Hosia Mviringi
They saying that 'adversity is the mother of all inventions' could have never been more true and apt at any other moment for Zimbabwe than now.
Having gone for more than two decades under the York of illegal sanctions, Zimbabwe indeed needs to start living again, regardless if the adversity that faces it.
It might as well be that time when reason should triumph over absurdity.
Many analysts believe that after such a long time mourning, groaning and complaining over the illegal sanctions, it is now time for Zimbabwe to flip the coin and show the world fruits of resilience through innovation and hard work.
President Mnangagwa is on record as having declared earlier on in his Presidency that sanctions were not going to stop national economic advancement as the nation was determined to whether the storm without apology to the erstwhile oppressors who still seek a reversal of the land reform program.
The natural intuitive need for survival should naturally jolt the Zimbabwean creative mind to begin to search for solutions locally.
Speaking at DCK Farm on January 7, 2022, President Mnangagwa narrated the difficult journey that Zimbabwe has travelled since he took over leadership of the country as a result if the unjust economic blockade.
He narrated how the country was overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic when it was first discovered in 2019, and how Zimbabwe, being a sanctioned country found itself at the periphery of the world financial system, unable to qualify and ineligible for financial support from the world financial system.
And Zimbabwe, with it's health delivery system having been run down by economic sanctions, it would only spell doom for the poor citizens.
"We asked ourselves where to get the mitigatory supplies to deal with the pandemic given that the country is under comprehensive sanctions.
That is when we came up with the idea of Verify Engineering which would produce Medical Oxygen for our country," said the President.
When the President launched the Verify Engineering plant in Mutare in August 2019, it was a resolute resolve to take back the destiny of the country into the hands of it's owners.
Fulfilment of the 'Nyika inovakwa navene vayo' philosophy.
True to his word, and much to the excitement of the whole nation, the President officially received the first batch of Medical Oxygen at State House on January 6, 2022.
"Beginning yesterday (January 6, 2022), Zimbabwe is now self-sufficient when it comes to production and supply of Medical Oxygen," said the President to thunderous applause from the multitudes gathered at DCK Farm In the outskirts of the Midlands City of Kwekwe.
At 50 tonnes per day Oxygen production capacity, Verify Engineering, a pioneering manufacturer of Medical Oxygen in Zimbabwe is now capable of meeting local demand in three days.
This leaves a 26 day per month production capacity which can and will be channelled onto the export market.
Indeed this is a plausible achievement for a country suffering from a prolonged financial blockade that denies it access to international loans and technological support.
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, South Africa, which is the biggest regional economy, had the luxury to receive a generous grant of more than US$4 billion to help fight the effects of the pandemic.
Yet Zimbabwe had to go it alone and still come out tops as the country with the best Covid-19 vaccine acquisition and rollout record.
Innovation and resilience personified.
Indeed, to day Zimbabwe is still doing well in terms of managing infection and morbidity levels as compared to those countries that had a war chest of financial resources to fight the pandemic.
The country has not stopped and will not stop there when it comes to making things work for the country.
Against all odds, the country is now producing it's own cough syrup as a direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic to counter some of the symptoms that include severe cough.
"I gathered local Scientists from two universities, under the leadership of Professor Amon Murwira and they presented a budget for research and development of a home-grown medical remedy to the symptoms if Covid-19 such as coughing and sneezing. And Kosol was made possible," said the President.
In August 2021, the President launched this ground breaking product onto the Zimbabwean market as a direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic and as a self sustaining intervention.
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