The ManicaPost
ANOTHER year is coming to an end tomorrow (Saturday) and on Sunday we cross over into 2023.
As we conclude 2022 and begin to look at it in the rear view mirror starting from next week, it presents us with a perfect opportunity to reflect on what has been of the past year and plan for the new one.
On the cusp of stepping into a new season, we can only look forward to 2023 with fervour.
As we are thankful for the gift of life, we must find favour with God and pray for good health.
Prosperity should be the buzzword.
Let us not allow the challenges we faced in 2022 – like power cuts and water shortages in some areas, for example – draw us back and hinder our progress.
The Year 2023 will come with its ups and downs, but that should embolden our resilience and spur us to lofty heights.
This New Year will see Zimbabwe take another step towards an empowered and prosperous upper middle income society in pursuit of Vision 2023.
We, therefore, need to triple our efforts in everything that we set out to do.
Let us stand up and be counted among those who diligently contribute to the country’s sustained efforts towards economic development and social transformation in our various and respective spheres of influence.
With the new season comes renewed strength of moving from recovery to growth as a country.
As individuals, we may not have achieved all that we had listed down as our resolutions for the Year 2022, but that should not extinguish our desire to continue pursuing our life goals.
We must stay resolute and steadfast.
With five cyclones expected to reach Zimbabwe in the current rainy season, people in the areas likely to affected – especially in Manicaland and particularly in Chimanimani, Buhera, Mutare, Mutasa and Nyanga, among others – need to be on high alert and exercise safety precautions.
The Civil Protection Unit needs to be proactive and activate its disaster prevention and management systems in readiness for possible evacuations.
Raising awareness through campaigns in those areas is crucial.
As our hard work and investment in agriculture is bearing fruit, we look forward to another highly successful season with heightened production and productivity.
Long may the marked improvement in social services provision and capacity utilisation of local resources also continue.
Infrastructure development such as roads projects, dam constructions, construction of schools, farm mechanisations, construction and refurbishment of hospitals and clinics and housing delivery, among others, will continue pedalling our drive towards attainment of national goals.
Achieving on the deliverables which underpin the fundamental pillars of National Development Strategy (NDS1) remains key.
This will see the country scoring major milestones throughout the year and beyond with an overall improvement in the quality of life for all people.
We also need to ensure that scientific inventions and innovation lead to major breakthroughs that will help solve the challenges we are facing.
Dovetailing devolution – whose main thrust is to leave no place and no person behind – will be instrumental in the developmental drive.
United by a common cause of spurring the country’s socio-economic growth, let us work on making 2023 a remarkable year.
The harmonised elections will also be held in 2023 and it is important to have a peaceful and smooth-flowing plebiscite that is free of violence and intimidation.
Peace must always be upheld and prevail before, during and after the elections.
The corrosive cancer of corruption must also be nipped in the bud and its perpetrators be brought to book.
Safeguarding the gains achieved over the past years can help establish a robust foundation for our future endeavours and 2023 should be that seminal year.
