The
quality of our political leaders on both sides of the political divide is
something that many Zimbabweans now readily admit is a serious problem. Sadly
this lamentable state of affairs is not confirmed to political parties but
extends to other key institutions with disastrous consequences to the quality
of public debate and policies. Take the Mass Public Opinion Institute (Mpoi),
supposedly a local THINK-TANK but you would not think so to look at the
disappoint quality of their recent report.
"Almost
half of adult Zimbabweans felt the country was going in the wrong direction. Zimbabweans
had a gloomy assessment of their present personal and country economic conditions
(compared to that during the GNU)," said the Mpoi report.
The
argument being the GNU had stabilised the economy as Zimbabwe ditched its
worthless currency to adopt a multi-currency system, credited with wiping off
runaway inflation and returning goods into the supermarkets.
Whilst
it is true that the ditching of the Z$ played a very big part in reining in the
runaway inflation and stabilizing the economy one would expect a think-thank
organization to get the facts right and acknowledge that this important policy
change was instituted by Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa in November 2008 before
the GNU, formed in February 2009. But most important of all, one would expect a
THINK-TANK organization to help the point the people think by pointing them in
the right direction.
For the Mpoi
report to come up with figures like “47 percent of the people interviewed
believed that the country was going in the wrong direction, while 32 percent
believed the country was on the right path,” for example, without explaining
explain that the GNU directions was not even the right direction makes the
report a nonsense.
The
Mpoi report should have pointed out that economic recovery of 3 to 4% during
the GNU were well below the 10% plus expected growth. After a record breaking
economic shrink of 84% in the six year period of 2002 to 2008 alone, the
economy was certainly expected to bounce back with strong growth. This did not
happen because MDC had failed to implement any of the political reforms
required to ensure the next elections were free, fair and credible elections –
the pre-condition required to restore investor and donor confidence and more significantly
to guarantee the implementation of the far reaching economic reforms to end corruption
and mismanagement.
Indeed
it was MDC’s failure to implement the democratic reforms which has allowed Mugabe
to rig the 2013 elections and the very modest economic recovery made during the
GNU have all been quickly lost.
The
main thrust of the Mpoi report was that most Zimbabweans miss the GNU because
“it had stabilized the economy”. As a think-tank one would expect Mpoi educate
most Zimbabweans so they realize that the GNU had failed to deliver during its
life-time and that the foundations of the current national problems have their
roots in the GNU.
No
Geographic institution worthy being listed as a scientific institution would
report that the earth is flat even if 99% of the people asked said so! Mpoi
should not be described as a think-tank when there is no evidence those who
compiled it report had thought about the subject matter.
1 comment:
Shumba, for the sake of the nation, please take off and study and understand the problem BEFORE opening your big trap to offer a solution.
“Despite all the economic free-fall we experienced in the past few decades, we suddenly realised remarkable growth in the period 2009-2012 when Tendai Biti was the Minister of Finance,” you said.
You are right the Zimbabwe economic had suffered from a “free-fall” shrinking a world record of 84% in the six years 2002 to 2008 alone. But with good quality leaders the economy should have bounced back with growth rates of 8% plus and not the misery 3 to 4% you are now selling as “remarkable growth”.
The reason why the economy failed to bounce back is that MDC failed to implement the democratic reforms need to end Mugabe’s struggle hold on the economy. As long as Mugabe remained in power there was not going to be an end to the lawlessness that had scarred away all would be investors and donors. Throughout the GNU years the violence farm seizures by Mugabe thugs continued.
Whatever economic gains MDC achieved during the GNU can be considered as MDC winning a skirmish but by failing to implement even one democratic reform, MDC lost the war! MDC took us two steps forward and idiots like you are still making a big song and dance about that forgetting they took us twenty steps backward.
Mugabe bribed the MDC leaders to do nothing about the reforms. Tendai Biti was a senior member of the MDC and thus played his part in the betrayal of the nation and his share of the bribe.
“Those ideals of cooperation, inclusivity and unity coupled with political maturity and patriotism are what we now need in order to get our beautiful country back on its feet again,” you say.
So you think the nation is in this mess because we lacked “cooperation, inclusivity and unity”? Were these not the reasons Mugabe gave when he signed his unity accords with PF Zapu and yet we still landed in this mess.
Even if we could get these corrupt and incompetent village idiots in the various factions of MDC and those purged out of Zanu PF to cooperate and unity – a mammoth task in itself given that they all want to be the top dog – but say we do that; they will not accomplish anything. Just as MDC did during the GNU they will take two steps forward and they will be out celebrating that whilst the country slid back fifty steps!
What the nation needs is not unity but quality leaders with a vision and focus to fight and win the skirmish and still go on to win the battle. You are calling for unity because you are obsessed about quantity; having failed to get quality you want to make up for it by increasing quantity.
You, Shumba, are praising Biti to the high heavens when he is just another corrupt, incompetent and sell-out MDC village idiot whose blatant betrayal landed the whole nation in this mess! You clearly have no clue what the GNU was about; even with the benefit of hindsight you still do not have a clue. Do us all a favour, go and skin the goat!
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