All alliance partners need convergence on that transformative policy agenda that must yield a people’s manifesto with details on the key tenets for transformation, not recovery. As I have already stated, given our parlous state, we simply need to start on a new slate.
Even in our once-thriving industrial sector that has since collapsed, the technology has simply advanced way beyond the archaic, idle and obsolete machinery that we still have in the country.
I say this because we cannot commit the same grievous mistake made by our colleagues when they came into office in 1980. They thought the attainment of independence was the destination when in fact 1980 actually marked the beginning of a critical phase of the struggle. They came in without a cogent plan but we have to be very clear about what we will do well ahead of the next election.
Our colleagues failed to realize that political independence, while it was important, was insufficient. It is always the stretch beyond liberation and political independence where the real work lies. The magnitude of the mammoth work beyond a people’s liberation must not be lost in the excitement of the fall of the strongman!
In our case, it is not just about consigning Mugabe and Zanu PF to the dustbins of history. The real work begins the morning after and we have to be very clear from the outset what we will to do. And because time is not on our side, we need to agree on that transformative agenda now so that after the next election, it is all about implementing an agreed programme of action.
Indeed, discussions around this issue are taking shape, tapping into the knowledge of sharp policy minds in the country and on the continent as well as the experience of other countries that have at some point hit rock bottom, as we have done.
Conclusion
Fellow Zimbabweans, I wish to restate that we are on course,even though the pace might appear slow. The broader democratic movement has awakened and is slowly coming together.
In my case, I have met with the church, political leaders from across the spectrum, the army, war veterans, civil servants and leaders of various social networks and civic groups who all converge on the need for a positive trajectory for this country that we love.
We are very much aware, of course, that the stakes are high and that the regime will invest scarce national resources into nothing else but power retention.
We must be ready for them, armed with no other weapon except our sheer unity and a collective resolve for change. All we need is a formidable unity that spans from the top to the very grassroots of our nation.
And we are getting there!
Continued next page
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