Government must consult policy makers (us) before making key decisions

I'm very disappointed with the way this current regime is handling policy matters. We are in this current mess because of policy inconsistency. We have a big problem in Zimbabwe, and it seems some people somewhere they don't want to appreciate that there are policy makers out there who can do this job for free in order to save our country from further embarrassment. We are in real trouble, and I believe someone is benefitting from this loot. All these people they are concerned with lining their pockets at the expense of this nation. We have a challenge and we must admit that indeed we have failed and then we take it from there. We have lost billions of dollars from fake investors who are after shady deals. Policy makers are there to advise the Government on how best they can do business. To run a country is not an easy task therefore it needs a business mind with people at heart. With the way things are happening in our country, I'm not sure whether this regime is still consulting anyone.

Special Economic Zone Board Is a None Entity
I was looking at the current board which was appointed by the President to deal with the economic affairs of this country. The idea was good but it was not a good timing and at the same time the figures who are occupying the board have questionable credentials. I've a problem when I see Gideon Gono's hands near economic issues, I feel like vomiting as a policy maker because Gono messed up big time. We are in this mess because of people like Gono. My question will then be people like Gono what will they contribute towards the rebuilding of this country. He left a debt amounting to 1.6 billion for RBZ and up to now nobody knows what happened for RBZ to have such kind of debt. We have people like Mary Mubaiwa Chiwenga the wife of Defence Commander. My question is what qualification does Mary have to sit in that board? An economic board of that nature must have academics, economists and policy makers who are non-partisan, who have the country at heart. We kindly advise the Government of Zimbabwe to disband that board because for now it is not necessary to have such boards, what is needed for now is to come up with stern measures to deal with the economy. As long as our policies are not in good shape we are wasting our time. Any investor who is willing to partner with the current regime will first review the current policies in this country.

Harare - Beitbridge Chirundu Project
This project is a big disappointment. I was going through the paper work from someone. Do we really have leadership in this country? How did ZANU PF Government arrive at the figure of 1.4 billion (UNITED STATES DOLLAR)? Where is the bill of quantity? Who did the feasibility studies? This is incorrect. We have already a dying economy and such kind of loot will further plunge the country into further collapse. I believe the idea is good, and the Government should do a good job to disclose all the figures in a Government gazette and inform the nation how they arrived on such figures and at the same time we have youths in this country, we have war veterans, we have graduates who are not employed, how will they benefit from these contracts. There is need for the parliament of Zimbabwe to summon the minister of transport to explain the circumstances surrounding this deal. This is a big worry to all Zimbabweans considering the unemployment rate in this country and the current state of our economy.

Air Zimbabwe Deal
This came as a shock that Air Zimbabwe purchased planes from Malaysia and this came as a big surprise. The most disgusting thing is that air Zimbabwe is owing a lot of creditors' money and at the same time these are second hand planes that have been offloaded by the Malaysian airline. My question is then what benefit do we have to those second class planes? This is very worrying considering that this is involving public funds from the Government of Zimbabwe. What is important for now is to set measures (policies) that should lure investors in order to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI). How much was used to purchase these planes? Who made this approval? Who was consulted? Which are the key decisions that were made that made them to arrive to such a decision? We have over 75% of the population of people who are going to bed without any meal, yet someone is purchasing second class planes from Malaysia.

Where Is Dangotte?
One big worry is where is Zimbabwe going? Zimbabwe is now an empty shell with nothing. Most minerals have vanished and nothing has happened. We have Dangotte who expressed interest to invest in Zimbabwe, but as we speak we have no progress on this gentlemen. My big question what made Dangotte to be reluctant on investing in Zimbabwe? We have a serious policy problem in this country. Zimbabwe leaders should come up with a strategy to have policy dialogue with all stakeholders on the way forward to deal with the policy crisis. Dangotte has so far invested in more than 21 countries leaving out Zimbabwe which has serious political and economic questions.

I'm Suggesting Policy Dialogue
I have a strong conviction that the major challenge we have is policy inconsistency. We can have so many blue prints in this country but the major problem is inconsistency. No one is prepared to go to bed with ZANU PF for now in business until we have a clear policy frame work in the following areas

- Succession issue
- Mining sector
- Agriculture sector
- Infrastructure development sector
- Production sector
- Property rights
- Alignment of new laws
- Human rights issues

Summary of Harare Chirundu Beitbridge Road Project
Construction and dualisation project of the 897km Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu stretch is expected to cost entire US$2, 7 billion.

However, construction experts told this paper that considering the economic crisis the country finds itself in, rehabilitation of the road would have made economic sense than dualisation.

"The construction of the road is necessary, but at the moment it is not viable as the Transport master plan clearly states that what could be feasible is to rehabilitate the road like they did with the 820km Plumtree-Mutare highway which cost US$206 million without dualising," said the expert.

Even a government-commissioned report seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, titled The Transport Master Plan, which looked at a holistic picture of the transport sector, reveals that although the project is economically desirable, it is however uneconomic and unaffordable.

"Funding for roads should normally come from the national fiscus, but because of the economic difficulties experienced by Zimbabwe and with limited funding from multilateral financial institutions and bi-lateral foreign donors, funding for capital projects has been very limited in the past decade or more," reads the master plan.

Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the Head of MINDS which is responsible for policy analysis and research. He is an academic and researcher. He can be contacted at greaterminds@gmail.com