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PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa returned home from a highly successful trip to Eastern Europe on Monday night to a nation that has been through a tumultuous time in the wake of violent protests and terror attacks perpetrated by marauding gangs of youths at the instigation of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and civil society groups aligned to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The President, who had to cut short his engagements in Europe where he was supposed to attend the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was shocked at the extent of the violence, wanton destruction of property, looting of shops, police stations and loss of lives that characterised the three-day stay away which began on Monday last week and ended on Wednesday.

In a message posted on his Twitter page, President Mnangagwa said he was foregoing the Davos leg of his trip to return home and attend to the economic situation in the country.

“In light of the economic situation, I will be returning home after a highly productive week of bilateral trade and investment meetings. We will be ably represented in Davos by the Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube. The first priority is to get Zimbabwe calm, stable and working again”, the President said.

On Monday, he concluded his engagements with a meeting with his Kazakhstani counterpart, President Nursultan Nazarbayev before departing for Harare.

On arrival, the President said he was happy that the country was now peaceful following a few days of opposition-led violence that resulted in loss of lives, injury and damage to property.

President Mnangagwa said: “I will be fully briefed … on what was happening. I am happy that the country is quiet. Our people must concentrate on doing their work. The thrust is economic development; we must grow our economy.

“We want peace, we want unity among our people. There are channels for complaints if anyone has any complaints. This is the spirit and culture that we want as Zimbabweans to be developed.”

Yesterday morning, President Mnangagwa reiterated his message of peace, unity and reconciliation with a post on his microblogging sites, Facebook and Twitter in which he implored Zimbabweans of all persuasions and political affiliation to put their differences aside and work for national development.

He wrote: “One week ago, I announced measures to stabilise our nation’s crucial fuel supply. I was aware that these measures may not be popular, and this was not a decision we took lightly”.

He continued: “But it was the right thing to do. What followed was regrettable and tragic. Everyone has a right to protest, but this was not a peaceful protest. Wanton violence and cynical destruction; looting police stations, stealing guns and uniforms; incitement and threats of violence. This is not the Zimbabwean way”.

He said there would be no sacred cows in the quest to find those who were part of the mayhem which happened last week.

“Likewise, violence or misconduct by our security forces is unacceptable and a betrayal of the new Zimbabwe. Chaos and insubordination will not be tolerated. Misconduct will be investigated. If required, heads will roll. I invite leaders of all political parties as well as religious and civil leaders to set aside our differences and come together. What unites us is stronger than what could ever divide us. Let’s begin a national dialogue. Let’s put the economy first. Let’s put the people first”, President Mnangagwa said.

Indeed, Zimbabweans need to put events of last week behind them and work towards finding solutions to the multiplicity of problems confronting the nation.

Last week’s carnage is regrettable and should never be repeated but the culprits behind the looting, destruction of property and other heinous crimes need to be held accountable with the full wrath of the law being brought to bear upon them.

We are glad that the wheels have begun to move against some of them with two of the suspects involved in the murder of policeman Constable Alexio Maune who was stoned to death in Njube suburb of Bulawayo, being brought to court on Monday.

We also salute Zimbabweans for ignoring calls for another stay away which was supposed to begin on Monday by turning up for work, attending school and going about their normal business as usual.

The country needs to move forward and as President Mnangagwa said, there will be unpopular decisions made to correct anomalies in the economy but these should be taken in the context of short term pain for long term prosperity.

There are no short cuts to economic turnaround and Zimbabweans must be prepared to endure some painful economic prescriptions now for a bright future.

In the interim, we implore them to take the President’s words to heart.

Let’s preserve the prevailing peace and work together for economic prosperity. Let’s find each other as Zimbabweans, talk frankly about the problems affecting the nation and find solutions together. None but ourselves will do it.