Independence celebrations are a time of reflection of the past road we have travelled. It is a time to take stock of what we have achieved against the set objectives we set out to do.Looking back, there are a key achievement to our revolution.First, it was gaining our independence after a long and arduous journey which caused loss of tens of thousands, leaving others maimed and traumatised. The fact that we were able to gain our right to vote for a government of our choice and to rule ourselves as a free and sovereign independent state.The second achievement which is an ongoing struggle is to raise the standard of living for our people and there are a number of other outstanding achievements which have been recorded and these include access to education which has made Zimbabwe the most literate nation in Africa, with a highly educated human capital.Second to that, is access to heath where numerous hospitals and clinics were built right across the country including some of the most remote and backward areas and this has raised the mortality rate significantly.The third achievement is in the area of infrastructure development where we have invested heavily on our rail and road infrastructure making all our villages accessible. We have invested in telecommunications, making Zimbabwe one of the most ICT connected countries.Our expansion of the electrical grid into rural areas is at an advanced stage and ongoing, allowing for industrialisation to be spread to all corners of the country in line with our devolution policy.These in a nutshell are some of the achievements which are a testimony that as a country we have remained true to the goals and ambitions that were set by the gallant sons of Zimbabwe as they fought for our freedom and independence despite many different challenges such as drought induced setbacks and foreign engineered internal crisis, the people of Zimbabwe have courageously soldiered on to make sure that the goals of the revolution are achieved.