Mugabe needs help

President Robert Mugabe's government urgently needs to engage external parties and well-wishers to help fix the economy, economists and a British-based think tank have said.

This comes as opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a multi-stakeholder national dialogue on the economy and also growing concerns about the 90-year-old president's health - key in driving these national programmes.

In a report titled "Zimbabwe's international re-engagement: The long haul to recovery", London-based Chatham House (Chatham) says that the Zanu-PF government cannot single-handedly resuscitate the economy.

"The government… cannot reinvigorate the economy and this will require a truly national effort that - even if is temporarily - brings together political parties, economic and social stakeholders in a collective effort to address the economic crisis. Otherwise, all the parties will lose credibility," the independent policy institute says.

On the other hand, Chatham says while the country's economic problems were daunting, they were not insurmountable and could only be solved or addressed through cooperative efforts with donors, and such other stakeholders.

Crucially, the United Kingdom-based organisation says Mugabe should work towards "consensual or bipartisan politics" in a bid to arrest the terminal decline and hopes to cure the myriad socio-economic challenges facing the country.

However, Zanu-PF has outrightly dismissed calls for dialogue to save the economy - describing Tsvangirai, who was in a four-year uneasy coalition with Zanu-PF until last year, as a "daydreamer" desperately trying to worm his way back into government and enjoy the attendant perks.

Godfrey Kanyenze, a local economist, told the Daily News yesterday that the idea of a national dialogue was a powerful tool that could yield positive results.

"That is a very creative method… (and) that (could) help us to celebrate our diversity in a polarised environment such as ours. It is a plausible approach… to determine our future together. So, it is important for all stakeholders to get involved in the national discourse," he said.

Another socio-economic commentator John Robertson says the country would improve its credit rating and reduce political risk by re-joining such elite clubs as the Commonwealth.

"The Commonwealth is a linkage of people who have set guidelines and look for a behaviour pattern considered good, and worthy of praise," he said.

"It would be an advantage for Zimbabwe if the country is considered worthy to be a member. If we want to be taken seriously by the international community, then we have to associate with serious countries as well," Robertson says.

However, others believe the country's economic fortunes cannot be tied to good behaviour and policies as well as associations with groupings such as the Commonwealth.

Christopher Mugaga, an economist, argues that Zimbabwe should actually seek to strengthen ties with other economic blocs such as Brics, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and Southern Africa Development Community since it has won more investment from these regions when its relations with the West soured.

While Chatham urges the Western countries to re-engage Zimbabwe and not to wait for a change in the country's stewardship, it also says Mugabe's Zanu-PF must swallow its pride and seek re-engagement in international business, and diplomatic forums.

Essentially, the London-based institution says the former guerrilla movement must learn from its mistakes and acknowledge that "the country's future will be increasingly determined by its own tactical decisions".

And just as MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti has warned the current malaise was fertile ground for upheavals, Chatham also says the current situation was potentially problematic if government does not speedily move to resolve these problems and institute reforms.

"Zimbabwe cannot be examined in isolation from its regional context. There is a growing underclass in southern Africa and, if the crisis of poverty is not speedily addressed, this could increase political instability.

"Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries are advocating a regional ‘renaissance' and promoting the region-brand," it said.

The report also warns that government, opposition political parties and civil society risk losing credibility if they do not reform and renew themselves in the post-inclusive government era.

"The post-GNU political landscape has changed, and Zimbabwe's opposition and civil society will have to undergo a period of reform and renewal to remain effective," the report says.

Chatham observed that the real challenge for Zimbabwean politics is not simply electoral democracy but to create an atmosphere for genuine participatory democracy, "failure of which will result in an increasingly apathetic public withdrawing from electoral processes which they see as irrelevant."

And to avert an economic collapse, Zimbabwe should adopt policies to build international business confidence, improve its human rights record and reform electoral laws that have been a source of friction between Zanu-PF and opposition parties, it said.

And even, though, Mugabe and his 50-year-old party remain defiant, concerns abound regarding the 90-year-old leader's health, especially in the wake of his problematic eyes.

At the Independence Day celebrations last Friday, the Zanu-PF leader appeared to be struggling with his eyes and this coming after a cataract operation in Singapore in February.

Even before the latest setback, Mugabe's future has always been the subject of debate in Zimbabwe.

The Zanu-PF strongman is stubbornly confronted by a slowing economy and the latest scare has raised new questions about his ability to lead the country.

As such, jockeying for his post - by new and old factions - has intensified.