“On the monetary side, yes, we have introduced one currency. For the first six weeks it remained stable, but then our people are intelligent. We have people who found ways to fight that (stability of the currency) and undermine it, but yesterday (Friday) we also became smarter than them and so we took some action,” boasted President Emerson Mnangagwa.
“We have now arrested the galloping rate which was galloping from about eight, within few days it had gone up 10, and 20, by the time we left it had gone down and I think today it is about 14.”
Every time Mnangagwa has admitted there was a problem he has followed this up with a solution to the problem. In other words he has admitted a problem only as an excuse to offer a solution and thus show the world just how smart he is! If the truth be told, here the truth is the only currency, he is not smart at all.
At the beginning of the year, the Bond Note, the country default local currency, was on par to the US Dollar; today, nine months latter, it is trading at 14:1! Some smart leader, indeed!
The root cause of Zimbabwe's economic meltdown is the country cursed pariah state status.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by incompetent, corrupt vote rigging and murderous tyrants. As much as President Mnangagwa has tried to put some political distance between his post November 2017 military coup regime with that of the late Robert Mugabe; calling his regime a "new dispensation", "Second Republic", etc. The Zanu PF dictatorship has remained untouched or be it under new management.
Mnangagwa promised "zero tolerance on corruption" and yet two years since the coup and he has yet to arrest one Marange diamond looter. "Corruption is deeply rooted," he admitted.
He also promised free, fair and credible elections but, again, failed to deliver. But above all else, by blatantly rigging the elections he confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state.
The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown because for the country has been starved of any meaningful investment for the last two decades. Investors do not do business in a pariah state.
Cure Zimbabwe's pariah state curse and investors and investment will flood back into the country. And the pariah state cure is for the vote rigging Zanu PF regime to step down to allow the appointment of an interim administration that will be tasked to implement reforms and deliver free, fair and credible elections.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs the economic meltdown will get worse; the 14:1 Z$ to US$ exchange rate will get a lot worse smart Alec's pride and joy, will get a lot worse; etc.
When President Mnangagwa staged his November 2017 putsch and launched his "Zimbabwe is open for business!" complete with the multi-coloured trademark scarf; there was not a single grain of doubt in his Sahara desert expense mind that the economic boom that was to follow. Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has got a lot worse than it was in 20017; it must be every hard for him to admit this.
By burying his head in the sand and pretending he is smarter than he is; deluding himself that he can still deliver economic recovery and still keep the pariah state; Mnangagwa is digging the nation into deeper and deeper trouble. Zimbabwe's worsening economic meltdown is not only resulting in currency instability but the very survival of this nation is now at stake.
It is said of the Greek Philosopher, Socrates, that he admitted t being the wisest man in Athens but only because he alone was prepared to admit his own ignorance rather than pretend to know something he did not.
Zimbabwe's worst curse is to be stuck for 39 years and counting with smart-Alec leaders who will not admit they have failed even in the face of a mountain of evidence of their failures!
ND: I understand that the Political Actors Dialogue is also discussing, among other things, electoral reforms, but you said you have already concluded.
ReplyDeleteZZ: Polad does not have legislative authority.
ND: So everything you have already finalised cannot be changed?
ZZ: Polad feeds into the President, the President has legislative authority and it comes to Parliament.
ND: At the launch of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission awareness campaign, you took on the European Union (EU) ambassador, what was going on in your head?
ZZ: I think the EU ambassador took the occasion at the launch of the anti-corruption campaign to speak about issues of human rights and I also took the occasion to remind him that we must holistically speak about human rights. You impose sanctions, you are abusing the human rights of those people.
If you are so much concerned about the rights to demonstrate, because all rights are equal, also give the same importance to the socio-economic rights of the very people.
Otherwise you don't impoverish people so that you magnify the rights to demonstrate. Give people a level ground; remove sanctions so that you don't induce sufferings and all people to enjoy rights that are equal, that was my message.
Don't be a hypocrite, you will be talking about human rights yet you are trampling upon the same rights that are talking about, you are being very hypocritical. He needed to be told in like manner like what he had done.
ND: You did not fear crossing the diplomatic line at that moment?
ZZ: He had already crossed the line, diplomats are supposed to keep to their mandate not to get into areas that they are not supposed to get into.
Zimbabweans and outsiders alike must not be fooled by POLAD or by Chamisa and his proposed Nation Transition Authority into believing the opposition will ever implement any meaningful democratic reforms. They are just paying lip service to the subject especially since the EU, the Americans and everyone worth their salt said last year’s elections were a farce.
All the opposition parties and candidates KNEW Zanu PF was going to blatantly rid the elections, they were warned this would happen thousands times. They all participated because they all also KNEW that Zanu PF would be giving away a few gravy-train seats and that anyone of the opposition who win more that 5% of the votes would get a slice of the Political Party Finance Act payout.
Zanu PF thugs know that as long as they continue to dangle the bait to the opposition, the latter participate in the elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process happened to be.
If this illegitimate Zanu PF regime is allowed to stay in office until 2023 then we can be 100% certain no meaningful democratic reforms will be implemented and 100% certain most if not all the opposition will participated in the elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process got!
Demanding that Zanu PF steps down is the only guarantee next elections are going to be free, fair and credible.
@ Terence
ReplyDeleteThe sheer stupidity of minister Ziyanbi Ziyambi's argument for Zanu PF's continued denial of Zimbabweans their basic right on the grounds the West too is denying Zimbabweans their right beggars belief. These are your own people who are suffering from the sanctions and you are punishing further!
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown was caused by decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption and these will only end if we have free, fair and credible elections. The sanctions are all about forcing Zanu PF to hold free and fair elections and hence the reasons the sanctions must stay!
Member of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's Presidential Advisory Council Trevor Ncube has been accused of being a serial flip flopper after an October 2017 tweet which he posted on micro blogging site Twitter has resurfaced online.
ReplyDeleteIn the tweet Ncube said he was disappointed by people who support ZANU PF.
"My greatest disappointment in life is discovering people younger than me who support ZanuPF. ZanuPF is a culture system. Not about Mugabe," Ncube said then.
South African based political analyst Fortune Mlalazi said Ncube was a man who had sold his principles in exchange of money.
"If you look at Trevor's public opinions you will see that the man is an unprincipled character who can sell his soul for a red soup like the biblical Esau." Mlalazi said. "This is a man who two years ago did not want anything to do with ZANU PF but suddenly he was promised some position and he is singing praises of the current despot Mnangagwa.
"Zimbabweans are in trouble if their President is to be advised by such a person.”
If the truth be told, Zimbabwe has more than its fair share of individuals who have sold their own mothers for a beer and boasted their had a mother to sell! Look at all the other members of President Advisor Council, Zanu PF cronies, rogue war veterans, Professor Mthuli Ncube, Minister Coventry, Chamisa and his MDC friends, etc.; the list is endless. They all knew Zanu PF was a corrupt and ruthless dictatorship and yet they have all worked to prop it up - after being offered the right inducement, of course!
It is a well known fact that Zanu PF has its heavy boot on the neck of the rural voters; the party uses the local traditional leaders, food aid and other assistance to corral the voters. Rural voters are nothing more than medieval serfs beholden to the Zanu PF overlord. The real naive idiots here are those who believe that MDC leaders believe the party can "win rigged elections", as the former MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu once claimed.
ReplyDeleteWhy would the rural voter vote for MDC and risk starvation!!!!
MDC leaders had the chance to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging, they failed to implement even one reform during the 2008 to 2013 GNU when they had the best chances. They now know they will never get any reforms implemented and accept their new role as Zanu PF's cover.
Zanu PF needs MDC to participate in elections to maintain the facade these are free, fair and credible elections. Zanu PF gives away a few gravy-train seats and a slice of the Political Party Finance Act payout. Last week MDC got $3.4 million payout and Chamisa, as party leader, got 20% of that, a cool $680 000. Of course, Chamisa and company will never boycott elections. Never ever!
@ Eddie Cross
ReplyDeleteZanu PF has proven to be corrupt, incompetent and a murderous dictatorship; we had the best chance to remove the regime from office which Cross and his MDC wasted. His idea that we can still work with the dictatorship and revive the economy is foolish. He has advised this Mnangagwa regime for the last two years and nothing good has ever come out of it.
Zimbabweans must now bite the bullet and act to end the curse of rigged elections by demanding that Zanu PF steps down and implement the reforms. The worsening economic meltdown has pushed the nation to the edge of the precipice and time to act is running out!
“It is time we address the fundamentals because if we did not have increased money supply and excess liquidity, exchange rates would not rise to such levels. The fact that we currently have $15 billion in local currency against US$1.2 billion in FCA nostro is clear testimony that some underhand dealings are going on within government and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,” Gwanyanya said.
ReplyDeleteIn his assessment of the situation, Chitambara said no lasting solution will be achieved without a clear appreciation of the root problems hidden in the existence of a deeply informalised economy.
“When 95 % of the economy is informalised, it means that speculation and indiscipline is rife. There are a lot of underhand dealings in such a context and unless such problematic situation are addressed, government can never win the exchange rates war. Key economic fundamentals created through social dialogue must be urgently resolved in order to permanently solve the problems,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is caused by the political problem of bad governance and anyone who thinks the there can ever be meaningful economic recovery whilst the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs in naive.
There is an unwritten rule in Zimbabwe; you can talk about everything under the sun except criticising Zanu PF leaders, particularly anything to suggest they are corrupt and incompetent. With the nation right on the edge of the precipice, with unemployment a nauseating 90%, 3/4 of the population living in abject poverty, with most basic services all but collapsed, etc. it is time to ignore the political niceties of appeasing Zanu PF and deal with the nation’s problems head-on.
Zimbabwe must cure itself of the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, the party is illegitimate and must step down! Period!
The very fact that Mnangagwa see the local currency losing its value from 1:1 to 14:1 exchange rate in nine months as an achievement goes to show just how shallow, thick and slow he is. Of course, Zimbabwe is in a real mess but a tyrant like Mnangagwa will never see himself as a failure. Never!
ReplyDeleteIf Socrates admitted to be the wisest man in Athens but only because he was smart enough to know and admit his own ignorance. Tyrants like Mnangagwa believe they are God's blessing to the nation for they are the wisest man alive and they know everything!
Thanks to his competent and wise leadership the Z$ only lost its value from 1:1 to 14:1 in nine months! He will never understand that the US$ probably lost the same value in the last 100 years, for example!
The worst curse to befall Zimbabwe is to have ignorant leaders who think themselves wiser than King Solomon and have the tyrants enjoy absolute power! How to wrestle the absolute power from Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies is proving to be a mission impossible especially now the regime has the country's opposition in its deep pockets!
Farai is just Nick Mnangagwa mark 2 in that he is bombastic and never listens to anyone else.
ReplyDeleteFarai did not want anything critical of the regime to be said, period. He made a mountain out of a mole hill of why Zimeye had a live interview with Police Commissioner Matanga. Why not?
The real story to come out of the interview was that Commissioner Matanga said he did not know which Hospital Dr Magombeyi was been detained, for example. The abduction of Dr Magombeyi had received extensive national and international coverage, the Minister of Home Affairs had commented of the story, the Police have held Dr Magombeyi since last Friday, etc. It was therefore a big surprise for the number one Police Office to say he did not even know the Police were holding the young doctor!
Farai ignored all this to focus on trivial details and insisting the story should not have been aired until all those involved in the story had been interviewed, etc. Just an excuse to gag Zimeye!
Farai went to town about "good journalistic practices". Zimeye gave him the platform to air his views (which he only sort to abuse by denying anyone else to be heard, as usual) has ZBC, the Herald and all the other public media afford anyone other than Zanu PF and its apologists air time? And yet he has never said a word!