Opinion / Columnist
2018: A year of progress!
18 Dec 2018 at 08:04hrs | Views
2018 started with high hopes.
Just a few weeks on from the greatest political shock our country had seen in almost four decades, we went into the New Year full of belief that our salvation was coming, and good times were just around the corner.
Looking back, we were all perhaps a bit naïve in those heady days of last summer. So high in our elation at the stirrings of the change we so desperately needed, we were blind (or chose to ignore) the challenges ahead. It was as if the combination of a change of leadership and a collective will to do it right this time would be enough.
The reality is that it was never going to be so easy. Decades of mismanagement had left their mark, and no amount of good ideas and honourable intentions could make them disappear overnight. This was always going to take time.
But time is something we Zimbabweans are short of. We have suffered for too long, and been let down too many times, so when things didn't radically improve instantly, many of us lost faith. Some now claim that things haven't changed at all since Mugabe, or even got worse!
The truth is though, that when you step back, you realise that arguments are completely baseless. The fact that there are still problems cannot take away from the fact that so much has changed.
On a political and societal level, ED's Zimbabwe is completely unrecognisable from Bob's. We are free to criticise and to argue in a way we never could before. There was an election that though not perfect, was so much better than anything we have ever seen. The fact that the candidate many young people supported lost doesn't make the whole election illegitimate! And while every so often a story comes out that an isolated individual is in trouble for something they said, the fact that we are talking about one person shows how far we have come!
Economically, things have been tough. No doubt. But here too there are big signs of change. Led by a world renowned economist (who the MDC was raving about before he got appointed!), the economy is undergoing the sort of structural transformation we have been crying out for. In all areas, they are taking tough decisions and doing the right thing, even if unpopular.
It would have been easy to delay the changes, and put off the difficulties we are experiencing now, but that would have been a mistake. We cannot cry out for change, and then complain when it happens. Change is turbulent and not easy. It causes discomfort and sometimes real pain. But just like when you tear off a plaster, it is best to do these things swiftly and without looking back. For the pain they cause is temporary, but the benefits are real and long term.
And so as 2018 comes to an end, I for one will be looking back on it as a year of progress and change. It hasn't been straightforward, but there is no doubt we are in a far better position today than one year ago. I am certain that this time next year, that fact will be clear to all of us!
Just a few weeks on from the greatest political shock our country had seen in almost four decades, we went into the New Year full of belief that our salvation was coming, and good times were just around the corner.
Looking back, we were all perhaps a bit naïve in those heady days of last summer. So high in our elation at the stirrings of the change we so desperately needed, we were blind (or chose to ignore) the challenges ahead. It was as if the combination of a change of leadership and a collective will to do it right this time would be enough.
The reality is that it was never going to be so easy. Decades of mismanagement had left their mark, and no amount of good ideas and honourable intentions could make them disappear overnight. This was always going to take time.
But time is something we Zimbabweans are short of. We have suffered for too long, and been let down too many times, so when things didn't radically improve instantly, many of us lost faith. Some now claim that things haven't changed at all since Mugabe, or even got worse!
The truth is though, that when you step back, you realise that arguments are completely baseless. The fact that there are still problems cannot take away from the fact that so much has changed.
On a political and societal level, ED's Zimbabwe is completely unrecognisable from Bob's. We are free to criticise and to argue in a way we never could before. There was an election that though not perfect, was so much better than anything we have ever seen. The fact that the candidate many young people supported lost doesn't make the whole election illegitimate! And while every so often a story comes out that an isolated individual is in trouble for something they said, the fact that we are talking about one person shows how far we have come!
Economically, things have been tough. No doubt. But here too there are big signs of change. Led by a world renowned economist (who the MDC was raving about before he got appointed!), the economy is undergoing the sort of structural transformation we have been crying out for. In all areas, they are taking tough decisions and doing the right thing, even if unpopular.
It would have been easy to delay the changes, and put off the difficulties we are experiencing now, but that would have been a mistake. We cannot cry out for change, and then complain when it happens. Change is turbulent and not easy. It causes discomfort and sometimes real pain. But just like when you tear off a plaster, it is best to do these things swiftly and without looking back. For the pain they cause is temporary, but the benefits are real and long term.
And so as 2018 comes to an end, I for one will be looking back on it as a year of progress and change. It hasn't been straightforward, but there is no doubt we are in a far better position today than one year ago. I am certain that this time next year, that fact will be clear to all of us!
Source - Knowledge Moyo
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