"I need time to get dead economy working again" - you are killing it, just step down W Mukori

"I'm aware of the pain being experienced by the poor and the marginalised,” said Mnangagwa in his speech, to mark the official opening of parliament.

"Getting the economy working again from being dead will require time, patience, unity of purpose and perseverance.”

Well it is pleasing to note that President Mnangagwa is aware that the Zimbabwe economy is “dead”; it is indeed, all but “dead”. He has pointed his finger of blame for killing the economy at his predecessor, Robert Mugabe and by a long mile at the “illegal sanctions imposed by the west”.

The tragedy for the country is that Mnangagwa does not know what or who “killed” the Zimbabwe economy nor does he know how to revive it. Consider the fellowing:  

1. It is four decades of gross mismanagement, rampant corruptions and lawlessness that killed the Zimbabwe economy. When Mnangagwa seized power in the November 2017 military coup, he promised to end corruption and to hold free, fair and credible elections, for example. He has failed to keep his promise on both fronts. 

Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs, just as it was when Mugabe was top dog. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery. So with the country remaining a pariah state it is no surprise that there has been no meaningful economic recovery in the last two years. If anything, the economic meltdown is getting worse!

2. Even if we gave Mnangagwa the benefit of the doubt and agreed with him that the sanctions were the principle reason for Zimbabwe’s economic collapse. He has failed to get the sanctions lifted.

Mugabe came up with his “look East” policy to mitigate the ill-effects of the sanctions, which he too blamed for the country’s economic collapse. The policy clearly failed as the economy did “die”, as Mnangagwa readily acknowledged. 

It seems Mnangagwa too hoped that a “look East” policy would save him from the ill-effects of the sanctions. He too, just like Mugabe before him, signed a number of “mega deals” especially with China. Sadly, the “mega deals” have all fizzled to nothing.

So why should we expect any economic recovery if the sanctions, he blames for the economic meltdown, are in still in place and he has failed to come up with anything to cushion they ill-effect. Nothing, other than mourn about sanctions at every local and international opportunity!

3. The last but the most important reason why it will be naive to expect this Mnangagwa government revive Zimbabwe’s “dead” economy is common sense. Whilst Mnangagwa only now admitting the Zimbabwe economy is “dead”; he did not do so until recently because he is a corrupt, incompetent and murderous thug. 

Without doubt, the worst nightmare to befall anyone is to be confounded with an ignorance fool who fancies himself wiser than King Solomon. Greed comes a close second to ignorance. The worst curse ever is for a greedy and ignorant fool to be in a position of power and authority - he will abuse the power with disastrous consequences! 

Zimbabwe is in this economic mess with a totally dysfunctional political system because, for the last 39 years and counting, the nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime. 

Mnangagwa is not going to revive the country’s dead economy because he is an ignorant thug who does not even know he played a major role creating the economic mess and the dysfunctional one-party dictatorship. Worse still, the Zimbabwe economy is sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss, and Mnangagwa, in his reckless arrogance, will never admit it. 

By allowing Zanu PF to rig elections and get away with it, we, the people, allowed the thugs to enjoy not just power but absolute power. Mnangagwa and company blatantly rigged last year’s elections and yet they still expect the nation to accepted them as the legitimate government as a matter of course! 

39 years and counting of Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule has left the country’s economy all but “dead” and the nation standing on the edge of the precipitous abyss. We can either let Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies remain in office and take us all over the edge. Or finally put and end to the madness of bad governance by demanding that Zanu PF step down to allow the nation to implement the democratic reforms taking away the regime’s carte blanche dictatorial powers. 

Of course, Mnangagwa and company will fight to retain their dictatorial powers but our right to good governance and to life is surely more important. For once, we must be resolute, focused and uncompromising in our demand for a government that is democratic accountable to us, the people. 

This Zanu PF regime rigged last year’s elections, it is illegitimate and must step down! Period!