It is easy to see why Zimbabwe is in this
economic mess, the pitiful lack of quality in all spheres of our governance say
it all!
“It is estimated, for those who have done the
studies, that Zimbabwe has lost an estimated US$42 billion in revenue because
of the sanctions,” Minister Sibusiso Moyo
told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International
Trade, the Herald reported.
“The country lost multi-lateral donor support
which is estimated at about US$4.5 billion annually since 2001 (total to date US$90
billion) and US$ 12 billion in the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank
loans which could have developed infrastructure in this country and commercial
loans estimated at US$ 18 billion which could gone to the private sector and
into other areas and as a result of that, a reduction of GDP of over US$21
billion.”
This is just bull s***t.
It is a matter of historic fact that the IMF,
WB and most other financial institutions stop giving Zimbabwe and financial
assistance at the end of 1999 because Harare was failing to service its
existing debts. This was at the end of the second of IMF and WB sponsored five-year
Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP), programmes had failed to
bring about any meaningful economic recovery and Mugabe went to town blaming
the two financial institutions. The regime had failed to honour its promised reforms.
When Mugabe fell out with the West he turned
East with his “Look East!” drive. All financial assistance from China soon
dried up for the same reason – Zimbabwe is a bad debtor.
When Mnangagwa took over he too revived the “Look
East!” and signed many mega deals with China. Two years latter there has been
little going on because China is still insisting that Zimbabwe pays the
outstanding debts first.
There are other reasons why foreign investors
and lenders have continued to shy away from doing business with Zimbabwe even
after the watershed November 2017 military coup that saw the removal of Robert
Mugabe. The country is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote
rigging and murderous tyrants. No one was ever fooled by the “new dispensation”
whitewash.
“That’s why since his inauguration, His
Excellency (President Mnangagwa) has dynamised Zimbabwe’s quest to normalise relations
with the West through re-engagement,” Minister Moyo explained.
“However, the new dispensation has enabled the
thawing of relations with the EU as seen by their observance of the July 31
elections and continued exchange of high levels visits.”
Why not even one of the parliamentary committee
members reminded the Minister what the EU Election Observer Mission said, is
another mystery!
“The electoral commission lacked full
independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner,” stated the
EU Mission report.
“The final results as announced by the
Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate
traceability, transparency and verifiability. Finally, the restrictions on
political freedoms, the excessive use of force by security forces and abuses of
human rights in the post-election period undermined the corresponding positive
aspects during the pre-election campaign. As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections
in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”
In 2016 the then President Mugabe admitted that
the country was “swindled out of US$15 billion in lost diamond revenue”. Mugabe
never arrested one swindler or recover one dollar. Mnangagwa promise there would
be “zero tolerance on corruption”. He too has failed to arrest one diamond swindler
or recover one dollar.
We know that the looting has continued to this
day because former Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, admitted in 2017 that
he was getting 1/6 of the diamond revenue he expected. Mnangagwa has admitted
corruption is “deep rooted”.
It is laughable that the regime should be
expending so much time and energy blaming sanctions for exaggerated financial
losses when all Zanu PF should have done to get financial assistance and get the
sanctions lifted was to service its debts and hold free, fair and credible
elections. Worse still, why has the regime down nothing to stop the life
threaten haemorrhage of resources through corruption?
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state
ruled by corrupt thugs there will be no meaningful economic recovery. Minister
Moyo’s report of billions of dollars in increased economic activity if
sanctions are lifted and of the progress in re-engaging the West are all a
mirage. As long as Zanu PF remains in power Zimbabwe will remain stuck in this
hell-hole the regime dragged us into.
Nothing good will ever come out of this Zanu PF
regime, it is clearly incapable of reforming itself. The regime rigged last
year’s elections and pressure must now be brought to bear to force it to step
down to allow the nation to implement the reform necessary for free, fair and
credible elections.
Constitutional lawyer Shepherd Dube said the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission must leave no stone unturned in unmasking Mnangagwa.
ReplyDelete"The activities of the past week have shown us that the country is run a by mafia boss who is bent on using every avenue he can to make sure he loots till Zimbabwe is like Somalia. We are happy that Justice Matanda Moyo is in a no nonsense mood and has promised that there will be no sacred cows."
ZACC were appointed and can be fired by Mnangagwa and are per se accountable to him. Beside Justice Matanda Moyo’s husband is himself involved in the looting of diamonds in Marange and Chiadzwa as a top brass ZDF member. So the no sacred cow will start with naming her own husband!
This Zanu PF government is renowned for ignoring the facts, truth and reality in pursuit of its own propaganda narrative. Soon after the November 2017 military coup the Mnangagwa regime went on a diplomatic charm offensive to woo back the West including such organisations as the Commonwealth. Mnangagwa knew one of things the West would be calling for is meaningful democratic change including the holding of free, fair and credible elections. He promised to hold free, fair and credible elections but never kept his promise.
ReplyDeleteThe EU and the Commonwealth, amongst many others, had election observers on the ground during last year's elections and they all condemned the elections as flawed and illegal. The Commonwealth Secretariat made it clear Zimbabwe's application to rejoin the club in the circumstance was a non-starter. What Foreign Minister is tell us here is a figment of his imagination.
Zimbabwe is facing a serious existential threat with the worsening economic situation that has forced millions of our people into abject poverty and hopelessness. The country needs to deal with these economic and the underlying political challenges with the sense of urgency the matter demands. This is no time for any of these Foreign Minister gimmicks, lies and damned lies!
Lawsuits and threats will not stop the Zanu-PF Youth League from naming and shaming corrupt individuals, youth commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu has said.
ReplyDeleteIn a country where corruption has been institutionalised and the ruling elite live in palatial mansions and have a prodigal-son lifestyle to march, Tsenengamu has a long list of names to go through. What is he waiting for, go on name the corrupt individuals!
After the November 2017 military coup, the nation was assured the new dispensation will have “zero tolerance on corruption”. Mnangagwa has failed to arrest even one of the big fish other than his G40 factional rivals. He has his admitted failure, “corruption is deep rooted”, he said.
Tsenengamu is fighting the same factional war, he is very selective on whom he names and keep his handlers’ factional emery at bay but without making a dent on corruption.
Zimbabwe needs to address this scourge of corruption and the only sure way is demanding that this vote rigging and illegitimate Zanu PF regime steps down to allow the nation to hold free, fair and credible elections leading to a legitimate and competent government.
Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo, President Mnangagwa and the rest of this Zanu PF junta are men and women of little intellect living in their own make-believe world totally divorced from reality. Of course, the Minister and the rest of the regime read the EU Election Observer Mission's damning report. The regime knows the report is true, they rigged the elections.
ReplyDeleteMinister Moyo has picked the sending of the Observer team as proof EU relations are thawing ignoring the team's report confirming Zimbabwe is still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs.
The world will never forget Minister Moyo as the face of the November 2017 putsch who announce that the military coup was not a coup but "a military assisted transition"! The irony is the coup plotters clearly believed they had out witted the nation and the whole world. Man is a creature of habit, Minister Moyo is displaying the same idiosyncrasy here!
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has left millions of our people living in abject poverty and many are dying for want of US$5 a month of medicine. The situation is unsustainable and must be addressed as a matter of urgency!
Minister Moyo and his Zanu PF cronies have failed to resolve the nation's teething problems, they rigged last year's election and so have no legal mandate to govern and must step down. Minister Moyo's gimmicks and lies are to justify why the regime should stay in power and must be dismissed with the contempt they rightly deserve.
“Zanu PF and Mnangagwa cannot sustain the politics of patronage in a DEAD economy. That’s the paradox of Mnangagwa’s neo-patrimonial politic! The social contract has broken down. Cartels must die for Zimbabwe to survive!” twittered Pedzisai Ruhanya
ReplyDeleteCould not agree with you more. As a matter of fact, the nation came to a parallel conclusion, the need to dismantle the de facto Zanu PF dictatorship, in the late 1990s as the only sure way to end the Zanu PF and strangle hold on power hence the call for democratic change. The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect MDC members into power on the understanding, the party would bring about the democratic changes the nation was dying for. Sadly, that has never happened.
MDC has had many golden opportunities to implement the democratic reforms in the last 20 years but has wasted them all. Mugabe and his Zanu PF party have bribed MDC leaders with the trappings of high office and they, in return, forgot about the reforms.
The real tragedy in Zimbabwe is that after 20 years of MDC selling out, many people still believe MDC will end the Zanu PF dictatorship, “the patronage system that has morphed into cartel” as you put it. MDC has been running with the hare and hunting with the hounds and there is no excuse for pretending otherwise.
In the last decade MDC have participated in rigged elections giving Zanu PF some modicum of legitimacy. Although MDC has finally admitted that Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, Chamisa et al are fighting to have the illegitimate regime declared legitimate provided Mnangagwa agrees to share the spoils of power.
Ruhanya, the Zanu PF dictatorship and its spawned patronage and cartels would have all died years ago if MDC leaders had not sold-out. The dictatorship would be on the ropes by now following last year’s rigged elections if MDC stopped propping it up with all this nonsense that MDC can grant the regime legitimacy!
@ Makho Moyo
ReplyDelete“During the early seventies it was taboo to come across a person who had killed himself but now it is a norm in Zimbabwe. As the country plunges deeper into economic turmoil more people are committing suicide as they are failing to cope with the ever increasing cost of living and spiraling prices of basic foodstuffs. The Military government has totally failed and is now clueless about how to manage the economy which is now a ticking time bomb towards civil unrest.”
This is a real tragedy and what is worse, it is one of our own making. We
sat there twiddling our fingers like children.
People get the government they deserve; we certainly deserve this one, complete with its entourage of corrupt and incompetent opposition parties.
It is all very well for the ruling elite, they have been going to SA, China, India, Singapore and many other places outside Zimbabwe for all their health needs because the country's own health services have all but collapsed.
ReplyDeleteIt is the ordinary Zimbabweans who cannot afford the airfare and hospital bills who have no choice but to make do with the collapsed system. he irony is by seeking health care outside Zimbabwe the chefs accelerated the collapse of the local service as it was starved of funds. In 2012 Mugabe had no fewer than 8 health care trips to Singapore at a cost of US$ 3 million @ trip. If the US$24 million was invested in just one super hospital, the country would have a 5 star hospital to treat the chefs and us ordinary people when the beds a re free!
The fact that this waste of the nation's resources, sending chefs outside the country at great expense for their health needs, has continued post the November 2017 coup is just one more proof that nothing has changed after the coup.
Zimbabwe is dying for meaningful regime change and for that we must have free, fair and credible elections!
“China believes they have a cure for the Zimbabwe vice president, and will administer an antidote for his poisoning ailment in a few days at the General Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army,” said the diplomat whose mission is also situated in the South African capital. “The whole operation involves China and Zimbabwe’s military intelligence units.
ReplyDeleteThe former Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) boss, could have ingested the deadly polonium-210 poison, possibly administered using food by his political enemies.
Last week we also reported that Chiwenga is thought to have been allegedly poisoned, during a private lunch meeting with Mnangagwa at a luxury hotel in Harare last year.
Mnangagwa himself is a victim of ice-cream poisoning, which his supporters claim he suffered at the hands of former first lady, Grace Mugabe, at a ruling party rally in Gwanda, in 2017.
So having perfected the art of rigging elections to guarantee their tight grip absolute power Zanu PF are now learning that there are other ways, beside through the holding of free, fair and credible elections that their iron grip on power can end – for the top dog, a military coup and for everyone else it is poison.
The soon we can implement the democratic reforms the sooner we can be assured of good governance and having leaders removed from office safely and peacefully will be a bonus!
ZIMBABWEAN ambassadors posted to various countries in the world have been forced to hitchhike for transport while some endure living in homes with leaking roofs as the country struggles to maintain its embassies.
ReplyDeleteThis was revealed Monday by Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo while giving oral evidence before parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee.
Moyo said government was in the process of re-capitalising its foreign missions to restore their dignity
This is just wishful thinking; re-capitalising them with what? The economic meltdown is getting worse and worse and government’s revenue is shrinking and not increasing!
The Zanu PF dictatorship has failed but not only is the regime refusing to accept it has failed but worst of all whilst it retains its dictatorial powers to rig elections we are stuck with the regime.