TITLE: First IMF and other lenders walked away and now donors too - they will not bankroll a pariah state. Simples!
BY: Wilbert Mukori
SOURCE: zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
Zimbabwe is in this dire economic, social and political situation because of 40 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness earning us the pariah state label. Mnangagwa himself acknowledged this reality when he seized power from Mugabe in November 2017 otherwise why else did he promise to end corruption and, most important of all, to hold free, fair and credible elections.
We all know that corruption is still rampant and Mnangagwa himself has publicly acknowledge this. His excuse is that it is "deep rooted"! We all know that most of those behind the rampant corruption before he took over in November 2017 are still in power today. So it is no surprise then that corruption has continued post November 2017 coup.
Mnangagwa failed to implement even one token democratic reform without which it is impossible to have free, fair and credible elections. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters' roll for the July 2018 elections. Of course, the July 2018 elections were not free, fair and credible and no one is under any illusion that there were ever meant to be!
"Zanu PF ichtonga! Igotonga! Imi muchigo hukura! Nokuhukura!" (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst you (calling for reforms) bark! And bark!) was the first thing Mnangagwa told his Zanu PF hardliners when he return from SA within hours of Mugabe resigning.
He has said this before the coup and was just reassuring his supporters that when it came to Zanu PF's claim to the divine right to rule by right of conquest, nothing had changed. Nothing!
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs. The Zanu PF dictatorship is notoriously wasteful of the country's human and material resources and it is near impossible to do business in the country. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state there will be no meaningful economic recovery because investors and lenders will continue to shy away from the country.
The IMF, WB, AfDB and all the other international financial institutions have never given the Mnangagwa any financial assistance since November 2017, contrary to the repeated assurances that the assistance was coming, especially by Zimbabwe's very flamboyant and cocksure (until now, at least) Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube. These institutions have now made it clear that they are not going to bankroll a pariah state!
Now even the donors are walking out too! “International Donors Losing Patience With Zimbabwe” reported Spotlight Zimbabwe. The publication went on to list USAID, UKAID, EU, Canadian, Swedish, Swiss, Norwegian and Germans. Many others have or will soon pack the bags and walk away.
For the last 40 years we, Zimbabweans, have allowed Zanu PF thugs rid roughshod over us, denying us our freedoms and human rights including the right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life. The international community has done its best to encourage us to stand up for our rights and provided the ambulance service at the bottom of the cliff. After 40 years of this madness, they are clearly sick and tired of helping people who are doing little, if anything at all, to help themselves.
The economic meltdown is now so serious that 34% of the population in Zimbabwe now live in abject poverty, according to a recent WB report. This means one in three cannot afford even one decent meal a day much less other basics like decent shelter, education for the children and even medicine - a life and death choice no one should ever be force to make. The human suffering is already heartbreaking but now the nation will see the death toll going up. Will this finally spur the nation, out of its sloth-like slumber of the last 40 years, into action? One only hopes!
If the people of Zimbabwe are serious about ending the economic meltdown and the tragic human suffering and deaths it is causing they know what they must do - end the pariah state! Simples!
Government today started the refurbishment of the National Sports Stadium in Harare following a series of meetings held yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe giant facility, together with all other venues was condemned by the Confederation of African Football prompting Government to pull resources together to upgrade the stadium.
How much will all this cost? The Algerians and all the other foreigners who come to play in Zimbabwe will have to bring their own drinking water, generators and everything else they need because it is not only the stadium that are in very advance stages of rot and decay - it is everything.
It must be a sicken thought to those CAF officials (not so with ZIFA, they are part and parcel of the corrupt Zimbabwe regime) to know that Zimbabwe is spruce up its stadium at the expense of many other pressing matters such as its health care services. So the country has a stadium with green manicured grass when just a stone throw away in the country's biggest hospital, Parerenyatwa, people are dying because the hospital does not have something as basic as painkillers!