Opinion / Columnist
The goverment must wake up and smell the coffee
02 Dec 2018 at 10:04hrs | Views
It's so painful and sad for the citizens of zimbabwe. Zanu pf won 29 July harmonised election with a small margin and most of their votes came from the rural areas. Zanu pf campaigned vehemently in rural areas and vote buying was so pervasive. On top of that they promised to turn around the economy. Currently they have nothing to show except the economic woes that are hiting the country left , right and center.The rural folks they actuallly voted for the current government in power. Zanu pf promised to tranform the country into a middle income economy. After elections all promises are forgotten and the winners takes all. From the day the new government started to work everything started to turn up side down .
Zimbabwe crises is now hitting the ground breaking point . food hikes are now the order of the day.Some shops are even demanding exhortabitant prices for example the cooking oil which is tagged at $8 bond right now but the same 2 litre bottle was traded at 3.50 only 3 months ago. This shows that our economy is shrinking. As for those who have US dollar they can buy cooking oil for $3.50 , $3 respectively.
To make the matters worse the government of zimbabwe is refusing to accept the reality. They are claiming to be on top of the situation but queueing cars for fuel are all over the country .The government is betraying its people and use propaganda to burry the reality.
Predicaments on the hands of zimbabweans are attributed to introduction of bond note. The whole hullaballoo started in 2014 when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe decided to introduce the bond note as a solution to the shortage of change , then the government introduced bond coins. The plan worked very well. As that was not enough, the RBZ went further again but that time it was bond notes. Civil society organisations worked tirelessly to curb the government from introducing the bond note but that move was ignored despite all the effects concerning bond notes they presented before the governor. They went on to promise that the bond note will definitely work. The governor of RBZ is even on the public record of vowing to retire in the event that the bond note failed to work. Yes the bond note has failed even the minister of finance admitted that.
What the future hold right now, all the US dollars disappeared. The only place where one can find the USD is the black market. The bad money always chase the good money. Bond note is not only the problem the country have but corruption, maladministration respectively. The government has a lot to do in order to turn around the situation.
Zimbabwe has been turned to be the hive of bad governance. Some of our government entities need to be reformed. As for the start we need to engage the private players to run the public enterprises that are not performing very well for certain period of time. For example giving the Zimbabwe national Rails to private players for 20 or 25 years. The contract will be made according to how they calculate their costs and the expected profit. After a certain period of time, private company have to return back the property to the government. There are a plethora countries that developed through that way for example Turkey. In 2000 turkey was more like Zimbabwe but when the new government came to power they worked hard to introduce some positive reforms, chief among them was the idea of privatisation , decentralisation , devolution just to mention but a few . It's high time for the government to put their tools together and decide in the boardroom that the moment has ripe for Zimbabwe to shine. Zimbabwe can shine with right minds, right intentions and right direction.
The government of Zimbabwe is supposed to respect the rule of law. The foreign direct investment can be attracted by respect of the constitution of the land. The game of partisan within the courts must be forgotten and start afresh to be the real champions of democracy. The principle of separation of power need to be installed in our country. Investors need robust laws that can guarantee the safety of their investment in the country. Kagame government is doing well in making the conducive environment for the investors. They deserve some rounds of applauds for that. Zimbabwe can also manage to do the same if our leaders change the system of thuggish.
For Zimbabweans what matters currently is the bread and butter issues. Turning the country to its glorious days of 1990s. The country is bleeding and crying to be the jewellery of Africa again.
Tolexy is a student of International Relations at Uludag University in Turkey. He can be contacted on mhupile@gmail.com.
Zimbabwe crises is now hitting the ground breaking point . food hikes are now the order of the day.Some shops are even demanding exhortabitant prices for example the cooking oil which is tagged at $8 bond right now but the same 2 litre bottle was traded at 3.50 only 3 months ago. This shows that our economy is shrinking. As for those who have US dollar they can buy cooking oil for $3.50 , $3 respectively.
To make the matters worse the government of zimbabwe is refusing to accept the reality. They are claiming to be on top of the situation but queueing cars for fuel are all over the country .The government is betraying its people and use propaganda to burry the reality.
Predicaments on the hands of zimbabweans are attributed to introduction of bond note. The whole hullaballoo started in 2014 when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe decided to introduce the bond note as a solution to the shortage of change , then the government introduced bond coins. The plan worked very well. As that was not enough, the RBZ went further again but that time it was bond notes. Civil society organisations worked tirelessly to curb the government from introducing the bond note but that move was ignored despite all the effects concerning bond notes they presented before the governor. They went on to promise that the bond note will definitely work. The governor of RBZ is even on the public record of vowing to retire in the event that the bond note failed to work. Yes the bond note has failed even the minister of finance admitted that.
What the future hold right now, all the US dollars disappeared. The only place where one can find the USD is the black market. The bad money always chase the good money. Bond note is not only the problem the country have but corruption, maladministration respectively. The government has a lot to do in order to turn around the situation.
Zimbabwe has been turned to be the hive of bad governance. Some of our government entities need to be reformed. As for the start we need to engage the private players to run the public enterprises that are not performing very well for certain period of time. For example giving the Zimbabwe national Rails to private players for 20 or 25 years. The contract will be made according to how they calculate their costs and the expected profit. After a certain period of time, private company have to return back the property to the government. There are a plethora countries that developed through that way for example Turkey. In 2000 turkey was more like Zimbabwe but when the new government came to power they worked hard to introduce some positive reforms, chief among them was the idea of privatisation , decentralisation , devolution just to mention but a few . It's high time for the government to put their tools together and decide in the boardroom that the moment has ripe for Zimbabwe to shine. Zimbabwe can shine with right minds, right intentions and right direction.
The government of Zimbabwe is supposed to respect the rule of law. The foreign direct investment can be attracted by respect of the constitution of the land. The game of partisan within the courts must be forgotten and start afresh to be the real champions of democracy. The principle of separation of power need to be installed in our country. Investors need robust laws that can guarantee the safety of their investment in the country. Kagame government is doing well in making the conducive environment for the investors. They deserve some rounds of applauds for that. Zimbabwe can also manage to do the same if our leaders change the system of thuggish.
For Zimbabweans what matters currently is the bread and butter issues. Turning the country to its glorious days of 1990s. The country is bleeding and crying to be the jewellery of Africa again.
Tolexy is a student of International Relations at Uludag University in Turkey. He can be contacted on mhupile@gmail.com.
Source - Tolexy
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