SOME commercial farmers in Matabeleland South province have expressed worry over the country’s continued economic decline and urged everyone to work together to build a better Zimbabwe.
ALBERT NCUBE OWN CORRESPONDENT
Speaking during celebrations to mark the launch of a cattle branding programme in Matabeleland South in Gwanda on Saturday, renowned farmer and engineer James Ross Goddard said the country’s economic status was worrisome.
“The greatest challenge that we face in Zimbabwe is the economy. We have all got to work very hard to build and strengthen our economy. We all need to open our eyes to the many opportunities that exist within our country,” Goddard told guests, who included Senior Minister Simon Khaya Moyo.
Goddard, the reigning Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce businessman of the year, said many opportunities lay untapped in the country.
“We can rebuild this economy before we know it and l urge you all to please go out and optimise the opportunities that exist within our beautiful nation.”
Goddard said the government should lure Zimbabweans back from the Diaspora to help in the effort to rebuild the economy.
“We have Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and we have to encourage them to come back to their homes. They have incredible skills, not only skills, but they also have money and the country currently needs investors,” he said.
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“We wish all Zimbabweans could work in a non-partisan environment where all persons are equal regardless of sex, race, language or religion; where all are equal whether we are Ndebele, Shona, Coloured, Asian, black or white. That will be a wonderful day when we could all say we are proudly Zimbabwean.”
The commercial farmers’ worry about the sick economy comes in the backcloth of claims on Sunday by President Robert Mugabe that the country’s economy was on the rebound.
Mugabe said the Zanu PF government had employed several strategies to rescue the economy from the woods. He said the turnaround strategy was premised on the economic blue-print policy Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socioeconomic Transformation (ZimAsset) and Integrated Results-based Management.
But analysts yesterday said there was nothing on the ground to show the economy was on the rebound, citing company closures, liquidations and the prevailing liquidity crunch.
