THE year 2014 is the Chinese year of the horse.
NewsDay Editorial
However, the Chinese lunar year only starts on January 31 and not today where we, in Zimbabwe, are celebrating New Year’s Day. The Chinese associate the spirit of the horse with the attitude of constantly seeking to improve one’s self.
A website on the Chinese Zodiac says the horse is “energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able”.
It says the Chinese designate an able person as “Qianli Ma” meaning “a horse that covers a thousand li a day” and one li equals 500 metres.
We, therefore, urge fellow Zimbabweans to borrow from the Chinese and make this year a year of the horse truly.
It is a well-known fact that a horse is a hardworking animal and that is what will be required of all of us, friends and enemies alike this year if we are to make Zimbabwe a better country to live in and assume our pole position among Africa’s best.
Indications are 2014 will be a challenging year for all of us. We know that Zanu PF is the ruling party and as we start the New Year we have one major economic problem to deal with.
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We believe Zanu PF should avoid bickering to the detriment of the majority.
It’s true that that bickering as a result of Zanu PF succession politics is no longer a party issue but a national security matter which every sector, every Zimbabwean virtually everybody should deal with to make Zimbabwe a better place to live.
The economy is in the doldrums — liquidity crunch, retrenchments and the gloom and doom that has characterised every sector. These are real issues to grapple with.
It is now time to focus on rebuilding our country and put on ice our struggles to gain power.
It would be of no use to Zanu PF to take over the reins of power in a country which would have been reduced to a mere wasteland.
This means that all of us need to temporarily forget our differences and focus on the onerous task of weathering the economic storm that is sweeping across our beloved country.
Zimbabwe’s economy reached rock-bottom in 2008 when inflation shot up to unprecedented levels with the worthless Zimbabwe dollar.
The situation, however, changed with the introduction of the multi-currency regime and the inclusive government that came into being thereafter managed to steer the economy in such a way the standard of living of the average Zimbabwean was vastly improved from where it was before 2009.
It is the same resolve that is needed to get the country working again. Unity of purpose is needed to get the economy out of the woods.
We should never forget that true patriotism is being able to think of your country first before self.
Such a sense of selflessness will ensure that we avoid vices such as corruption and greediness which have brought our economy on its knees.
Let us work together and make 2014 a year of reviving our economy.
