President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised Zimbabweans a better tomorrow as long as they tough it out to see his austerity measures bear fruit.
Mnangagwa told thousands gathered for Defence Forces Day celebrations in Harare, Tuesday that while he understands the pain that citizens are going through, his austerity measures have laid a firm foundation for the country’s economic take-off.
“The transitional Stabilisation Programme(TSP), which promotes production and restricts government spending, is ongoing with its attendant reform measures.
“The medicine to cure the ailment will be bitter and often painful, whether within a household or at state level,” Mnangagwa told a crowd of predominantly security service personnel. “But the darkest hour comes before dawn.”
The Zanu PF leader added: “Indications that our economic fundamentals are now in place to facilitate an upward development trajectory.”
As if to buttress his point, Mnangagwa has continued to draw on comments attributed to global multilateral institutions to show that his reform agenda had been accepted by the most important institutions in the world’s biggest capitals.
“This has also been confirmed by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other International Financial Institutions,” he said.
Since the introduction of the new policy measures that banned the use of multi-currencies, prices of basic commodities, driven by fuel have shot through the roof. Mnangagwa however blamed “unpatriotic” businesspeople for the chaos in the market.
“There are, however, some in our business community, who have taken this difficult transitional phase of our economy as an opportunity to unjustifiably enrich themselves.
“There is no justification, whatsoever, why our people should be subjected to some of the high prices of goods and services that we have witnesses in recent months,” said Mnangagwa.
Since taking charge after a military coup in November 2017, the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated under his watch but Mnangagwa maintains his austerity policies are the right medicine for a country that has groaned under economic difficulties for the last 20 years.
