“Zimbabwe’s central bank has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to overlook the country’s shortcomings in achieving fiscal targets and allow a program to help restore the economy to run its course,” reported Ray Ndlovu in Spotlight Zimbabwe.
A very tail order!
What Zimbabwe has been asking for from the IMF, ever since IMF and WB stopped giving Zimbabwe financial assistance in the late 1990s, is debt relief and a resumption financial assistance.
When Mnangagwa appointed his blue-eye Cambridge trained Professor Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance, he promptly assured the nation he would soon have the IMF and WB on board and bankrolling Zimbabwe’s recovery programme. He bamboozled the nation with his 600 page Transition Stabilisation Programme but the more savvy IMF officials were clearly not impressed for they never gave Zimbabwe even a single dollar of financial assistance.
Getting IMF to assist Zimbabwe has become mission impossible because this Zanu PF government continues to waste time, energy, treasure and opportunity addressing the trivial issues and pay lip service to the real big issues.
“We asked them (IMF) to recognize the achievements we have made in such a short space of time,” Eddie Cross said in an interview in the capital, Harare. “We urged them to recognize that our fundamentals are now sound.”
Mr Eddie Cross is a former MDC MP and has emerged as one of Mnangagwa and Minister Ncube’s cheer leaders. It is no surprise to hear that he is now a member of this regime’s monetary policy committee that met the IMF delegates.
Eddie Cross rattled on and on about how this government has reduced budget deficit, established “interbank market and reducing state employee costs”, etc., etc. He said nothing about the regime’s failure to stamp out corruption and last year’s rigged elections; the big beasts, the real game changing fundamentals.
When President Mnangagwa took over from Mugabe following the November 2017 military coup, he promised “zero tolerance on corruption”. In 2016 Mugabe had admitted the country was “swindled out of US$15 billion in diamond revenue alone”; underlining the seriousness of corruption to the nation’s well being. How can a nation with a GDP of a mere US$10 billion hope to survive much less thrive if it is haemorrhaging US$ 15 billion in diamond revenue alone every few years!
To the day Mugabe was booted out of office, he had not arrested one diamond swindler and/or recover one swindled dollar. To date, two years since the coup, Mnangagwa has yet to arrest one diamond swindler and/or has yet to recover one swindled dollar.
“Corruption is deep rooted!” was Mnangagwa’s feeble excuse for his failure.
It is common knowledge that corruption has been institutionalised in Zimbabwe in much the same way as the Mafia in 1930s America was institutionalised. Mnangagwa, Chiwenga, Mugabe and the rest of the Zanu PF ruling elite are the Godfathers.
Indeed, Mugabe’s reign was brought to a sudden and abrupt end in the November 2017 coup not because he was going to end corruption. It ended because the majority of Grand Lodge Godfathers feared he was going to replace them. Mnangagwa was smart enough to end that his reign too will be cut short if he even dared to do anything to end corruption and the Godfathers’ livelihoods!
Mnangagwa also promised to hold free, fair and credible elections. Again, he failed to keep his promise; Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s election.
By failing to end corruption and blatantly rigging the elections, Mnangagwa has confirmed that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs. No one, absolutely no one in his/her right mind would want to do business with thugs; what more these shrewd and savvy IMF grandees with first hand knowledge of this Zanu PF Mafia regime.
Zanu PF leaders have enjoyed absolute power and the wealth and influence it has brought for the last 39 years. They are now addicted to power and corruption and hence the reason Mnangagwa has singularly failed to stamp out corruption and to hold free, fair and credible elections.
Anyone with common sense has long realised that Zimbabwe will never achieve any meaningful economic recovery whilst the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs. The IMF and WB will certainly never ever bankroll a pariah state. Never!
People like Eddie Cross want us to belief that Zimbabwe can still have vibrant and prosperous economy regardless of the reality of rigged elections, rampant corruption, etc. This is not the first time Mr Cross has demonstrated his foolishness.
During the 2008 to 2013 GNU Mr Cross and his MDC friend had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms which would have end the Zanu PF dictatorship. They failed to get even one token reform implemented in five years. Not one!
39 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF misrule has left the country is a dire economic situation. Unemployment has soared to a dizzying 90%, 3/4 of the population now live on US$40 per month or less, country’s health care services has all but collapse and people are dying of easily curable diseases. The economic situation in Zimbabwe is so critical, the country is standing on the very edge of the abyss.
It is so frustrating that the political change the country needs is being denied by Zanu PF, the party that has dragged the nation into this mess, cheered on by Zimbabweans like Eddie Cross. Reason, logic, truth and reality have all failed to penetrate the primeval mud between the ears of people like Mnangagwa and his acolyte Eddie Cross.
Former Foreign Affairs and Tourism Minister Dr Walter Mzembi’s name continues to dominate on the political raising fears within the ruling Zanu PF which remains uncertain within the former Masvingo South legislator’s next move.
ReplyDeleteThe very fact that the launch of Zanu PF Original has generated some public interest amongst Zimbabweans explains why the country is in a real mess. Saviour Kasukuwere, Walter Mzembi and all the other G40 individuals associated with the new party have all a proven record as corrupt, incompetent and, in many cases ruthless thugs. The only reason any would consider these thugs suitable candidate to govern the country is the individual concerned has learned nothing from history.
If Zimbabweans had ever shown the ability to learn from the past then the country would have never blundered from pillar to post for 39 years. Zimbabweans are almost certain to vote for either MDC or Mnangagwa led Zanu PF, who have all proven to be corrupt, incompetent sell-outs or/and murderous thugs. So why should former G40 politicians not join in the scrum and take advantage of such a naive and gullible electorate. QED!