Herald
3 November 2009
Opinion/Editorial
Harare — When it was suggested early this year that Zimbabwe should bid to host the Cosafa tournament many thought it would be a waste of money.
After all, this was at a time when Zimbabwe was desperate for cash and it did not appear wise to spend more than a million United States dollars on a soccer tournament when the Government could not even pay civil servants’ salaries.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart was among those that thought there were more pressing needs elsewhere.
He was right, except that he and others in the Cabinet had not fully considered the benefits of investing in the country’s image and in cultivating a spirit of togetherness.
But once convinced, they all worked tirelessly to produce what is arguably one of the best Cosafa tournaments in history.
With hindsight even the doubters will now agree that it was the right decision.
This was our mini-World Cup and a good test run for our ambitions to play host to a number of teams and their supporters who will be participating in next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
Winning the Cosafa Cup, as Zimbabwe did on Sunday, was a big bonus. Zimbabwe had already won by showing its organisational abilities and putting on display its hospitality.
Commenting on the success, President Mugabe, who attended the final, said: “We are delighted to have won the Cosafa Senior Men’s Challenge trophy and the fact of that victory means that we are back to the top. But we hope that this means that society is united in every way . . . politically, economically and socially for positive results in the country.”
This was echoed by Cosafa president Suletu Patel, who said: “It’s the best Cosafa that I have seen and you have to pay tribute to the Zimbabweans who made it such a success and worked very hard. We have just seen the product that comes when an entire nation works hard, hand in hand, to make sure that everything is a success . . .”
Which brings us to the question: if we can unite to put up such a spectacular sporting event, why can’t we do the same in the other sectors of our economy as well as socially and politically?
This is perhaps the frustration that the President felt when he saw the Warriors winning on the field and the whole nation rallying behind them, yet Zimbabweans fail to do so when it matters most — our economy.
There are lessons that can be drawn from our Cosafa success. The power of agreement was made manifest in the hosting of Cosafa. When people agree with their leaders that they need to succeed in a particular venture nothing can stop them. The enemy only wins when he succeeds in driving a wedge between a group of people that are failing to solidly rally behind a cause they consider noble and worth dying for.
Zimbabweans sang the national anthem as one and waved the Zimbabwean flag with amazing gusto on Sunday. Spiritually, mentally and physically they were all engrossed in what they wanted to see happening — victory for Zimbabwe.
So there is every reason for our leaders to continue to work for unity in whatever sphere of influence they are placed. Once they succeed in getting Zimbabweans to pursue a shared vision then success is guaranteed.
Recently there was a stakeholders’ conference on the so-called Vision 2040, but no trans-visioning was done. Very few people have bought into it and getting them to be excited about it is an impossible task. It will go the same way as Vision 2020.
Yet when there is something that people understand and the enemy is shut out, amazing progress is achieved. Our soccer victory is a case in point.
Our soccer administrators, coaches and players have taken a lot of flak for previous failures but this time round they did us proud. We rejoice in our achievements.
What made it sweeter was that we convincingly triumphed over a technically superior Zambian side.
Now that we are the champions of the region we should build on that success. This must be a new standard for us below which we must never fall. Instead we have higher standards in the form of the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup to aim for.