastructure development.
A sound infrastructure then becomes the bedrock upon which a giant thriving economy can be built and sustained.
“There is need for the modernisation and revamping of our social services sector to improve the efficiency and quality of service delivery. My Government will move speedily to refurbish and construct health, education and water and sanitation infrastructure. This is a promise we will deliver,” he boldly declared then.
True to his word, Government is living this promise as evidenced by its intervention is such areas as water harvesting projects such as Marowanyati, Lake Gwayi-Shangani and a 245km connecting pipeline to Bulawayo, a project that is expected to end perennial water woes in and around the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province.
To date every single Province in the country either has a dam being built or at least one has already been completed.
Government moved to repair water pumping equipment for Victoria Falls City as well as Harare City, all in fulfilment of the President’s promise to ‘speedily move to refurbish and construct health, education, and water and sanitation infrastructure’ to better the lives of citizens.
The President promised to modernise the country’s major roads, airports, ports of entry to ensure that the country can retain its status as an attractive tourist destination, handle more transit vehicles and re-establish itself as the logistical hub for Southern Africa and improve the connectivity of citizens to destinations within and without the country’s borders.
“We will modernise major roads, airports, railways and border posts. Through modern infrastructure, we will connect Zimbabweans, to each other, to the region and to the world!”
Perhaps this can be described as a promise delivered, a dream lived and a baby safely delivered.
Critics and admirers alike testify to the tremendously improved state of the country’s roads, with major trunk roads such as the Plumtree-Mutare having been completed while the near 600km Beitbridge-Harare Is more than 50 percent complete.
Having declared all roads in the country a state of national disaster, Government adopted all urban roads and undertook to refurbish them under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Program (ERRP) whose results are there for all to behold.
A squeaky clean world class Victoria Falls International Airport was completed while the giant Robert Mugabe International Airport expansion is work in progress as contractors race on the last stretch to completion.
With the recent completion of the new giant modern Parliament building in Mount Hampden, legislators could move away from the ‘Cathedral of a Parliament’ into a custom made, spacious modern Parliament building, all this in fulfilment of the President’s promise to revamp and modernise the country’s infrastructure so that it can support the envisaged economic take off.
Women and youth advancement
The Parliament of Zimbabwe, in May 2021,passed the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act of 2020 which gave the President power to extend Parliamentary Proportional representation of Women and Youth for another ten years.
This constitutional provision ensured that Zimbabwe stands tall among countries that are making real progress towards achieving equitable representation of women and youths in governance.
“As per our promise, my government will continue to prioritise the advancement of women, youth, and the disabled, in every sphere of the economy.”
“We will make firm and deliberate efforts to strengthen their capacity to participate in the economy and in governance. In all these initiatives, the creation of jobs, jobs and more jobs will be at the core of all our policies,” said the President then.
True to the man’s word, in May 2021, three years into his term, the country’s social security body, the National Social Security Authority reported a cool 170 000 new formal jobs having added to the economy. This is in addition to the country’s manufacturing sector having added capacity to 65 percent, in the process reclaiming 70 percent of shelf space to locally produced goods.
Remarkable feat it is for a country coming from an era of negative economic growth.
International Diplomacy
As the country’s chief diplomat, President Mnangagwa has not wasted a minute to pronounce and entrench the country’s foreign policy which is anchored upon the engagement and re-engagement thrust of the Second Republic.
This policy is ably corroborated by the “Open for business” mantra which is an open invitation to both private and national international investors to set up shop in Zimbabwe.
President Mnangagwa has never been ambiguous about the country’s quest for inclusion and acceptance back into the family of nations after a barren solitary sojourn over a period of twenty years since the land reform program began in early 2000s.
“Through the engagement and re- engagement policy, we are opening a new chapter in our relations with the world, underpinned by mutual respect, shared principles and common values. We look forward to playing a positive and constructive role as a free, democratic, transparent and responsible member of the family of nations,” said the President.
Health delivery
President Mnangagwa one of his greatest challenges to date when the novel Corona Virus broke out in late 2019, barely 12 months into his Presidency. This period was a critical test of character for the man who, in the eyes of the world, was still learning the ropes as Head of State and government.
The President, on a sheer display of astuteness, cool headedness, and clear sense of purpose, steered the government ship towards delivering one of the world’s most celebrated success stories when it comes to Covid-19 management and control, vaccine acquisitions and administration.
Zimbabwe performed extremely well in a hostile environment where access to international finance was restricted due to economic sanctions.
The Zimbabwean Government, in collaboration with partners, mobilised local resources for vaccine acquisition and distribution and to date the country has recorded one of the lowest Covid-19 related morbidity rates, a mystery which is yet to be unraveled.
As such it is not far fetched to declare that the President has fared extremely well in as far as delivering on his promises, in four years.
So far so good.
Recent Comments