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WHEN the defeated Zimbabwean opposition party MDC-T said the winning Zanu-PF party was clueless on how to turn around the country’s economy, many dismissed the party as a bad loser.
Even before elections, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai said: “Zanu-PF is clueless and voting Zanu-PF will be retrogressive. The July 31 election is a choice between darkness and prosperity for generations and generations to come.”
Most people thought this was mere politicking and went ahead to overwhelmingly vote Zanu-PF back into power.
The MDC-T has however maintained its stance and is even planning to hold an emergency stakeholders’ meeting to save the economy from “clueless” Zanu-PF.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said: “Zanu-PF is clueless on how to tackle these problems and we need to see how this situation can be handled.”
This of course is dismissed by Zanu-P, with its secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa scoffing at the MDC-T allegations and describing the charges of an economic meltdown as “wishful thinking”.
Mutasa said: “It is very interesting. The position of the MDC-T has always been the same. Within (a) short period after the elections, they are already seeing the economy backwards. As Zanu-PF, we have an economic blueprint to get the economy out of the situation it is in, to make it better.”
Indeed, Zanu-PF has a very good economic blueprint called Zim Asset in short. It has all the right elements and points to all the areas that need to be sorted out.
The policy document is anchored on the continued use of the multi-currency regime - something business and the investing public has always advocated for.
There is even talk of reviewing indigenisation deals signed during the inclusive government, when antagonism was the order of the day.
Where did the diamond money go?
Despite all these good intentions as documented in Zim Asset, the biggest question has been where Zanu-PF will find the money to stimulate the economy and fund all the various projects.
The country’s revenue base is dwindling by the day, with company closures a common feature in the papers.
Shockingly, Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa has no clue on where the required funds will come from.
When many thought the country would now use diamond revenues to resuscitate the economy, especially after the lifting of sanctions on diamond trading by Antwerp, Chinamasa shocked all and sundry by admitting that Treasury did not receive any proceeds from diamond revenue in the nine months to September 2013.
Surely this cannot be. Zimbabwe is the world's fourth-largest diamond miner, producing an estimated 8 million carats annually and with potential to supply 25% of global demand - and yet not even a cent is going to Treasury.
Naturally one would expect the country, which has a well reported look-East policy, to turn to China for assistance, but reports say even the Chinese are putting stringent conditions in place before offering any meaningful help.
What now for Zim?
The only way for Zimbabwe to recover its former glory is for the current government to swallow its pride and engage those with money. Those who have always had an interest in the country, could come back and inject the much-needed capital.
Zimbabwe is currently importing maize from Zambia and yet the majority of the farmers, who have literally made Zambia the bread basket of Zimbabwe, are the same ones who were chased from farms in Zimbabwe.
This is not to say they should be given the numerous farms that they used to own, but at least they should be given one farm each.
There are many indigenous Zimbabweans, especially politicians, who are holding several farms for their great-grandchildren, yet to be born. Surely one farm if properly managed can feed generations and generations of a family, and others as well.
The other solution is on indigenisation. Why indigenise a miner that is providing jobs and revenue to the country, when it still has massive resources of minerals that are yet to be exploited?
There are many ways to make sure that miners are taking social responsibility in the communities that they are operating in, without necessarily taking control of the said companies.
If the Zanu-PF government does not swallow its pride, maybe they have Harry Houdini in their midst.
- Fin24
*Malcom Sharara is Fin24’s correspondent in Zimbabwe. Views expressed are his own.
Even before elections, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai said: “Zanu-PF is clueless and voting Zanu-PF will be retrogressive. The July 31 election is a choice between darkness and prosperity for generations and generations to come.”
Most people thought this was mere politicking and went ahead to overwhelmingly vote Zanu-PF back into power.
The MDC-T has however maintained its stance and is even planning to hold an emergency stakeholders’ meeting to save the economy from “clueless” Zanu-PF.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said: “Zanu-PF is clueless on how to tackle these problems and we need to see how this situation can be handled.”
This of course is dismissed by Zanu-P, with its secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa scoffing at the MDC-T allegations and describing the charges of an economic meltdown as “wishful thinking”.
Mutasa said: “It is very interesting. The position of the MDC-T has always been the same. Within (a) short period after the elections, they are already seeing the economy backwards. As Zanu-PF, we have an economic blueprint to get the economy out of the situation it is in, to make it better.”
Indeed, Zanu-PF has a very good economic blueprint called Zim Asset in short. It has all the right elements and points to all the areas that need to be sorted out.
The policy document is anchored on the continued use of the multi-currency regime - something business and the investing public has always advocated for.
There is even talk of reviewing indigenisation deals signed during the inclusive government, when antagonism was the order of the day.
Where did the diamond money go?
Despite all these good intentions as documented in Zim Asset, the biggest question has been where Zanu-PF will find the money to stimulate the economy and fund all the various projects.
The country’s revenue base is dwindling by the day, with company closures a common feature in the papers.
Shockingly, Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa has no clue on where the required funds will come from.
When many thought the country would now use diamond revenues to resuscitate the economy, especially after the lifting of sanctions on diamond trading by Antwerp, Chinamasa shocked all and sundry by admitting that Treasury did not receive any proceeds from diamond revenue in the nine months to September 2013.
Surely this cannot be. Zimbabwe is the world's fourth-largest diamond miner, producing an estimated 8 million carats annually and with potential to supply 25% of global demand - and yet not even a cent is going to Treasury.
Naturally one would expect the country, which has a well reported look-East policy, to turn to China for assistance, but reports say even the Chinese are putting stringent conditions in place before offering any meaningful help.
What now for Zim?
The only way for Zimbabwe to recover its former glory is for the current government to swallow its pride and engage those with money. Those who have always had an interest in the country, could come back and inject the much-needed capital.
Zimbabwe is currently importing maize from Zambia and yet the majority of the farmers, who have literally made Zambia the bread basket of Zimbabwe, are the same ones who were chased from farms in Zimbabwe.
This is not to say they should be given the numerous farms that they used to own, but at least they should be given one farm each.
There are many indigenous Zimbabweans, especially politicians, who are holding several farms for their great-grandchildren, yet to be born. Surely one farm if properly managed can feed generations and generations of a family, and others as well.
The other solution is on indigenisation. Why indigenise a miner that is providing jobs and revenue to the country, when it still has massive resources of minerals that are yet to be exploited?
There are many ways to make sure that miners are taking social responsibility in the communities that they are operating in, without necessarily taking control of the said companies.
If the Zanu-PF government does not swallow its pride, maybe they have Harry Houdini in their midst.
- Fin24
*Malcom Sharara is Fin24’s correspondent in Zimbabwe. Views expressed are his own.
