Mnangagwa's vision on the Zimbabwe we want

As the National Unity Day approaches on December 22, it is imperative that we reflect on President Mnangagwa's vision on the concept of "one-nation, one-people".

When the President came to the helm of the Second Republic in November 2017, he committed himself to the quintessence of unity as key to the prosperity of Zimbabwe for the benefit of all citizens.

In his inauguration speech on August 26, 2018 at the National Sports Stadium, in Harare, the President reiterated, much to the delirium of thousands of the Motherland's citizenry, that without unity, there would be no nation to talk about.

"Now is the time for us all to unite as a nation and grow our economy," said President Mnangagwa.

"Let us courageously and diligently embark on a shared journey towards the realisation of our national vision to transform Zimbabwe into a middle income economy, with increased investment, decent jobs, broad-based empowerment, free from poverty and corruption by 2030."

Notwithstanding our political orientation, creed or religious backgrounds, as the President said, we should embrace each other as a nation. Hitched to the wagon of the common good, we should pull in tandem within our individual capacity. That way, we will be able to derive the inspiration and pride required in being part of a struggle that goes back more than a century in time.

That struggle in the trenches, which claimed thousands of our fellow compatriots, remains alive in us as a people. President Mnangagwa never flinches in his drive for unity, prosperity and peace for his people.  

Conscious of the centrality of a shared vision in consolidating the economic freedoms enshrined in the revolution, he pledged to be fair and impartial as he represents all Zimbabweans.

He said: "The vision of a new and prosperous Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe we want, is a shared one and transcends political party lines. As your President, I pledge to act fairly and impartially, without fear or favour, as a President of all Zimbabweans.

"I am your listening President, a servant leader. In this vein, those who will occupy public office at any level, under my Government will be required to exercise servant leadership in the execution of their duties and to be humble and responsive in their interactions and dealings with the citizenry."

There is no other country for us, except Zimbabwe, our Zimbabwe; our Motherland. With a listening leader in our President, who believes that politics impede progress, and that individuals are weaklings as compared to all of us combined, the Promised Land is already in sight. It is up to us as Zimbabweans to put shoulders to the wheel of our fortunes, and refuse to be used by outsiders, who meddle in our affairs for their own nefarious ends. With the golden future time beckoning, we should desist from engaging in separatist deliberations aimed at delaying our arrival.

Reminding us of the momentous journey that we collectively undertook to lift the lid from the crux of our bottled story, President Mnangagwa humbly submitted: "Following my commitment to open up the democratic space, the period since that special day on 24th November 2017, has indeed been momentous. In just nine months, we have birthed a new Zimbabwe and forged a different path for our nation.

"A path full of freedoms, democracy, transparency, love and harmony. A path of dialogue and debate. A path of unity, peace and development."

Indeed, ours has been a long journey of toil, but in the last three years we cannot begrudge the fact that democratic spaces have been opened up to accord us all a chance to interact among those of our political ilk and those from across the political bar. The harmonised elections of July 30, 2018 are a true reflection of the opening up of democratic space.

The President was apt when he said: "These were elections in which all parties were free to campaign in all areas of the country; elections in which competing ideas were discussed and debated, freely and openly.

"I took it upon myself to preach the message of peace, non-violence, harmony, love and unity, before, during, and after the elections."

It is prudent upon us all as Zimbabweans to put politics behind us, because the winner in the harmonised elections was Zimbabwe, the winner at the Constitutional Court where the MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa challenged his loss to President Mnangagwa in the Presidential elections, was Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is all of us put together as a nation.

Said the President: "We have indeed endured; we have toiled; and now, as we walk in unity, the path that lies ahead, we will reap a better and more prosperous future."

Our endurance, our toils should now come to fruition, but expecting that it will happen overnight and without our input is rather tempting fate, knowing that we will simply lay the blame on someone else. It is our responsibility to work towards the realisation of the Zimbabwe we aspire for.

Indeed, tomorrow can only be brighter!

Hearken well to what the President said in his inauguration speech on August 26, 2018: "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.

"To all my colleagues and other political parties who contested in the just ended harmonised elections, especially those represented in Parliament, I exhort us to commit ourselves to collectively develop our motherland. We are all Zimbabweans; what unites us is greater than what could ever divide us."

Such powerful words, such selflessness, such commitment to the will of the people, should inspire us all this December and beyond as we celebrate the Unity Accord of 1987 signed between ZANU-PF and-PF-ZAPU, which brought us the peace we so much cherish today.