Brace up Zimbabweans, this too will pass
IT is the eve of the country’s harmonised elections and independent surveys carried out have indicated a landslide victory for President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF.
This has irked the opposition and their handlers to a point of pulling the economic card which they have unsuccessfully used over the years to try and separate the people from Zanu PF and Government.
It is painful to undergo economic strangulation, for salaries to be eroded before they can do a transaction.
This economic sabotage has happened before, presenting a long dark tunnel, but the country has come out victorious at the end of it all. This is just a phase inspired by heartless economic hit men, it too will pass.
In the year 2000, soon after the country took possession of the multiple farms from the white former farmers and redistributed them to the black majority, Britain was angered to a point of making Zimbabwe an agenda within the United States Senate.
In one of the sessions, former US assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, Chester Crocker declared that, “to separate the Zimbabwean people from Zanu PF, we are going to have to make the economy scream, and I hope you senators have the stomach for what you have to do.”
They are still at it now, manipulating the parallel market, squeezing and destroying the people’s buying power to ensure they go hungry and die of malnutrition.
People do not only go hungry, no, they suffer malnutrition and they die. The economic hit men do not only kill the economy; they kill the people too.
The current runaway prices for basic food commodities in the shops are not justified.
The country had a good harvest for maize and wheat grain, not to mention the thriving horticulture production, which means most raw materials used by our local manufacturers can be abundantly obtained locally using the local currency, yet the end product at the retail outlets are absurdly priced in foreign currency (USD rated on the black market rate).
This exposes an external hand with a motive to achieve a regime change goal by any means necessary.
Government under the wise leadership of President Mnangagwa has been fighting the black market scourge that has threatened to undermine the administration, the banking system and
the local currency.
While people have blamed the Government for the erosion of workers’ salaries, with the opposition party influencing people to demand their salaries in foreign currency instead of the local currency.
The country needs to quickly deal with the elephant in the room before jumping to conclusions and blaming the Government.
The manufacturing companies have the privilege to access foreign currency for the raw materials that cannot be accessed locally, yet their products are found on the black market in tuckshops priced in foreign currency.
Every street corner has people with products from these wholesalers selling in US dollar only, yet in the shop the same product has an exorbitant price set in local currency, which push people to the black market.
Government made efforts to wean the country from the total use of the US dollar in transacting by introducing the country’s official currency.
The Government made sure to float the local currency officially against the US dollar through the country’s official foreign currency exchange rate.
This move went a long way in stabilising the exchange rate vis-a-vis the prices of basic commodities.
Furthermore, the Government introduced the payment of salaries in part US dollar and part local currency, a gesture that was well received by the workers as it cushioned them where there was need for foreign currency component.
The people quickly gained confidence with the banking system as it started providing them with other alternatives of storing value through the introduction of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya gold coins.
These gold coins provided the much needed relief where people feared for the erosion of their local currency.
With this new avenue, they could now change their local currencies into the gold coins for future use.
For a long while, the Dutch Foreign Exchange system managed to stabilise the exchange rate giving people’s
incomes buying power, and they found themselves applying for loans and decently servicing them.
As the country is fast approaching the election date, the economic hit men move into overdrive to frustrate the electorate to vote against Zanu PF.
For the opposition CCC and its handlers, all else has failed, such as the organisation of its contesting candidates due to their ill-timed and ill-planned candidate selection process; their mobilisation strategies such as “mugwazo”, which was meant for the rural penetration failed dismally with some of their sitting Members of Parliament such as Chalton Hwende unceremoniously withdrawing from the exercise.
Their next best move was to throw people into hunger by influencing the increase of prices of basic commodities and eroding people’s buying power.
They want people to turn on the Government and Zanu PF in the upcoming elections.
However, this is not the first time that Zimbabwe has gone through turbulent times such as these.
In fact, in comparison to what happened in the year 2007, this is a stroll in the park.
At least now the shelves are packed with basic commodities, back then the money was eroded at the same time there was nothing on the shelves to buy.
The shelves were empty yet basic commodities could be found on the parallel market.
Even with such serious economic sabotage that saw the country hit rock bottom, it was the people’s positive and resolute reaction to rise above the situation that unmasked Zimbabweans as a different and unique breed that cannot be controlled by issues of the stomach such as Jacob from the book of Genesis in the bible who lost his inheritance to Esau because he cared for his stomach.
Zimbabweans are a focused, innovative, hardworking and have a high rate of literacy in Africa, making them a force to reckon with.
They know and understand who and from where they came, they will not let that inheritance go for a piece of meat.
Furthermore, President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF have earned their place at the table, their work speaks volumes.
President Mnangagwa is a visionary who found Zimbabwe in ruins after 17 years of being battered by the illegally imposed sanctions.
The minute he came into power, he sought the removal of those sanctions because he knew they were and still are a hindrance to the total economic emancipation and development.
He further stretched his hand and offered an olive branch to both friends and foe, including the opposition party to work together for the prosperity of our country; while opening the country up for business by inviting all and sundry.
He went further in search of investors where notable results have been reported, as well as seeking re-entry into the commonwealth which if successful will increase the markets for the country, contributing to the country’s foreign income.
Government is currently seized with addressing this deliberate economic sabotage that is obtaining, and will leave no stone unturned to find and deal with the perpetrators.
This sabotage by the economic hit men threatens to reverse the efforts that Government has achieved such as the significant reduction of inflation, as well as economic stability.
Citizens should, therefore, be mindful that such episodes of price madness as well as high inflation are only but for a season, the election season after which they die down as they are not sustainable.
This moment requires patriotism and focus towards the goal; a goal that President Mnangagwa has already set in motion, that of turning the country into an upper middle income society by 2030.
For that, President Mnangagwa needs to continue into his second term and complete what he started; already his work speaks for itself.
It is not the growling stomach, but the deliverables that determine who gets to lead this country after August this year.