By Innocent Mujeri
Renowned African author Kayambila Mpulamasaka once said that, “Even fools, when in one accord and united in their foolishness, will appear to be wise.” By this statement, Mpulamasaka was emphasizing on the importance of unity. He was simply saying that if people are in one accord, they can achieve more.
As the country slowly tries to find its feet from decades of illegal sanctions and international isolation, the least we need is unnecessary political bickering. What the country needs now is men and women who put their social and political differences aside and pursue the country’s vision of having an Upper Middle Income Economy by the time we reach 2030.
This is only achievable if the country was united and everyone is pulling in one direction. The elections came and went and President Emmerson Mnangagwa was duly chosen by the people to lead the country until 2023 when he will seek another Presidential mandate from the electorate. What is now needed is to rally behind the President and support his efforts in reviving the fortunes of the country.
Other politicians should know that electioneering period is over and what is important now is a set of economic policies that are going to be pursued by Government. These policies such as the recently launched National Development Strategy Phase One (NDS1) are there to ensure productivity, investment, discipline and employment creation. It’s now the duty of everyone to support Government’s policies because if the policies succeed, it means our people would be economically lifted and liberated. All this is possible if there was unity of purpose in the country.
What the country needs now is not political noise, demonstrations or unpatriotic opposition parties. The country now needs men and women who can help mobilize investment capital from external markets so as to augment local resources while also engaging vigorously and tactfully external partners and all available sources of the much-needed capital. If we can all do this, regardless of our political affiliations, Zimbabwe will prosper again and we will soon be the darling of every country in the World.
I’m emphasizing on unity of purpose because what I witnessed during the days of inclusive Government between 2009 and 2013 was not pleasing at all. During the inclusive Government era, because of the differences and conflicting ideas that were held within the Government, economic agents could not tell which policy was going to be successfully implemented as the political bickering was just too much. There were reports that Ministers aligned to the opposition were sabotaging Government’s development policies because they feared that credit would be given to ZANU PF. That was a sad scenario as people expected politicians to work in the interests of the country and not to be controlled by their political emotions.
It is not too late to get our economy to sustained growth, achieve broad- based transformation and improve living standards for millions of Zimbabweans. But what is required first is unity of purpose. What is required is the opposition that does not oppose for the sake of opposing. What is required is the opposition that is ready to proffer solutions to challenges bedeviling the country instead of “kudira jecha.” In short. What Zimbabwe needs now is unifying politicians with a unifying theme and a national vision that galvanizes the collective energies of all Zimbabweans towards a common objective of economic growth.
This current scenario of a country that is deeply polarized and that resemble a divided house should come to an end. It’s high time the opposition respects the ruling party and the country’s President and put the national agenda first before engaging in acts that can hamper national development. Our opposition leaders should rise above party politics so as to usher the nation into a new epoch of national building, based on a collective vision and a common cause.
Every Zimbabwean should by now know that unity is the cornerstone for the country to achieve its development goals. Unity is also a prerequisite for attracting foreign investments. No sane investor would commit his finance in a country with a divided people. It’s high time we all speak with one voice and send a signal to the outside people that we are united as Zimbabweans.
