The European Union (EU) will not reinstate direct budgetary support to Zimbabwe because of the country’s opaque public financial management systems.
This was revealed by EU in Zimbabwe Ambassador Timo Olkkonen, in an interview with TimesLIVE.
“We can’t risk abuse of EU taxpayers’ money,” he said
The people of Zimbabwe have known of Zimbabwe’s curse of bad governance for the last 40 years and counting and they have done absolutely nothing of consequence to end this curse. And so for the last 4 decades the country has sunk deeper and deeper into economic ruins as gross mismanagement and rampant corruption spread like cancer. The chicken have finally come home to roost and in their millions like red billed quelea!
The corona virus pandemic is the greatest health and economic challenge of this generation, no nation has been spared. Zimbabwe has been hit particularly hard given the country’s economy was in a serious mess and its health care service had all but completely collapsed before the pandemic.
Having a corrupt and incompetent government is a curse during normal times but a double curse at times like this when hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk because of the virus and so too are the livelihoods of millions for decade or more to come.
The EU’s decision to stop throwing good money into the blackhole because of the gross mismanagement and rampant corruption is understandable, especially in these corona virus times when everyone is counting the pennies. The decision will only drag Zimbabwe even deeper into economic meltdown, poverty and corona virus health crisis.
The need for the people of Zimbabwe to finally bite the bullet and deal with the curse of rigged elections and bad governance is now the only issue on the national agenda, it is impossible to ignore. The price of continuing to bury our collective head in the sand and hope the corrupt and oppressive Zanu PF dictatorship will transform itself into a competent and democratic regime has gone up. Before now it was lost treasure and human suffering; now it all that plus lost human lives!
Zimbabwe is a third world country and one of the poorest too but also one of the most corrupt and wasteful nation on earth. Zimbabwe has been a recipient of donor assistance for decades and there has been growing evidence of donor fatigue especially in the light of the criminal waste of resources through mismanagement and rampant corruption.
ReplyDeleteDonors have been cheesed off by the Rock Star lifestyles of Zimbabwe's ruling elite. If the country can afford the sprawling Blue Roof palatial mansion, the fleet of posh cars, 45 gold watches and many, many other extravagant luxuries for its ruling elite; then the country can afford to buy medicine, food and other basic essentials.
The donors have raised the problems of corruption with the ruling elite and they are sick and tired of the deafening silence from the ordinary Zimbabweans themselves on the matter. Making sure the country has a competent and accountable government is the responsibility of every Zimbabwean, a responsibility we have yet to take seriously.
The economic meltdown, the suffering and deaths brought by corona virus, the millions now living in abject poverty, the donor fatigue, etc., etc. these are all real problems and we, the ordinary Zimbabweans are the ones on the coal face of this hell-on-earth. We have a simple choice either to finally take our responsibility of making sure Zimbabwe has a competent government with seriousness and urgency the matter demands. Or continue to suffer and die!
“The Chinese embassy is inadvertently admitting that it’s meddling with Zimbabwean legislation and law enforcement by helping our government to make laws and enforce them. This is clearly against the provisions of the constitution,” said Majoni.
ReplyDelete“Law-making is the preserve of parliament and the executive arm of the government. When China says it is helping Zimbabwe make laws, what it is actually saying is that it is taking away the mandate of our legislature and government.
“Similarly, when it says it is helping with the implementation of the law, it is in fact admitting that it is interfering with the work of our police and other law enforcement agencies. This is disturbing, considering that China is already reported to be infiltrating law enforcement agencies in southern Africa and other parts of the African continent. By its own admission, China is violating our sovereignty,” Majoni added.
He said the over-bearing presence of China in Zimbabwe was also evident in that high-ranking authorities were repeating the embassy’s vitriol against him.
China assisted Zanu PF with weapons. military training and other things through Zimbabwe’s fight for independence. Zimbabwe has repaid this debt a thousands times over. Since independence China has secured its strangle hold on Zanu PF by helping the party retain power by hook and by crook and by providing Zimbabwe with the financial assistance when no other nation would.
The financial assistance was more like a drip feed - enough to keep Zimbabwe from starving but nothing more. Mugabe booted Anjin out of the country when he asked for more assistance and got nothing. The Chinese bankrolled Mnangagwa’s election in 2018 and for their reward, Anjin was invited back into the country.
Zimbabwe is a Chinese colony in all but name!