Former Economic Planning
minister Tapiwa Mashakada has called for the establishment of an
all-stakeholder National Economic Council (Nec) in order to arrest Zimbabwe’s
economic collapse.
The trouble with
people like Tapiwa Mashakada is that they lack common sense much less imagination
expected of someone in a leadership position.
Zimbabwe's economic nightmare is not because
Zanu PF did not know there was corruption and that it was destroying the
nation's economy, for example. Of course Mugabe know there was corruption and
has denied it because it was an integral part of his patronage system that
helped keep him in power and he was himself the chief beneficiary. In recent
years corruption has become so rampant it is sucking the very life out of
parastatals like PSMAS, ZESA, City Council across the land in obscenely high
salaries and allowances paid to the top managers and board members. Mugabe has
done nothing to stop this looting because he is himself just as guilty of the
looting.
Mugabe had a $1 million birthday party, a $ 5
million wedding for his daughter held in his $ 20 million Blue Roof mansion,
spent $ 5 million on bronze statues of himself, etc. all spent in two months.
He cannot tell any of his cronies to stop looting; they are catching up with
him!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis
is the lack of political will to do the right thing!
Tapiwa Mashakada should know what lack of
political will means, as an MDC leader in the last GNU he too was involved in
the party’s decision not to implement any democratic reforms. Of course all the
MDC leaders knew the reforms were important, they were reminded of that a thousand
times. They also knew that implemented the reforms would upset Mugabe, he had
allowed the MDC leaders to enjoy the benefits of being in power and they did
not want to be seen to be ungrateful.
“MDC vadzidza kudya vanyerere!” (MDC leaders
have already learnt to enjoy life on the gravy train and not rock the boat!) was
the pithy remark from one Zanu PF official six months into the GNU! True
enough, MDC never mustered any political will to even get one democratic reform
implemented.
Ever since the rigged July 2013 elections in
which MDC was kicked off the gravy train people like Mashakada, Tsvangirai and
all the other MDC leaders have been looking for an excuse to get back on the
gravy train.
Mashakada said the council will
“sit down and work out modalities of recovering the economy … and reversing the
economic decline”, which he alleged, “cannot just be done by Zanu PF alone”.
What is required here is a council or interim administration
with the political will to implement the democratic reforms and make sure there
are free and fair elections. The government to emerge out of the free and fair
elections will have the political will to address the problem of rampant corruption
and all the other teething economic problems.
Mashakada’s proposed council is just another
stupid idea from MDC and a waste of time!
10 comments:
@ Nancy Mabaya
Zanu PF rigged the July 2013 elections and after a year in government the regime is collapsing because they have failed to rig economic recovery.
The only way to rescue the economy now is by having a government that has the people's mandate to rule and the support and confidence of donors to fund the recovery programme and of investors to invest. Such a government can only come out of free, fair and credible elections - elections Zanu PF will never ever win.
Mark my words, Zanu PF is a spent political force in Zimbabwe. MDC should have buried Mugabe and Zanu PF years ago if it was not for Tsvangirai's breath-taking incompetence. This time Zanu PF will be buried for good; as I said, take my word for it!
@ Paradzai
The single most important thing to be appreciated here is that the democratic reforms are our ticket out of the political mess Mugabe has landed this nation. This is why you will find I have gone back to this issue over and over again in my many articles. See http://zimbabwelight.blogspot.co.uk.
It was our get out of jail before the GNU and that is why MDC were elected; on a ticket to bring democratic reforms. When they were in power, they forgot about the reforms because Mugabe offered them all the trappings of power and they did not dare upset the tyrant by bring up something they knew he did not want to hear. Of course MDC leaders, Tsvangirai, Biti, Ncube, Coltart, the lot, are corrupt and they sold out implementing the reforms in return for the ride on the gravy train.
I am not with the renewal team because they want to shift the blame for the party's breath-taking incompetence on Tsvangirai alone when they were all involved.
Since we are still in jail because MDC failed to use the get out of jail card when their had all the chance to use it the way forward is still the same; implement the reforms - I have said that a thousand times and will say it again here. What I do not accept is that Tsvangirai and any of the MDC leaders can be trusted to implement the reforms this time round because if they did not do so during the GNU when they had all the advantages of a majority in parliament, five years to do it, etc. what chance is there for them to do so now.
Tsvangirai and his fellow MDC leaders do not care about getting the reforms implemented, they never did, they only said they will do so because they knew the electorate wanted them to say that and it was their ticket to get on the gravy train. What we, as a nation, need is an electorate that is not so naïve and gullible as to follow blindly corrupt and incompetent leaders like Tsvangirai.
SADC and international community have given up on Tsvangirai because he is a "flawed and indecisive character" as USA Ambassador Chris Dell said of the man in the WikiLeaks in 2004. Of course it is our democratic right to stick with a failed leader like Tsvangirai but we have to pay the price for that folly - we will never get out of this political and economic mess. As for the rest of the world, they will not take us seriously ever again in our talking of wanting democratic change, justice, freedom, etc. in Zimbabwe as long as we have village bullies and village idiots for our national leaders!
@ Raymond
Talk of diamonds, why is it that the mining and selling of the Marange diamonds has been shrouded is a veil of secrecy and only a select few have benefited from this national resource? Are you blaming the colonialists for that?
Those who are benefiting from the secretive sell of the diamonds are the ones blaming the colonialists for all Africa's problems because they know there are naive and gullible followers who will believe anything!
In functioning democracies the electorate will accept the incoming regime blaming the one before for the country's problems the first year but not after that. In African the electorate will still accept the colonialist nonsense 10, 20 in the case of Zimbabwe 34 years after independence. What makes the excuse even more nonsensical the country is significantly worse off than it was before independence!
In a functioning democracy the electorate will vote the failing regime out of office. In Africa we are stuck with the same corrupt and tyrannical thugs. You want to blame the colonialists for that too!
@ Larry King
WE HAVE A DOUBLE CURSE IN ZIMBABWE; NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE CORRUPT AND TYRANNICAL RULERS BUT WE ALSO HAVE MORE THAN OUR FAIR SHARE OF MENTALLY CHALLENGED VOTERS IN THE WORLD. THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS IN THEIR OWN INTEREST AND NEVER SEEM TO LEARN FOR THEY WILL MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
MUGABE TELLS THEM TO BLAME THE BRITISH FOR THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC MELT-DOWN AT HIS $5 MILLION WEDDING FOR HIS DAUGHTER AND THE PEOPLE BELIEVE IT. SO WHATEVER THE BRITISH HAVE DONE THEY THE PEOPLE CANNOT HAVE CLEAN RUNNING WATER AND YET HE CAN STILL HAVE A $1 MILLION BIRTHDAY, $5 MILLION WEDDING, LIVE IN A $20 MILLION MANSION, ETC., ETC.
COMMON SENSE WOULD SAY WHATEVER PROBLEMS WE HAVE WITH THESE COLONIALIST WE STILL HAVE A BIG PROBLEM INSIDE THE COUNTRY BECAUSE THE LITTLE WE HAVE IS DEFINITELY BEING SHARE FAIRLY. IT IS NOT THE COLONIALISTS WHO HAVE CREATED SUCH OBSCENE INEQUALITY. AFTER 34 YEARS OF BEING TOLD ALL THIS COLONIAL RHETORICAL NONSENSE YOU WOULD THINK EVEN MR SLOTH WOULD HAVE SEEN IT BY NOW THAT THEY ARE BEING TAKEN FOR A RIDE!
WE ARE ASPIRING TO HAVING A HEALTHY AND FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE; A PIPE DREAM, NOT WITH SUCH AN NAÏVE AND GULLIBLE ELECTORATE!
@ Succuba
These sanctions have certainly made the rich filthy rich and the poor extremely poor or it is that the nation's wealth is not being shared out fairly!
The truth is the rich were getting filthy rich and the poor poorer already before the sanctions were imposed in 2002. That would suggest that our economic system favoured the ruling elite at the expense of the ordinary people and therefore it is nonsense to blame the poor's plight of sanctions or on the colonialists!
The reason for the poverty is, of course, the greed of the ruling elite, period! We should not allow Mugabe and his paid acolytes get away with their nonsensical anti-colonialist rhetoric any more.
@datbrother
Did you really believe Mugabe would get away with this nonsense of blaming the economic melt-down and growing mass poverty on sanctions forever when he can throws a $ 1 million birthday party, a $ 5 million wedding party and lives in a $20 million Blue Roof mansion? We KNOW the root cause of the poverty was corruption and looting and even Mugabe himself must know that his family will not hold on to Blue Roof, his daughter to the Mazowe farm and all the other looted wealth for long. There is a law against keeping stolen property, you know!
Forget the nonsense Zanu PF agreed with the easily bamboozled Tsvangirai and his MDC friends. We want a just and fair Zimbabwe and we will need to do some serious spring cleaning after all these years of corruption and looting! We will cleanse the nation!
@ Larry King
The trouble with tyrants and their acolytes is that they always get carried away and forget that there is a time and season for everything. All these years they have looted terrorized and even murdered over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans because they never thought the day would come when there would be regime change and they will be called to account for their obscene wealth, an oasis in the vast desert of grinding poverty, and for the blood on their hands.
They have failed to notice the fig tree shedding its leaves and the sprouting of the new leaves; marking the start of the new season. Change is upon us and so is regime change! Those who holding on to the notion that Zanu PF will rule for much longer are wishful think; the fig tree has shed its old leaves no amount of wishful thinking can put them back or stop the new leaves grow.
@Ch
Ch, you are absolutely right there; Zimbabweans have developed the habit of asking the immortals to do what they should do for themselves. We pray for a good harvest when we should be praying for good rains and do the rest ourselves!
Zimbabwe has rich soils and good rains but for decades since the farm invasions the nation has failed to produce enough to food our own people let alone to sell as happened before the farm seizures. Only idiots would believe the Zanu PF nonsense that it is the sanctions or the West to blame for this or pray for a miracle!
@ Suitable Kajau
"The economic sanctions which the EU imposed on Zimbabwe crippled the economy to the detriment of ordinary citizens who are grappling with these effects till this day." We have heard this nonsense said a thousand times and a thousand times again and yet it is still nonsense.
People like Suitable Kajau write the sanctions crippling the economy “o the detriment of ordinary citizens” but fail to explain how the sanctions have been so selective in hitting the ordinary citizens whilst making the ruling elite prosper beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
We have a President who can afford a $1 million birthday party, spends $5 million on his daughter’s wedding, spends $5 million on statues of himself, lives in a $20 million mansion, and so on and so forth. The VP, Mai Mujuru, has a fortune valued at $3 billion in her own right. Then there is an array of other Zanu PF operatives like Philip Chiyangwa, Minister Chombo, Minister Obert Mpofu, who are multi-millionaires in their own right.
How can one talk of a “crippled economy” when a public institution like PSMAS can afford to pay its CEO $500 000 a month? It is only when you dig deeper and learn that most of 200 000 PSMAS members are paid $500 per month and that after paying the CEO and the board members there was nothing left. The PSMAS was so impoverished it was not paying those who provided its members the medical service and thus forcing the members to pay out of their pockets for what their subscriptions is supposed to cover.
The corruption and rot was not noted in PSMAS alone but all other parastatals, local government, and even government institutions like hospitals.
The Zanu PF government, which has denied there corruption was helpless to stop the corruption because corruption did not just start and end with the CEO of PSMAS but went all the way to the very top, to the President and his $1 million birthday party, etc. The CEO of PSMAS are the small fish playing catch-up to the big boys!
If sanctions were the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown then everyone across the board would be affected. The root cause is years of corruption and looting which have left the ruling elite filthy rich and forced millions into a life of abject poverty!
The sanctions were imposed on the Zanu PF ruling elite because of the regime’s failure to hold free and fair elections. The regime rigged last year’s elections and lifting the sanctions will be to capitulate and reward Zanu PF for having successfully denied the ordinary Zimbabweans a meaningful vote once again.
There are EU nations who want the sanctions lifted so they too can freely trade with Zimbabwe, especially in the diamond trade; they do not care that there are no free elections in the country.
Yes EU re-engaging with Zimbabwe will result in a “win-win” situation as Kajau claims but only for the EU and the ruling elite. As for the ordinary Zimbabweans corruption will continue as before and the ruling elite will grow even richer whilst they sink even deeper into poverty and despair!
@ Suitable Kajau
"The economic sanctions which the EU imposed on Zimbabwe crippled the economy to the detriment of ordinary citizens who are grappling with these effects till this day." We have heard this nonsense said a thousand times and a thousand times again and yet it is still nonsense.
People like Suitable Kajau write the sanctions crippling the economy “o the detriment of ordinary citizens” but fail to explain how the sanctions have been so selective in hitting the ordinary citizens whilst making the ruling elite prosper beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
We have a President who can afford a $1 million birthday party, spends $5 million on his daughter’s wedding, spends $5 million on statues of himself, lives in a $20 million mansion, and so on and so forth. The VP, Mai Mujuru, has a fortune valued at $3 billion in her own right. Then there is an array of other Zanu PF operatives like Philip Chiyangwa, Minister Chombo, Minister Obert Mpofu, who are multi-millionaires in their own right.
How can one talk of a “crippled economy” when a public institution like PSMAS can afford to pay its CEO $500 000 a month? It is only when you dig deeper and learn that most of 200 000 PSMAS members are paid $500 per month and that after paying the CEO and the board members there was nothing left. The PSMAS was so impoverished it was not paying those who provided its members the medical service and thus forcing the members to pay out of their pockets for what their subscriptions is supposed to cover.
The corruption and rot was not noted in PSMAS alone but all other parastatals, local government, and even government institutions like hospitals.
The Zanu PF government, which has denied there corruption was helpless to stop the corruption because corruption did not just start and end with the CEO of PSMAS but went all the way to the very top, to the President and his $1 million birthday party, etc. The CEO of PSMAS are the small fish playing catch-up to the big boys!
If sanctions were the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown then everyone across the board would be affected. The root cause is years of corruption and looting which have left the ruling elite filthy rich and forced millions into a life of abject poverty!
The sanctions were imposed on the Zanu PF ruling elite because of the regime’s failure to hold free and fair elections. The regime rigged last year’s elections and lifting the sanctions will be to capitulate and reward Zanu PF for having successfully denied the ordinary Zimbabweans a meaningful vote once again.
There are EU nations who want the sanctions lifted so they too can freely trade with Zimbabwe, especially in the diamond trade; they do not care that there are no free elections in the country.
Yes EU re-engaging with Zimbabwe will result in a “win-win” situation as Kajau claims but only for the EU and the ruling elite. As for the ordinary Zimbabweans corruption will continue as before and the ruling elite will grow even richer whilst they sink even deeper into poverty and despair!
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