THE historic Unity Accord signed on December 22, 1987, shall forever be imprinted in Zimbabwe’s history as a watershed event that forged a strong bond of peace and togetherness across the country, Acting Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Mr George Charamba, has said.
He said this in a statement yesterday ahead of today’s commemoration of the 35th anniversary of Unity Day.
“The Acting Chief Secretary to the President, Deputy Chief Secretaries, Heads of Departments, Chief Directors and Staff in the Office of the President and Cabinet join the entire nation, including our compatriots in the Diaspora, in congratulating His Excellency the President, Cde Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Unity Day, on 22 December, 2022,” he said.
“The historic Unity Accord signed on 22 December, 1987 shall forever be imprinted in the history of our great nation as a watershed event which forged a strong bond of peace and togetherness across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe.
“True to the tenacity of a nation determined to shape its destiny against all forms of adversity, the people have remained united.”
Mr Charamba said as President Mnangagwa keeps reminding people, no nation can develop in an environment of conflict and externally orchestrated divisions.
The Second Republic, said Mr Charamba, is accelerating socio-economic development through NDS1, as the nation consolidates the march towards attainment of Vision 2030 of a prosperous and empowered upper middle income society.
Zanu PF Secretary for Finance Cde Patrick Chinamasa, also joined the nation in celebrating Unity Day.
In a statement yesterday, Cde Chinamasa said the Unity Accord played an important role in bringing peace that the nation is presently enjoying.
“Today marks exactly 35 years since the signing of the Unity Accord and the coming together of our people and their two revolutionary parties, Zanu PF and PF Zapu to form one revolutionary party, Zanu PF,” said Cde Chinamasa.
“Following disturbances in the southern provinces, on 22 December 1987, our founding fathers led by the late national heroes Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe and Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo, took a giant step to bury differences between our people to embark on an onerous task to forge unity, peace and development.
“Zanu PF reflects on this day with fond memories, proud of the fact that we are a nation and a people together, bound by an enduring revolutionary Chimurenga tradition bequeathed to us by our founding fathers.”
On behalf of the ruling Zanu PF, Cde Chinamasa urged all Zimbabweans to reflect and celebrate Unity Day, saying the unity, peace and development being enjoyed today came following patriotic and selfless sacrifices.
“The party joins the people of Zimbabwe in congratulating the President and First Secretary of Zanu PF, His Excellency Cde ED Mnangagwa for his continued resilience in consolidating the gains of the Unity Accord.
“The Second Republic as led by President ED Mnangagwa has moved a step ahead in healing the wounds of the past through allowing people to open up and express themselves freely as well as deploying Government institutions to work with Matabeleland Collective Groups, traditional authorities, churches, youths, and affected people to ensure access to key identity documents as well as other relevant services.
“This indeed, is in line with the President’s mantra that, ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ in as far as development is concerned,” he said.
Zanu PF, said Cde Chinamasa, applauds President Mnangagwa for creating platforms that allow people to talk openly on the Gukurahundi issue, which in itself is a giant step towards lasting national healing.
“Through unity of purpose and oneness, our nation has moved from strength to strength, confronted several challenges head on and emerged stronger.
“Through unity, we have defeated regime change machinations, stood firm against illegal sanctions imposed on us by our detractors. In unity, we embarked on giant steps towards the complete decolonisation of our nation by uniting our people with their land.
“Through unity, we ushered in the New Dispensation together in November 2017 despite our different political persuasions. United together, in the Second Republic, we have accelerated political reforms to ensure that we open more arteries of freedom for our people.
“Through Unity, we have managed to change the face of our roads network using our own resources and indeed, our roads network both in the cities and those linking cities bear a permanent signature of President ED Mnangagwa,” he said.
Cde Chinamasa added that through unity, Zimbabwe achieved food security through the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme and other agriculture schemes aimed at supporting the people.
He reminded those bent on sowing seeds of disunity, tribalism, regionalism and instability to shun the retrogressive tendencies and embrace dialogue as a means of resolving differences, as exemplified by Zimbabwe’s founding luminaries.
As the nation celebrates Unity Day, Cde Chinamasa said Zanu PF reiterates President Mnangagwa’s mantra, ‘Nyika inovakwa, igotongwa na vene vayo/ Ilizwe lakhiwa, libuswe ngabanikazi balo’. – The Herald
