News / National
Zanu-PF battles stall government business
06 Nov 2014 at 10:13hrs | Views
INTERNECINE succession battles that have rocked Zanu-PF have stalled government business, damaging the country's frail economy and hurting prospects for recovery, analysts. Zanu-PF is locked in a bitter succession war that has engulfed its senior officials, some of whom have been accused of plotting to unseat President Robert Mugabe who turns 91 in four months.
President Mugabe insists he will complete his term of office which ends in 2018 after re-election last year, but there have been manoeuvres within the party by members to position themselves or their preferred candidates to succeed him in the event that he quits.
Resultantly, business has ground to a halt with State-owned enterprises abandoning their turnaround strategies to focus on developments within the ruling party. Economists said Zanu-PF politicians were advancing personal interests while the economy suffers.
Economist, John Robertson, told the Financial Gazette that Zanu-PF politicians were not certain of the future in the event that President Mugabe exited from the scene, forcing them into factional fights reportedly pitting Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa against Vice President Joice Mujuru, who had until recently been seen as the uncontested successor to President Mugabe.
"We are now in November but no one is talking about planting maize and other crops for food security. Except for tobacco, there is no other crop that is being talked about. It will only lead to more imports," said Robertson. He said Zimbabwe was not generating enough money from a shrinking export base when, sadly, the import bill was growing.
He said politicians were to blame for the economic mess in the country. "With the current situation, potential investors will look elsewhere and we are the biggest losers," he said.
Economist, Joseph Sagwati, said the political bickering had undermined economic recovery. "To a large extent, our political and economic fortunes are tied to this internecine conflict and (economic) deliverables are dependent on their speedy resolution," said Sangwati.
"The continuation of this paralysis creates a hazy picture on policy direction as it keeps the nation guessing on who is in or who has been vanquished. It is understandable when bickering is between two parties like in the GNU (government of national unity) that are diametrically opposite, but not for a single governing political party to engage in such (acts). It is detrimental to the entire national developmental discourse," he said.
Commenting on when this in likely to end, Sagwati said: "It will be defined by the vociferousness of the belligerents on the agenda of who to exterminate. As in all battles parties can resolve to end hostilities or continue fighting until death. For the good of the country I feel an immediate cooperative engagement than fighting will serve Zanu-PF and the economy better.
In a statement released Tuesday, Zanu-PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, said political fights bordering on factionalism had negatively affected business.
"Zanu-PF has over the past two weeks concentrated on dealing with factionalism which has caused unprecedented tension within the party and government," Gumbo said.
"Time has come to redirect to our main purpose and ensure that we chart the best economic way forward for the Zimbabwean people in line with our election pledges and consistent with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset)," he said.
"The ugly truth is that many of our people are struggling to make ends meet in the current economic climate. A sizeable number of our young people are unemployed and many families are desperately concerned about their general welfare," Gumbo said.
"The fact is that we are really faced with a desperate situation that calls for an urgent change of priorities. Equally the business community has borne the brunt of the current economic climate due to the liquidity challenges. Industries are operating below capacity," said Gumbo
Weak sentiment on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in response to the internal Zanu PF political fights has seen the market recording its biggest fall of the year last month. According to figures from the ZSE, the market recorded its biggest monthly fall this year after it tumbled -8,89 percent in October, surpassing the previous record loss of -7,13 percent recorded in March.
The mining index suffered its second biggest monthly fall after it lost 24,12 percent, slightly below the previous 2014 monthly record loss of 24,79 percent which was also recorded in March. October's overall turnover of US$28,2 million though low was however higher than the previous low of US$25,2 million recorded in July this year.
President Mugabe insists he will complete his term of office which ends in 2018 after re-election last year, but there have been manoeuvres within the party by members to position themselves or their preferred candidates to succeed him in the event that he quits.
Resultantly, business has ground to a halt with State-owned enterprises abandoning their turnaround strategies to focus on developments within the ruling party. Economists said Zanu-PF politicians were advancing personal interests while the economy suffers.
Economist, John Robertson, told the Financial Gazette that Zanu-PF politicians were not certain of the future in the event that President Mugabe exited from the scene, forcing them into factional fights reportedly pitting Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa against Vice President Joice Mujuru, who had until recently been seen as the uncontested successor to President Mugabe.
"We are now in November but no one is talking about planting maize and other crops for food security. Except for tobacco, there is no other crop that is being talked about. It will only lead to more imports," said Robertson. He said Zimbabwe was not generating enough money from a shrinking export base when, sadly, the import bill was growing.
He said politicians were to blame for the economic mess in the country. "With the current situation, potential investors will look elsewhere and we are the biggest losers," he said.
Economist, Joseph Sagwati, said the political bickering had undermined economic recovery. "To a large extent, our political and economic fortunes are tied to this internecine conflict and (economic) deliverables are dependent on their speedy resolution," said Sangwati.
"The continuation of this paralysis creates a hazy picture on policy direction as it keeps the nation guessing on who is in or who has been vanquished. It is understandable when bickering is between two parties like in the GNU (government of national unity) that are diametrically opposite, but not for a single governing political party to engage in such (acts). It is detrimental to the entire national developmental discourse," he said.
Commenting on when this in likely to end, Sagwati said: "It will be defined by the vociferousness of the belligerents on the agenda of who to exterminate. As in all battles parties can resolve to end hostilities or continue fighting until death. For the good of the country I feel an immediate cooperative engagement than fighting will serve Zanu-PF and the economy better.
In a statement released Tuesday, Zanu-PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, said political fights bordering on factionalism had negatively affected business.
"Zanu-PF has over the past two weeks concentrated on dealing with factionalism which has caused unprecedented tension within the party and government," Gumbo said.
"Time has come to redirect to our main purpose and ensure that we chart the best economic way forward for the Zimbabwean people in line with our election pledges and consistent with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset)," he said.
"The ugly truth is that many of our people are struggling to make ends meet in the current economic climate. A sizeable number of our young people are unemployed and many families are desperately concerned about their general welfare," Gumbo said.
"The fact is that we are really faced with a desperate situation that calls for an urgent change of priorities. Equally the business community has borne the brunt of the current economic climate due to the liquidity challenges. Industries are operating below capacity," said Gumbo
Weak sentiment on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in response to the internal Zanu PF political fights has seen the market recording its biggest fall of the year last month. According to figures from the ZSE, the market recorded its biggest monthly fall this year after it tumbled -8,89 percent in October, surpassing the previous record loss of -7,13 percent recorded in March.
The mining index suffered its second biggest monthly fall after it lost 24,12 percent, slightly below the previous 2014 monthly record loss of 24,79 percent which was also recorded in March. October's overall turnover of US$28,2 million though low was however higher than the previous low of US$25,2 million recorded in July this year.
Source - fingaz
