Giving ZANU PF money is akin to funding 'terror'

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) notes the debate raised by the United States Senate Committee Chair on Foreign Relations, Senator Bob Corker's letter, to the Obama administration imploring them to veto any attempt to advance funding to Zimbabwe by the various international financial institutions which they sit on.

This comes on the wake of reports that Zimbabwe was very close to securing new lines of credit if it clears its US$1.8 billion arrears to the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The key reason for denying Zimbabwe any financial package is because the ZANU PF government has not undertaken any serious reforms in order to open the democratic space and restore the rule of law in the country.

After the reports of this move by the US Senate, there have been frenzied and desperate efforts from the ZANU PF government circles to try and water down the issues raised by Senator Corker. Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quick to try rubbish the recommendations of the US Senate Committee arguing that Senator Corker is out of sync with the true state of affairs in the country.

Chinamasa alleged that Zimbabwe was politically stable and they had restored the rule of law. He went on to argue, unconvincingly, that elections were being held in a free and fair manner. It never dawned to him that only an ignorant fool would believe his narrative of which the Americans and the international community are not.

What is lost to Chinamasa of course is that his party has continued to be violent as evidenced by various violent clashes which saw members of his party team up with the ZRP to assault opposition members in Harare South last year.

He is also oblivious to the recent gutting down of houses belonging to opposition supporters in Mashonaland East, the brutal clamp down of the police on civil servants protesting for bonuses and the indiscriminate assault of residents in Chitungwiza early this year.

That human rights activist Itai Dzamara is still missing for almost a year now while the ZANU PF government has displayed total disinterest and even hostility in addressing the matter, seems not to bother Chinamasa at all. The voters' roll of the disputed 2013 elections is still not out almost 3 years after the poll and all these irregularities are normal to Chinamasa.

ZANU PF has also been leading large scale demolitions of people's homes and land invasions continue unabated. The land audit and land commission provided for in the Constitution are yet to become a reality as ZANU PF is bent on protecting its top leaders who acquired multiple farms.

Outside the political environment, ZANU PF has shown its lack of commitment in creating an enabling environment for investment by remaining stuck with the Indigenization law which is scaring away investors and threatening business viability locally.

Furthermore, the Mugabe regime is still saddled by massive corruption which is costing the economy billions and impoverishing the ordinary people to the extent that 75% of the people live on less than a dollar per day. ZANU PF has done absolutely nothing to deal with the scourge of corruption and the country is still ranked among the top 20 most corrupt countries in the world.

Diamond mining is still being done behind a dark veil of opaqueness amid indications of heavy security sector involvement. Mining concessions are being granted to the Chinese and Russians without due Environmental Impact Assessments being carried out and thus endangering the environment and communities.

It is therefore evident that Mugabe's regime is far from reforming but is desperate for money hence its attempt to hoodwink the international financial institutions into thinking that it is committed to reforms. Giving credit lines to ZANU PF would be akin to supporting a terror group in the mould of ISIS.

Any financial aid must be advanced when the government has undertaken reforms to align laws to the new constitution, abide by the rule of law, create a free, fair and credible electoral playing field and above all respect fundamental human rights. The PDP argues that if these basic conditions are not met, any financial package would only prop up a desperate regime to continue its criminal rule.