Government interventions are aimed at economic revival

We hear that a shadowy pastor called Evan Mawarire has once again released a video giving Government an ultimatum to act on a number of issues, failure of which he said he would summon another shutdown.

Mawarire raised a number of frivolous issues he wants addressed before he unleashes the so-called shutdown.

Among other things the overzealous clergyman called on Government to fight corruption, reverse the Statutory Instrument 64, remove road blocks and cancel the proposed introduction of bond notes.

Hijacking a strike by civil servants who were protesting against the delayed payment of salaries, Mawarire drew a false sense national influence and stole some mileage, believing he could sway Government policies and chart the destiny of the country.

He assumes this larger than life character, he now flexes around for his own selfish political ends and poses as if Government is not doing anything to resolve economic challenges facing the country.

For the purpose of dispelling this thinking that Government is doing nothing towards addressing issues raised by Mawarire, this article would seek to highlight huge strides being made by Government to resolve the challenges.

On corruption, it is in the public record that the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Corruption (ZACC) has an ongoing blitz whose nets has entrapped public officials like the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Patrick Mavhura, whose case of graft is currently before the courts.

Other public officials who have been ensnared include seven senior officials in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development who were sniffed out by the Office of the Auditor and Comptroller General and fired for conniving with suppliers and other third parties to defraud Government of thousands of dollars.

Also Government has demonstrated its untiring determination to eradicate corruption by removing the ZACC from the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs and strategically placing it under the direct control of the Office of President and Cabinet.

Under this arrangement, there will be no sacred cows to be spared when it comes to fighting corruption as all perpetrators would be brought to book.

All these anti-graft interventions would comprehensively beef up Government's efforts to eradicate the scourge of graft and boost efforts to rebuild the economy.

Regarding the Statutory Instrument 64 that restricts imports into the country, Mawarire is misleading people to believe that the measures are counter-productive and harmful to their wellbeing yet the opposite is true.

Without taking the partisan view of Mawarire, the SI64 is a commendable intervention by Government to stem the vast inflow of foreign products into the country at the detriment of locally produced commodities.

Because of technological variations and differing production environments, local goods have been finding it hard to compete with foreign products on a level plain field.

Local products have been outmanouvred by the cheaply produced imports from China and South Africa, leaving local producers limping and failing to increase capacity or sustain their operations.

Faced with such challenges, what else would Government have done but to protect local industry and jobs by introducing measures aimed at reducing the import bill and stem the flow of foreign products?

The restrictions brought about by the SI64 are well-intended and could result in increased industrial production and creation of more jobs for the people.

Already, a similar intervention in the cooking oil sector resulted in the increased production of local oils and a subsequent reduction in the importation of foreign cooking oils.

On bond notes, it is clear that those opposed to the monetary instruments are doing so for political convenience and not from an informed view point.

Although detractors like Mawarire would like to give an impression that the bond notes are going to be directly injected into the economy, nothing can further be from the truth.

Both notes are going to be introduced as a five percent incentive to exporters and only injected whenever local producers sell their products to foreign country.

The quantum of bond notes introduced would be proportional to the quantity of commodities exported from the country.

With the current depressed export bill, the amount of bond notes introduced into circulation would be so minimal and unnoticed hence there is no need to raise any alarm among the populace.

It is clear that both the SI64 and the bond notes are focused at jump starting local industries to enable them to contribute towards the country's economic revival.

As for road blocks, the Police last week announced that they are going to significantly cut their presence on roads, therefore there is no need to further kick more dust on the issue.

With these efforts in mind, it is clear that Government is fully engaged in programmes to address all socio-political and economic challenges that were triggered by illegal sanctions imposed by the West.

Mawarire should therefore be ashamed to shroud his political intentions by claiming to be fighting Government's alleged inaction.

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Charity Maodza <maodzac@yahoo.com