Opinion / Columnist
Critical examination of the current affairs of this country
29 Dec 2017 at 13:34hrs | Views
It is very important to take a mirror and go through all events throughout the year and have a reflection on political and economic events before we have a shutdown of 2017. Before we come to the year-end I find it worthy to go through some of the critical areas affecting our nation as we go through rough patches of the economy. It is good for the nation to be updated of various areas of circumstances surrounding the economy and political affairs of this country. While we may have little celebration over change of leadership but we may have several grey areas which the president must clarify to the nation and at the same time, highlighting some critical areas which may need consultation before implementation. Whilst we have great appreciation of good start but implementation is very important and strategic.
Hike in Prices of Basic Commodities
We wait to see the President putting a firm hand on the ground to deal with these unscrupulous criminals who are bent on destroying the image of our country. It is also very important to have a critical examination on the issue of productivity in our country. As a nation we are not producing anything sufficient to balance our economic tag and it is very difficult to balance our revenue consolidate fund and also revenue collection. Zimbabwe of the recent part it has not been performing well in terms of production. I would suggest that instead of the President having a round table with captains of industry and manufacturers why can't he also include academics and policy makers on the ground. Even opposition and economic think tanks are also important. We are on the ground and we have seen what is happening, solving economic issues is not one man band it needs collective effort. Hiking prices is a sign of disrespect to the leadership that was sworn in constitutionally and this should be condemned.
Cabinet Appointments
Cabinet appointments do not reflect inclusiveness and I repeat something ought to be done and it's never too late to deal with such matters. For example women and youths were left out and no explanation was given to people by the President. The President must come out openly and be genuine to the nation and give substantive reasons why he left out women and youth representation in the cabinet. I was going through names of ministers, one of the guys I admire mostly is Ziyambi Ziyambi, and he meant business, quite young, eloquent and very neutral. His performance in terms of state duties he has done tremendously well. However there are some grey areas in some appointments which the President must take care of such as home affairs, labor, and youth's and sports. The president ought to do something. Finance portfolio partially he was not the right person but we may forgive him since he was working with Mugabe, we may want to see if it was Mugabe or it was him who had a problem. Remember the President talked about calling a spade a spade on the issue of corruption how come there are some people in the cabinet who were found wanting on some areas, and up to date nothing has happened.
Selective Application of the Law
The President is moving with a good pace but at the moment people are raising eyebrows whether it was a factional fight between G40 and Lacoste. Most of the guys who have been arrested belonged to members of the G40 cabal and no Lacoste member has been arrested so far, and my question is that is this a genuine operation or it is a selective application of the law. We request the President to weed out all criminal elements in the Government then we can read from the same manuscript.
Opposition in Zimbabwe
Currently I'm sorry to say this; as far as I'm concerned we don't have an opposition in this country. I know people may label me but facts remains the same. A genuine opposition should be offering checks and balance in every move that Government makes. Right now Zanu PF is enjoying the monopoly because we have a sleeping opposition. If you look at the current crop of opposition leaders, one would wonder whether these cahoots were bought or not, they are never serious, they don't provide checks and balance, they are silent on serious matters of Governance. For example we have issues of appointments, they are silent, we have issues of corruption they are silent, we have issues of command agriculture they are silent, so one would then wonder whether they have joined Zanu PF or not. It is very healthy for every nation to have a stable opposition; it is not about acquiring state power but providing alternatives, checks and balances. Opposition's performance in 2018 is likely to cause serious defections. I don't the opposition performing well in 2018 unless they do something quickly. One major challenge we have in the opposition camp is that they don't want to be told the truth, come 2018 we are likely to have 2013 scenario where the opposition will simply cry foul from the terraces. Right now Madam Auxilia Mnagagwa is busy on the ground campaigning, meeting people whilst in the opposition they are busy fighting for political space. Zanu PF is on the ground, campaigning, talking to people in rural areas. As of late ZEC indicated that 80% of the people who registered are in rural areas and 20% are in urban areas. Instead of channeling resources in research and academic areas they are busy throwing stones at ZEC and Government.
Harare City Council
If you check very well for the past few weeks, most urban areas were receiving dirty water and it poses a risk to our society. What could be the problem? We need to be open minded on this issue. We have city fathers would are sleeping on duty. I think the electorate must decide on coming up with a new amendment to allow academics and people with technical expertise to run the affairs of all local Government authorities. Honestly let's have an introspective on the qualifications of city fathers. Some of them have good academic backgrounds, the mayor himself he has been in critical areas of governance, which I think I don't have problems with him, in fact he is one of the guys whom I have seen to be a mature person in terms of leadership but my problem is those who are part of the council. Most of the councilors don't have O level qualifications and how do you expect them to preside over budget issues when you don't even have a good and sound academic background? One the issue of service delivery the opposition might have problems in the forth coming elections. On the other part Zanu PF Government is the one in charge of the current affairs of this country, what have they done to improve the welfare of local authorities in Zimbabwe? Kasukuwere and Chombo were the most criminal persons in the local Government, amassing wealthy at the expense of the nation.
Mugabe's Exit Package
The exit package gazzeted by President Mnangagwa on the 27th of December 2017 sparked a lot of outrage in many circles of society. I was going through the list this morning, one by one; the first issue is 20 staff members for what? Does Mugabe need such a huge number? 2 secretaries for what? I would suggest one is enough. 3 top range vehicles, for what. Consciously I don't Mugabe is still aware of things that he does, so this will open a lot of cans of corruption. I thought one vehicle would be enough to allow him to move from one place to another. Two domestic workers, I think that one is quite fair because he needs someone to take care of domestic duties. Two waiters that one is justified because there are some diplomats who may still want to pay a courtesy call on the former President. On the issue of the salary, the percentage was not mentioned, and this is not good for the nation, President Mnangagwa was supposed to have gazetted the salary in percentage. For example in Zambia Kaunda and Rupiah Banda gets 80% salary of the current seating President. But on this one it was mentioned as a salary and this is not fair to tax payer's money. On the part of surviving spouse I don't agree with that clause because remember Grace Mugabe looted farm equipment, land, farms and assets including our diamond proceeds and why would extend such a gratitude to someone who destroyed our nation to that extend? Finally does the constitution allow President Mnangagwa to gazette that exit package without allowing ratification process from the parliament through an act of parliament since this involves public funds through consolidated revenue fund? I think lawyers should come on this one and help, I would suggest this issue should be raised through the high court and allow the current President to be answerable on this one, because this was supposed to go through the parliament and senate. Finally Mnagagwa may be preparing for his exit as well.
Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the head of Southern Institute of Policy Analysis and Research – SIPAR TRUST, which is responsible for policy analysis and research. He is also an academic and researcher. He holds a BA, MA from Solusi University, and he also holds a Masters of Development Studies from University of Lusaka, Zambia. He is currently enrolled at University of KwaZulu Natal University in South Africa (PhD in Development Studies). He is also an advisor to many financial and political institutions within and outside Zimbabwe. He can be contacted at southerninstitutepar@gmail.com.
Hike in Prices of Basic Commodities
We wait to see the President putting a firm hand on the ground to deal with these unscrupulous criminals who are bent on destroying the image of our country. It is also very important to have a critical examination on the issue of productivity in our country. As a nation we are not producing anything sufficient to balance our economic tag and it is very difficult to balance our revenue consolidate fund and also revenue collection. Zimbabwe of the recent part it has not been performing well in terms of production. I would suggest that instead of the President having a round table with captains of industry and manufacturers why can't he also include academics and policy makers on the ground. Even opposition and economic think tanks are also important. We are on the ground and we have seen what is happening, solving economic issues is not one man band it needs collective effort. Hiking prices is a sign of disrespect to the leadership that was sworn in constitutionally and this should be condemned.
Cabinet Appointments
Cabinet appointments do not reflect inclusiveness and I repeat something ought to be done and it's never too late to deal with such matters. For example women and youths were left out and no explanation was given to people by the President. The President must come out openly and be genuine to the nation and give substantive reasons why he left out women and youth representation in the cabinet. I was going through names of ministers, one of the guys I admire mostly is Ziyambi Ziyambi, and he meant business, quite young, eloquent and very neutral. His performance in terms of state duties he has done tremendously well. However there are some grey areas in some appointments which the President must take care of such as home affairs, labor, and youth's and sports. The president ought to do something. Finance portfolio partially he was not the right person but we may forgive him since he was working with Mugabe, we may want to see if it was Mugabe or it was him who had a problem. Remember the President talked about calling a spade a spade on the issue of corruption how come there are some people in the cabinet who were found wanting on some areas, and up to date nothing has happened.
Selective Application of the Law
The President is moving with a good pace but at the moment people are raising eyebrows whether it was a factional fight between G40 and Lacoste. Most of the guys who have been arrested belonged to members of the G40 cabal and no Lacoste member has been arrested so far, and my question is that is this a genuine operation or it is a selective application of the law. We request the President to weed out all criminal elements in the Government then we can read from the same manuscript.
Currently I'm sorry to say this; as far as I'm concerned we don't have an opposition in this country. I know people may label me but facts remains the same. A genuine opposition should be offering checks and balance in every move that Government makes. Right now Zanu PF is enjoying the monopoly because we have a sleeping opposition. If you look at the current crop of opposition leaders, one would wonder whether these cahoots were bought or not, they are never serious, they don't provide checks and balance, they are silent on serious matters of Governance. For example we have issues of appointments, they are silent, we have issues of corruption they are silent, we have issues of command agriculture they are silent, so one would then wonder whether they have joined Zanu PF or not. It is very healthy for every nation to have a stable opposition; it is not about acquiring state power but providing alternatives, checks and balances. Opposition's performance in 2018 is likely to cause serious defections. I don't the opposition performing well in 2018 unless they do something quickly. One major challenge we have in the opposition camp is that they don't want to be told the truth, come 2018 we are likely to have 2013 scenario where the opposition will simply cry foul from the terraces. Right now Madam Auxilia Mnagagwa is busy on the ground campaigning, meeting people whilst in the opposition they are busy fighting for political space. Zanu PF is on the ground, campaigning, talking to people in rural areas. As of late ZEC indicated that 80% of the people who registered are in rural areas and 20% are in urban areas. Instead of channeling resources in research and academic areas they are busy throwing stones at ZEC and Government.
Harare City Council
If you check very well for the past few weeks, most urban areas were receiving dirty water and it poses a risk to our society. What could be the problem? We need to be open minded on this issue. We have city fathers would are sleeping on duty. I think the electorate must decide on coming up with a new amendment to allow academics and people with technical expertise to run the affairs of all local Government authorities. Honestly let's have an introspective on the qualifications of city fathers. Some of them have good academic backgrounds, the mayor himself he has been in critical areas of governance, which I think I don't have problems with him, in fact he is one of the guys whom I have seen to be a mature person in terms of leadership but my problem is those who are part of the council. Most of the councilors don't have O level qualifications and how do you expect them to preside over budget issues when you don't even have a good and sound academic background? One the issue of service delivery the opposition might have problems in the forth coming elections. On the other part Zanu PF Government is the one in charge of the current affairs of this country, what have they done to improve the welfare of local authorities in Zimbabwe? Kasukuwere and Chombo were the most criminal persons in the local Government, amassing wealthy at the expense of the nation.
Mugabe's Exit Package
The exit package gazzeted by President Mnangagwa on the 27th of December 2017 sparked a lot of outrage in many circles of society. I was going through the list this morning, one by one; the first issue is 20 staff members for what? Does Mugabe need such a huge number? 2 secretaries for what? I would suggest one is enough. 3 top range vehicles, for what. Consciously I don't Mugabe is still aware of things that he does, so this will open a lot of cans of corruption. I thought one vehicle would be enough to allow him to move from one place to another. Two domestic workers, I think that one is quite fair because he needs someone to take care of domestic duties. Two waiters that one is justified because there are some diplomats who may still want to pay a courtesy call on the former President. On the issue of the salary, the percentage was not mentioned, and this is not good for the nation, President Mnangagwa was supposed to have gazetted the salary in percentage. For example in Zambia Kaunda and Rupiah Banda gets 80% salary of the current seating President. But on this one it was mentioned as a salary and this is not fair to tax payer's money. On the part of surviving spouse I don't agree with that clause because remember Grace Mugabe looted farm equipment, land, farms and assets including our diamond proceeds and why would extend such a gratitude to someone who destroyed our nation to that extend? Finally does the constitution allow President Mnangagwa to gazette that exit package without allowing ratification process from the parliament through an act of parliament since this involves public funds through consolidated revenue fund? I think lawyers should come on this one and help, I would suggest this issue should be raised through the high court and allow the current President to be answerable on this one, because this was supposed to go through the parliament and senate. Finally Mnagagwa may be preparing for his exit as well.
Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the head of Southern Institute of Policy Analysis and Research – SIPAR TRUST, which is responsible for policy analysis and research. He is also an academic and researcher. He holds a BA, MA from Solusi University, and he also holds a Masters of Development Studies from University of Lusaka, Zambia. He is currently enrolled at University of KwaZulu Natal University in South Africa (PhD in Development Studies). He is also an advisor to many financial and political institutions within and outside Zimbabwe. He can be contacted at southerninstitutepar@gmail.com.
Source - Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo
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