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Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter

ZIMBABWE’s national vision of becoming an upper-middle-income society by 2030 will be realised two years ahead of schedule in 2028, President Mnangawa has said.

Writing in his weekly column published in our sister newspaper, The Sunday Mail, President Mnangagwa said he was optimistic that the country would expedite the “foundational and phenomenal” development being experienced on all fronts.

Since the commencement of his second term of office, the President has reiterated the need for Zimbabwe to increase production and productivity across all sectors, to ensure the achievement of set targets and goals. 

Consequently, President Mnangagwa described the next five years as “decisive” in the country’s development trajectory.

“Vision 2030 straddles three political terms, the first of which began in 2018 and ended this year, just before our Harmonised Elections. We have just begun the second term, which ends two years shy of 2030, the year our Vision is scheduled to run its full, programmed course.

“This makes the current term decisive in actualising the broad goals of our Vision. My commitment is to ensure that our Vision is realised two years ahead of its due date.

“It is a pledge and hope arising from a hard-headed look at what, together, we have been able to accomplish in the last five years which have gone by. The progress has been both foundational and phenomenal, thus justifying my optimism, and making the realisation of our Vision quite feasible.

“I know that with greater will and focus, we are able to quicken our development pace, thus hastening the realisation of all our goals,” he said.

Pursuant to the realisation of Vision 2030 ahead of time, the President said rural transformation and empowerment through rural industrialisation was vital.

He said the time for lamenting about the country’s colonial past as the reason for rural underdevelopment was over, as earnest action was now needed for that to change.

“A key test to genuine realisation of Vision 2030 will be our rural areas, where over 60 percent of our people live. Our rural communities measure the depth and breadth of lack of even development, and the cost of rural exclusion in development. Shunned by successive colonial governments, our rural areas are a sample of denied development which gave rise to rural underdevelopment we inherited from colonialism.

“Except all this need not remain so. We cannot continue to blame our colonial past for rural ills. It is as if we doubt our own agency as makers of an alternative history which lift our people and communities.

“Our nation must change course by taking responsibility over these rural backwaters which we now must challenge through a new model of development,” he said.

Rural transformation, said the President, should henceforth become the centrepiece of Zimbabwe’s development agenda.

President Mnangagwa cited China as a concrete example.

“Time has now come to go beyond community development for a comprehensive programme of rural capacitation and empowerment. Towards the tail-end of the just-ended term, I broached the idea of rural transformation and empowerment through rural industrialisation.

“This is our panacea to rural underdevelopment. That idea’s time has now come and, going forward, rural Industrialisation must now become the centrepiece of our development plans.

“We must lift millions living in our rural areas out of poverty, as envisaged by our Vision. The People’s Republic of China, PRC, provides an inspiring example and salutary lessons,” he said.

While pre-empting the thrust of his address to captains of industry in Victoria Falls today, President Mnangagwa said he will charge them to increase production and productivity.

“Tomorrow (today) I shall be addressing captains of industry and leaders of business in our resort city, Victoria Falls.

“Together, we should be able to agree on a common programme of economic action designed to take our nation forward, building on the gains recorded in the past five years.

“A lot was achieved, creating a firm pedestal for sustained economic growth. I will emphasise production and productivity in industry and across sectors, including vigorous pursuit of clear and efficient value chains which make our economy a competitive manufacturer and exporter,” he said.

President Mnangagwa also applauded Zimbabweans for fostering peace throughout the electoral period, while also imploring the nation to continue safeguarding it.

“As our late Vice President John Landa Nkomo always used to remind us, peace is begot by you, by me and by all of us, acting in concert, and in the national interest.

“Going forward, all of us must now commit ourselves to transforming this milestone in our electoral affairs into an abiding gain firmly built into our collective personality, until we begin to take for granted our peace in all our future elections,” he said.

The Head of State said he would soon be inviting all parties that contested in the August 23/24 harmonised elections to dialogue under the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD), for the sole purpose of uniting in the continued development of the country.

“To that end, I shall be inviting leaders of all political parties who participated in the just-ended harmonised elections so, together, we refashion the framework in order to make it more responsive and better able to serve the times and our nation.

“I trust that my invitation will be welcomed by most, if not all, political actors. Party politics must never stand in the way, or make us deaf to the call to work together for the collective good of our people and our nation.

“Zimbabwe is our country together. Inotongwa, igovakwa uye igonamatirwa nevene vayo!” said President Mnangagwa.