Zimbabwe’s economy is in total meltdown; unemployment has remained 90% plus, 3/4 of the population are living on US$40 per month and the country’s estimated 1000% hyperinflation is dragging them even deeper into poverty, public health care has all but closed down and people are dying of easily treatable ailments, etc. The situation is alarming but what makes it worse is that those in position of power and authority do not seem to even notice it!
"His Excellency the President has a meeting with all political actors who participated in the 2018 harmonised elections under the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) except for one or two political parties that are yet to join others,” commented VP Chiwenga.
“There is no doubt that a peaceful environment in our country translates into socio-economic development, empowerment and growth of our country.
"Let me, therefore, reiterate His Excellency's view that as Zimbabweans we are capable of finding enduring solutions to our own challenges. As such, home-grown solutions are to be pursued than international mediation that other parties are trying to pursue.
"Hatiende kunotsvaga nyamukuta kunext door. Vana nyamukuta vedu tinavo muno.” (We are not going to seek political midwives outside Zimbabwe when we have competent ones right here.)”
VP Chiwenga was addressing a delegation of church leaders who have been calling on MDC to accept Mnangagwa as the legitimate president and then join other politicians in POLAD.
No doubt, VP Chiwenga was looking pointedly at the church leaders when he mentioned the “capable local midwives”! He, like Mnangagwa is particularly pleased with the church leaders who have been calling on Chamisa to recognise Mnangagwa as the legitimate president.
As for the “home-grown solution”; this is just reckless political arrogance at its worst because after 40 years of blundering from pillar to post and with the country up to her eyes in this economic mess, it is nauseating to keep talking about a home-grown solution.
So the country not only needs help to dismantle its corrupt and dysfunctional political system but, worse still, needs help to acknowledge the system has failed regardless of the heartbreaking human tragedy unfolding in the country.
VP Chiwenga and his Zanu PF colleagues are shrewd enough to know that no political midwife worth his salt would ever want to be involved in the Zimbabwe crisis unless they believe there is a realistic chance the democratic reforms necessary to guarantee free, fair and credible elections will be implemented this time. SADC took on the challenge and was the guarantor of the 2008 Global Political Agreement and GNU that failed to get even one reform implemented. They would not want their fingers burnt once again.
Mnangagwa’s insistence that all parties to the political dialogue must first publicly acclaim him as the legitimately elected president of Zimbabwe; ruling out the need for any far reaching reforms. Zimbabwe’s local leaders are also demanding that the opposition parties endorse Mnangagwa as the legitimate president; no wonder Zanu PF is warming up to local midwife rather than outsiders.
So the local midwives with their home grown solution will not move us an inch out of this economic and political mess. Not one inch! The only reason VP Chiwenga and his Zanu PF colleague are keen on these church leaders playing a role is that the leaders recognise that Zanu PF does not want any meaningful democratic reforms to be implemented. The party does not want free, fair and credible elections because that will undermine it’s iron grip on power; not now, not ever.
The corollary is equally true and unmovable; without free, fair and credible elections Zimbabwe will never ever have any meaningful economic recovery; not now not ever! The prospect of Zimbabwe’s dire economic situation continuing unresolved with people now dying like flies is simply unthinkable.
Zimbabwe’s economic situation demands a solution that will end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance and since the local midwives cannot deliver such a solution the country must look further afield for those who can and will implement the reforms.
Ever since the local church leaders have backed Mnangagwa's demands that all parties to the political dialogue must first endorse him as the legitimate president the party has praised them to th high heavens. By endorsing Mnangagwa as the legitimate president one is per se accepting that last year's elections were free, fair and credible and therefore will not be asking for democratic reforms.
ReplyDeleteZanu PF does not want any meaningful reforms implemented because the party knows it can never be 100% certain of winning.
So Chiwenga is happy with the local church leaders being the political midwives in this Zimbabwe crisis because they will not demand the implementation of any reforms. All the other midwives will know without reforms nothing will change and hence will insist in meaningful reforms being implemented.
A political solution that seeks to appease Zanu PF and maintain the status quo is a waste of time.
“… They recently released the total amount of money that we gave in 2019, it was about $330 million. So, it was a bit more than it was in the budget report that’s the total amount that includes our work with PEPFAR (U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), it includes work that we have provided this year for food relief, people who are faced with food insecurity because of the drought and other causes it includes drought and any other causes and it also includes the assistance that was given to people who suffered the consequences of Cyclone Idai. So, putting all the numbers together it was over $330 million this year.”
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese government recently questioned figures indicating that they provided only $3,631,500 for development support instead of over $136 million
There is one simple explanation why this Zanu PF government was way out in stating the foreign aid it has received; it does not want the world to know that the country is now totally dependent on aid. A far months ago the regime banished the release of inflation figure giving some some dubious excuse.
With all public hospitals now closed for lack of doctors, nurses, medicine, water, electricity, etc.; people are dying like flies. The regime will be more concerned about making sure the truth is not known than doing something to save lives. This is how sick this regime is!
This is a regime that is obsessed about appearances and will not hesitate giving out false information to spruce up its image and does not care about the substantive issues.
The irony is under Mugabe's corrupt and tyrannical rule it is not only the orphans who are hungry and are being denied an education. Millions of children with parents are hungry and have dropped out of school and/or the teachers themselves have dropped out as a result of the country's economic meltdown.
ReplyDeleteGOVERNMENT has paid some 100 former white farm owners US$53 million in line with its pledges to compensate them for improvements on their expropriated land.
ReplyDeleteDuring his 2020 budget presentation last month, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said he had set aside $380 million to compensate mainly former white farmers who lost their land during former President Robert Mugabe’s chaotic land reform programme which started in the early 2000s.
Speaking to journalists during this week’s post-cabinet media briefing Tuesday, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said US$53 million has already been paid.
Yes the white farmers must be paid for the improvements and assets they were forced to leave behind - some had to left with nothing but the shirt on their back. What the people of Zimbabwe will have often asked and will do so repeatedly until the get the answer: is why is the taxpayer paying the compensation when those who profited from all these seized loot are still there?
AN estimated US$293 million is required immediately for the World Food Programme’s (WFP) emergency response to meet the growing needs of the hardest-hit Zimbabweans facing severe food shortages.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the WFP, the international donor agency is rapidly expanding an already sizeable emergency operation in Zimbabwe, where drought, flooding and macroeconomic meltdown have plunged at least 7.7 million people – half of the population – into severe hunger.
There but for the mercy of God goes me!
Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of the region but ever since Zanu PF seized the white own farms, the country has failed to produce enough to feed its own people even when the country had a good growing season.
There is no denying Zimbabwe’s starvation problem is, to a great extend, a man-made problem. Every Zimbabweans must hang their head in shame for having done nothing to prevent this tragedy. We should get off our backside and do something even if to voice one’s concern about the human tragedy.
We are not as helpless as we believe we are! First and foremost, helplessness is a state of mind; if you cannot think of anything to say about the tragedy unfolding in Zimbabwe, you will certainly do nothing about!
@ Dr Masimba Mavaza
ReplyDelete“The Mashonaland East province is honoured to be hosting the progressive revolutionary party this year,” you say.
The country is facing serious economic meltdown 7.7 million are facing starvation, hospitals have closed and hundreds are dying everyday of curable diseases, etc. All because the country has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and murderous Zanu PF dictatorship that has remained in power for 39 years because it rigged elections.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs this nation’s economic decline will continue. All Zanu PF cares about is retaining political power at all cost and the party thugs and apologies tell us this is a “progressive party”!
Zimbabwe is facing its worst ever existential threat are desperate needs to end this corrupt and dysfunctional dictatorship which has dragged the nation to the very edge of the abyss. Instead of stopping and turning back we have village idiots like Dr Masimba Mavaza cheering on, “Full steam ahead!”
STRIKING public hospital doctors have defied President Emmerson Mnangagwa's latest 48-hour moratorium which came after government reversed its earlier decision to fire them.
ReplyDeleteInformation minister Monica Mutsvangwa, presenting a Cabinet briefing yesterday, said only 46 doctors returned to work after the moratorium, leaving 402 doctors still holding out in the trenches.
The moratorium was but a empty and, indeed, foolish gesture since government has done nothing to pay these doctors a living wage. This is just like the school bully who publicly apologise for stepping on his victim’s toes and yet retains his boot firmly planted on the victim’s toes.
If Mnangagwa is serious about getting the doctors back to work he must offer them the living wage, in US$ or pegged to the hyperinflation, and then see how many will still refuse to return to work! He cannot do this because he has failed to revive the economy but will never ever admit to failing.
Mnangagwa rigged last year’s elections but has failed to rig economic recovery. He is holding the nation to ransom by denying the people a meaning vote and using brute force to silence dissent. But no amount of brutality will stop the nation demanding change because human being are not sheep who will go to the slaughter in silence! Of course, it is tragic that the nation has been dragged into this hell-on-earth and now has to use violence to end this corrupt and tyrannical oppression!
Chiwenga and Zanu PF will welcome an outsider to mediate if there was one who would accept the party's demand to endorse last year's elections as having been free, fair and credible. So far no outsiders have endorsed that foolishness because they know the root cause of Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis is the country's failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. If the outsider cannot deal with the root cause of the problem then only a fool would want to be the mediator! As we have seen, Zimbabwe has many village idiots willing to take up meaningless mediator role.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, Zimbabwe is in this mess because the MDC and the rest in the opposition camp participated in these flawed and illegal elections, although they were warned the elections would be rigged, out of greed. Luke Tamborinyoka, the little hypocrite, contested in last year’s elections on an MDC A ticket; why did he ignore local and foreign advise not to contest?
MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent and least heard from them the better.
Zimbabwe is facing a serious existential threat from the economic meltdown; with 7.7 million facing starvation, hospitals closed, etc. we are standing on the edge of the abyss. The need for the country to deal with the root cause of this economic meltdown, the country's failure to rid itself of this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship these last 39 years because the party rigged elections, is now more urgent than ever.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note that since his return from China, after six months of inactivity, VP Chiwenga has hit the ground running. His near death illness has re-energised him and he is more determined than ever to make sure that Zanu PF retains its dictatorial powers at all cost. He is 100% pleased with the local church leaders who have endorsed the position that last year’s elections were free, fair and credible.
Chiwenga has his eyes on the prize - he wants to hang on to his position as VP and, in time, become the next President himself and he knows that the only sure way of securing that is to make sure Zanu PF’s dictatorial powers, including the carte blanche powers to rig elections, are not watered down in any way. He does not give a damn about the existential threat and the human tragic unfolding around us. All he cares about is power and he will issue another “shoot to kill!” order just as readily as he did 1 st August 2018!
Power is addictive and allowing when a village idiots like Chiwenga and Mnangagwa to enjoy absolute power for 40 years was folly; they are hooked and wrestling power from them will not be a walk in the park!
@ W Mzembi
ReplyDeleteWhat did you ever do to support Zimbabwe's democratisation when you were in power?
NOTHING! Indeed, you benefited from the dictatorship and played your part in making sure it remained strong!