New Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has asked his country’s citizens to focus their energies on creatively leveraging available human and natural resources to steer growth and development, rather than on blaming the western sanctions for its failures.

Mnangagwa was addressing traditional leaders and chiefs in his country and has clearly shown his intentions to do away with old methods and excuses.

Paying homage to the country’s traditional leaders first, the new Zimbabwean leader says he intends to meet all stakeholders in the country. Next, he’ll meet captains of industry to try and find solutions to the country’s economic woes.

Mnangagwa also told leaders that former President Robert Mugabe will not be forgotten.

“We, as Zimbabweans, we have our elder statesman and we shall look after him. Mugabe! We shall look after him the best we can because he is our father,” says Mnangagwa.

But since Mnangagwa took over power from Mugabe late in 2017, there has been renewed pressure for the new government to deal with the massacres of Ndebele civilians carried out by the Zimbabwe National Army from early 1983 to late 1987.

These have come to be known as the Gukurahundi.

Some pressure groups want the new government to bring closure to the issue and it seems the new leader is paying attention.

“Justice and national healing and reconciliation throughout. We cannot progress when communities are in conflict. We must identify the conflicts and resolve them and move forward and develop. That is the aspiration of the new order. Only when the country is stable and is peaceful can we develop, can we focus on development; can we make sure that the younger generation, our own children can be supported to go to schools, to go to universities, to go abroad and bring back to Zimbabwe skills and technologies which are not available in the country.”

Mnangagwa says he is meeting with all SADC heads of states in order to brief them on the peaceful transition that has taken place in Zimbabwe.

So far, he has met with SADC Chair President Jacob Zuma and the new Angolian President Joao Lourenco, who chairs the organ on Politics, Defence and Security.

On Monday, Mnangagwa heads to Namibia then Mozambique before going to Zambia.

The new leader has also been invited to attend the World Economy Forum in Davos later in January, before he heads to the African Union Summit.