FULL TEXT: FreeZim Congress President Joseph Makamba Busha's New Year Message To Zimbabwe

December 31, 2018,
09:00am

Today as you gather with family and friends to celebrate, We want to wish you a happy, healthy and productive New Year, one filled with hope and optimism.

The year that is ending has been an extremely difficult one for all of us. Unemployment remained a menace, the high cost of living was a disturbing and frightening reality.

Our economy experienced its worst performance in our history and everywhere there were signs of a country on a downhill slide.

The present regime has led us to a sharp economic decline, and its irresponsible policy particularly the burden of taxation and borrowing to fund recurrent expenditure is putting future generations in deep debt.

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Added to all of this, are the government’s chronic lack of vision and the absence of any economic measure for growth and job creation.

As an opposition party, we remain fearful for 2019 in every aspect of national life – the economy, national security, health care and social services. The forecast for 2019 is bleak and the stresses that so many of our citizens have felt for more than a 3 decades will no doubt increase.

Still, We ask you to be optimistic. Let us reflect on who we are and reaffirm our love and commitment to our country.

If we can do that, we will rise again and make Zimbabwe a better place for all of us.
We can do it if we all work together, putting country first.

The divisiveness and political partisanship that is the hallmark of this administration is cancer and it will only go away when all of us decide this is our country and each of us has a responsibility to help make it the best it can be.

Every citizen deserves the protection of the state and as an opposition party, we will continue to act in the best interest of everyone, not only those who support us and have voted for us in the July 30 harmonised elections.

President Joseph Makamba Busha will continue to work on your behalf as a government in waiting, and we assure you that 2019 will be very eventful as will bravely challenge (litigate) several government policies that are causing untold suffering to several Zimbabweans.
Our position will remain constant in 2019

Today, citizens of this country are forced to carry the burden while those who govern treat you with contempt. The Government has not kept a single promise and there is every indication that they will continue this way in 2019 because they have no idea how to take us out of this crisis they manufactured to conceal their incompetence.

We are governed by an administration that is handicapped by its arrogance and lack of vision and guided by a small elite that has no concerns for the people.

As we begin a New Year we find, as we did in 2018, that unemployment is on the rise, the cost of living is pushing families to starvation, new taxes will erode your shrinking income and the elite they serve will continue to prosper.

So our message as we start 2019 is that while you must be aware of the new circumstances in which we must live, you must also take charge of your destiny and work together as one family to effect the change that is inevitable. You, the citizens of our nation must know your rights and stand up for them; indeed, you must demand that the government listen to your concerns.

The New Year is a new beginning and we must cherish what we have to keep the flame of hope burning. We will continue to lead on your behalf and to do the work we set for ourselves.

We resolve to work harder in 2019 to hold the government to account, and to try to push them to work towards enhancing your lives. Nothing is more important for us than the people of Zimbabwe.

Taking charge of the future means continuing the constructive dialogue with you to understand your dreams for a better, more prosperous Zimbabwe. The uncertainties you feel today are natural and the circumstances are real. The darkest night ends with new dawn that brings freshness and new hope. So keep hope alive and continue to have faith in your dreams and in our country’s future.

President Joseph Makamba Busha and FreeZim Congress family, wish you a Happy New Year. May God continue to bless you and your families, and our nation.

*Upenyu Kuvanhu,* *Upfumi Munyika*
*Impilo Ebantwini,* *Inotho Elizweni*
FreeZim Communication Department