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Challenging those in power

WHEN I was doing my journalism studies back in 2003, one of the lecturers impressed upon us the importance of getting feedback in everything we do.

He told us that feedback is not criticism, but a supportive act intended to deal with performance in a constructive way. He urged us to embrace feedback as a method of developing our performance to a higher level.

The United States’ Office of Personnel Management has on its website a page that talks about feedback. It says people need to be told how they're doing.

"Without feedback, you're walking blind. At best, you'll accidentally reach your goal. At worst, you'll wander aimlessly through the dark, never reaching your destination," says the office.

It is against this background that I visit the Fin24 website, at least once a day, to check on the comments made on my opinion pieces.

It was during this exercise that I saw an interesting comment made by a Fin24 user. It was a comment on my column: Only the truth shall set Zim free.  

The comment pointed out that "criticism without offering tangible sustainable solutions often leads to resentment and a loss of influence".

The comment questioned my writing and said: "Does Zimbabwe really need more critics or solutions?"

The writer said she had been in Zimbabwe the previous week and was amazed at how people were finding solutions to their challenges.

Fair and fine, we view things differently. Where one observer sees people finding solutions and moving on with their lives, I see people accepting their lot and leaving everything to fate.

Is it correct to say that one has found a solution to one's problems, when the holder of a university degree resorts to street vending of sweets and bananas? Is it really worthwhile spending thousands of dollars going to school and as far as university, only to come back and engage in pavement vending?

I think it's just plain cowardice to accept vending as a solution to the challenges Zimbabwe faces as a country.

Anyway, today I am all about offering solutions to the challenges our beloved country is facing.

Know your strength

For me this is the number one solution to Zimbabwe's challenges. My strength is in writing and I should stick to that. My business is in telling people what’s happening and what’s not happening.

I believe I have no business telling the City of Harare how to do its urban planning, because I am not an engineer or a surveyor. But that does not mean I cannot tell them that a water pipe needs fixing when I can clearly see that it is leaking.

As a country, understanding our strengths fully will help us focus more clearly on what we are good at, rather than wasting our time and resources on matters beyond our capacity and capabilities.

The solution to our challenges is in government knowing its strengths and leaving certain areas to those with the expertise to deliver.

For example, the Zimbabwean government is holding on to many parastatals when it does not have the capacity or expertise to run them productively.

I believe government has no capacity to run institutions such as Air Zimbabwe and National Railways of Zimbabwe but needs to allow other players with the required capital, expertise and skills to take over.

Know when to leave

The second solution is for people in positions of authority to know the right time to go. There are many people who have presided over entities both public and private who continue to hang on to their jobs despite overwhelming evidence that they have failed.

We have an institution like the Zimbabwe Football Authority (ZIFA), whose leadership continues to cling to their positions despite overwhelming evidence that they do not have the people's support to run the organisation.

Yes, these guys were elected into office, but you know you are not wanted when those who are supposed to give you their support are not willing to do so. The corporate world has refused to support ZIFA with financial resources, which should be a clear message to management that it is not wanted and that it should just walk away.

When you lead a national institution like ZIFA and you can’t raise US$1 000 to pay your national team coach, you have no business to run it.

Admit failure and stop living in denial

Another important solution is for people to just admit failure and stop living in denial. It is shameful to accept vending as the "new economy" when 99% of what is being sold is imported.   

It is just not acceptable to preach that the land reform programme was a success when we gave land to people who have no interest in farming and are just keeping our arable land as souvenirs.

Stamp out corruption

The country's auditor general has done an excellent job in exposing fraudulent activities at state-owned enterprises and government departments. The auditor general's latest report shows rampant abuse of state resources, from the president’s office to government ministries to state enterprises and parastatals.

It is not enough, of course, to just expose such decadence. These reports should be taken seriously, with the responsible authorities moving in to punish the offenders. The president is on record as saying that if evidence is provided, perpetrators of corruption should be arrested. Well, what more evidence do we need to stamp out corruption than what the auditor general has given us?

I can write a whole book about possible solutions but let me stick to what I know best, and that is telling it as it is. My strength is in challenging those in power, that they are there to serve the people and not to create problems for those very people.

No one is a jack of all trades. There are people who are more competent to look at the challenges and weaknesses highlighted by the media, and to offer solutions.

* Malcom Sharara is Fin24’s correspondent in Zimbabwe. Views expressed are his own.

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