On April 18, we celebrated 46 years of Independence. What does independence mean to us a country? This is the day in 1980 when all citizens of Zimbabwe, regardless of race, became equal. That means black people who were previously disadvantaged could now have equal opportunities with white Zimbabweans and other races in this country.
Black people could now access education more easily even up to Advanced level in high school and university education. We have moved from one university at Independence to over 20 universities now. There are also various technical colleges and vocational training institutions that were established. Zimbabwe became highly rated as one of the most literate countries in Africa.
I would say education could be the highest dividend that has been achieved since independence. This has resulted in Zimbabweans being able to fill up positions around the world and has enabled us to have a vibrant diaspora community that is now contributing around US$2 billion per year in foreign currency remittances.
Such a contribution enabled Zimbabwe to survive even at the height of the collapse of the economy. I must point out however, that although access to education has been achieved, a lot now needs to be done to maintain quality because of lack of adequate infrastructure and a lack of maintenance of the infrastructure that was inherited at independence in 1980.
The same goes for health facilities which need to be improved and equipped in order to improve on the quality of the public health system of Zimbabwe.
The road network has not developed much in the last 46 years. It is painful to see the degrading of tarred roads into dust roads. The fact that we now have a dysfunctional rail system means that bulk consignments of our minerals such as chrome and coal are transported by road making our industry uncompetitive and further damaging the limited road network that remains. We need to seriously develop our road network and build a robust railway system in order to achieve economic development.
We have Air Zimbabwe, which used to fly direct to destinations such as London and China. Now you have to spend days going around the world navigating your way to various destinations. Imagine the total time lost and the additional costs incurred by everyone because of this. Something must be done for us to have competitive local airlines that can deliver effective air travel for our people.
Our telecommunication services still leave a lot to be desired. You will be lucky to have a successful call without difficulties. The cost is not competitive when you compare with the region and beyond. We must also get our act together as a country in this regard.
- The economic dividend of independence in Zim
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Water and sewerage reticulation has gone down and we now take tapped water as a luxury. This used to be something that we would take for granted when growing up.
Surely, we can do better than this in order to enjoy the fruits of our independence. Investment in energy, including renewables, is also essential for us to achieve economic development and a better life for our people in independent Zimbabwe.
Yes, black people now occupy most of the land in Zimbabwe and this must be celebrated. But, we must make full use of this land and agriculture should be a viable business for those with large tracts of land.
It is important to work on giving title to those who can do well on the land, but the mechanisms to achieve this should be viable in order to ensure that it can be sustainable for the farmers.
We should invest in climate proofing agriculture so that we do not rely on good rainfall seasons all the time.
Black people can now aspire to be whatever they want to be in independent Zimbabwe, but we should level the playing field by shunning corruption in all its ugly forms.
We should also deepen our democracy so that all voices are heard and every vote counts and all feel free to express themselves in their fatherland.
After all this is why many sons and daughters of Zimbabwe died to achieve a free Zimbabwe.
Aluta continua! (The struggle continues!)
Long live Zimbabwe!
God bless Zimbabwe!
