The Sunday News
LAST Wednesday marked four years since the inauguration of President Mnangagwa in a historic moment that marked the birth of the Second Republic, also referred to as the New Dispensation.
President Mnangagwa was successor to the late former President Cde Robert Mugabe, who had resigned from the highest office in the land in that historic November 2017.
When President Mnangagwa came into office, he urged everyone to put their shoulders on the wheel. He preached peace, unity, development, engagement and re-engagement and the fight against corruption, among others.
Four years down the line, his servant leadership is bearing fruit, with massive infrastructural development evident from all directions.
The Harare-Beitbridge Highway rehabilitation project and the Lake Gwayi-Shangani project are some of the major milestones.
There has been massive rehabilitation of roads in rural and urban areas through government funding, after the realisation that most roads were in bad shape after heavy rains in the past rainy season, with the situation further made worse by lack of maintenance of the roads by local authorities, most of whom are MDC-A led councils.
There are many massive projects that have been undertaken by the Second Republic countrywide, that include the facelift of the Beitbridge border post, Robert Mugabe International Airport, and the construction of clinics and hospitals across the country, with Lupane provincial hospital nearing completion after years of slow progress.
The Government has also been commended across the globe for the manner in which it has handled the Covid-19 pandemic, with the pandemic now under control. The strategies to handle the pandemic were followed up with a massive vaccination campaign, which is an envy to many countries.
The Matabeleland region, which in the past often complained of neglect, has received huge attention from the President who has been to the region on a number of times to check on progress of development projects, with Bulawayo getting additional funding from government for water projects. He has been to Bulawayo, Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North on numerous occasions, and has also been at the forefront of seeking a lasting solution to the emotive issue of the post-independence political disturbances, known as Gukurahundi.
The country is now food secure, thanks to Government agricultural programmes that have resulted in massive crop yields and improvement of the country’s herd. The economy is on a strong recovery path, backed by industrial revival and the growth of a vibrant digital economy.
True to the President’s mantra that no one will be left behind, even remote communities like the San people from Tsholotsho have been integrated into government programmes, with the First Lady, Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa playing a key role to make sure they become food sufficient and that they also get national documents, have access to health facilities and children go to school.
Like the President said from the word go, the future is in our hands, and it looks bright.
“As we do so, we should never remain hostages to our past. I thus humbly appeal to all of us that we let bygones be bygones, readily embracing each other in defining a new destiny.
The task at hand is that of rebuilding our great country. It principally lies with none but ourselves. I implore you all to declare that NEVER AGAIN should the circumstances that have put Zimbabwe in an unfavourable position be allowed to recur or overshadow its prospects.
We must work together, you, me, all of us who make up this Nation. Ours is a great country, endowed with rich resources and abounding in many opportunities for everyone who considers it home.
Whilst I am aware that emotions and expectations might be high and mixed, I have no doubt that over time, we will appreciate the solid foundation laid by my predecessor, against all manner of vicissitudes, towards building an educated, enlightened, skilled and forgiving society.
This is a formidable head-start we draw from our past, a plinth upon which to build developments in the present and to erect hopes for the future,” the President said in his inaugural speech.
