Mnangagwa told to stop taking people for granted

There are two aspects to human resources – education and health. Both are in deep crisis and if we do not do something about this Zimbabwe will never be able to compete globally, in anything.

Then our Financial System. In my view we are making real progress here. By and large our banks are sound, our financial and accounting professions are among the best in the region and you can get advanced financial services when required. In addition, Zimbabwe is far ahead of many western countries in the field of electronic banking systems and transfer. Almost 100 per cent of our population uses cell phones for banking and payments.

In the recent past our problem has been macro-economic management of our financial system. We have been deeply delinquent and thought that we could print our way out of trouble. We have learned the painful lesson that this simply destroys value and even currencies. But let’s face it, in 2019 we took many tough decisions and my, did it hurt – we devalued our inflated debt to manageable levels, we depreciated incomes that were higher than we could afford and be competitive and we brought our State expenditure under tight control. We also floated our currency and lifted all restrictions on the current account. I agree with the Minister of Finance and the IMF, our treasury is in good shape for the first time in many years, even decades.

Finally, our social cohesion and support. We are lucky to be settled by the people who live here in Zimbabwe. 85 per cent speak Shona and that in itself is a great advantage, so often in Africa our ethnic divisions are a source of instability and conflict. The Zimbabwean population is also innovative and hard working – ask anyone living in the region and they will endorse these as being national characteristics.

When we approached Independence in 1977 we voted for a transitional government and 83 per cent of our population voted for one Party. After Independence in 1980, 81 per cent voted for one Party. When the Military assisted the transfer of power from the Mugabe era in 2017, it was accompanied by an outpouring of national support and consensus that persuaded the world that the new Government had national support.

But Mr President, you must not take this cohesion and support lightly or for granted. It is conditional and we have been patient in 2018 and 2019 as you have sought to put us onto a new road. We expect you to manage the five pillars so that corruption in our affairs is dealt with, our people stop fleeing to other countries to survive and we can all work together to make Zimbabwe the great little country it can be.

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