Indigenisation project is here to stay, there is no going back

TWO significant events that might change people's perceptions of the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme unfolded in the country over the past week.

The first key event was the Zanu-PF Strategic Planning Conference where party heavyweights, including Politburo and Central Committee members as well as provincial, youth and women's leadership and other provincial delegates, gathered to assess opportunities in various economic sectors and to develop strategies on how to tap them for wider economic development for communities.

The event was also graced by economic experts from across the country with diverse representation of key business groups in Zimbabwe. These experts endorsed the indigenisation programme and, more importantly, offered their advice and suggestions on how to implement it successfully.

This strategic planning conference on indigenisation and economic empowerment was a milestone event for a number of reasons that I articulate here.

Firstly, the conference was not a mere talk shop on indigenisation as has been happening at other events. The workshop did not discuss what indigenisation and empowerment is nor did it discuss whether it was the right time or not to implement the programme.

Neither did the conference deliberate on whether funds were available to finance the programme. The conference focused on opportunities in various economic sectors and developed practical and actionable strategies on how to tap into them.

The respective ministers present laid bare the opportunities for indigenous people in their portfolios and suggestions on how these could be harnessed.

Expert advice was then provided on the feasibility of these suggestions. Delegates combined their intellectual acumen to come up with a workable strategic plan for indigenising the economy, empowering thousands of Zimbabweans in the process.

Secondly, the conference was significant in that it demonstrated uniformity and collectivity in Zanu-PF as far as implementing the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme is concerned.

Led by party chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, all senior party leaders were in Vumba, placing on record their undivided support for the programme.

There was no ambiguity.
There was no equivocation.
There were no apologies.

All the leaders were loud and clear in declaring that indigenisation was the flagship policy of Zanu-PF and it is going to be implemented to its last conclusion without fear or favour.

Delegates from across the provinces echoed the readiness of millions of Zimbabweans across the country to endorse, support and, more importantly, participate in the economic empowerment programme.

Therefore, the conference played a watershed role in dispelling the tired misconception that the indigenisation programme has little or no support in Zanu-PF and, indeed, across the country.

The gathering proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the programme is not Minister Saviour Kasukuwere's lonely walk into the wilderness, but, in fact, is a mass movement of citizens and their leaders into

Zimbabwe's economic paradise, owned and controlled by indigenous people.

In addition to the mass support for indigenisation demonstrated at Vumba, President Mugabe has consistently voiced his support for and endorsement of the programme, actually giving a clear lead on how it should be implemented without failure.

The second significant event that highlights the progress that has been made in implementing the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme is the official launch of the community share ownership scheme by President Mugabe at Zimplats last Thursday.

The launch shows that the indigenisation wagon is rolling and there is no going back. It shows Government's commitment to bring dividends from the national cake to a wider variety of its citizens.

It shows the doubting Thomases that, indeed, the programme is well planned and implementable for the benefit of the masses of the country.

The launch of the community share scheme at Zimplats provides a clear signpost of what the majority of Zimbabweans should expect in their communities if they nail their mast to the programme and endorse the implementation of other people-oriented programmes without the unnecessary hindrance of conflicting and discordant voices from other partners to the Global Political Agreement.

The only challenge is for those running the Zimplats Community Trust to repay the unqualified support of indigenisation from President Mugabe and senior party leaders and the energy invested by Minister Kasukuwere and his team by administering the trust professionally, ensuring it fully benefits the wider Mhondoro-Ngezi community as anticipated.

The trust provides a clear litmus test that will make or break the programme. Hence, its success, as the pioneering example of the benefits of the indigenisation and economic empowerment programme, should be guaranteed.

Therefore, the consensus coming out of the Vumba conference plus the tangible beneficiation event, as demonstrated by the launch of the Zimplats Community Trust, has given the necessary impetus the indigenisation programme needed to be rolled out throughout the country.

Zimbabweans from all walks of life should now come out of their shells to support and participate in the programme. Otherwise, history and future generations will judge them harshly for missing the golden opportunity to transform the economic character of Zimbabwe forever.

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Kurai Masenyama is a local economic analyst.