President Robert Mugabe
I read with utter indignation President Mugabe’s comments yesterday with regard to the state of the economy and causes the cash crunch. According to him, the key reasons are that our economy is not exporting enough and the issue of sanctions. He also insists that Zimbabweans will accept bond notes anyway because it is normal for us to do that eventually, regardless of our initial resistance, which he believes is mainly due to our ignorance and our politicisation of the issue.
If there was any doubt that this man does not really appreciate economics let that doubt end now. You see my dear Zimbabweans, this statement is once again loaded with a victim mentality which has got us where we are in the first place.
Our dear President sees it fit to blame sanctions and exports as our key problems and as usual takes absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for his suspect understanding of the real issues and the central role he has played in creating this disaster.
He blames foreigners and the US$ because we have become a “fishing pond†for foreigners who are externalising the US$. He then blames our ignorance of matters economic, something which he did in 2000 during the land reform disaster and also in 2008 prior to the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar.
Please tell me who is demonstrating or feigning ignorance here? Let me reframe the problem for my readers.
Our problem is that we are importing too much because Mugabe, through sheer racism and political expediency, destroyed the agriculture sector of the country which was the cornerstone of our manufacturing sector and then proceeded to destroy our local currency by printing too much of it.
We also exported billions of diamonds which his government cannot account for because of downright corruption and incompetence. Add to that the fact that his government has been wasting scarce resources by spending millions on cars and travel each year, money which could have been used otherwise.
That is what my “ignorance†tells me.
Zimbabweans are all really tired of Mugabe’s excuses and incompetence. We are tired of his insistence to remain in power even when it is evident to us all that he has failed dismally in understanding and managing the affairs of our great country.
You see, if only we had a President who demonstrated his grasp of things economic and actually took responsibility and behaved accordingly in these times, we would surely have some modicum of respect for him and maybe we could even have a chance of economic recovery. However with this man in charge and with his language, we can all see that we are indeed in deep trouble.
We can be proactive reduce our import bill and unnecessary government expenditure which would save us millions. We can use our police, intelligence and security services better to deal with corruption and protect our borders and thus reduce illegal cash outflows instead of endless road blocks and the hounding of political opponents.
We can revive our agriculture sector very quickly and revive our industry to create jobs and achieve food security thus reduce imports by giving secure land tenure to productive farmers regardless of race. We can manage our money better as a country by planning and budgeting better and reducing unnecessary borrowing and corruption of Mugabe’s team of ministers.
In other words, there is a lot we can do ourselves now to change our circumstances as a country than expecting “others out there†to change their behaviours. In my opinion, that is what a responsible and informed President should be saying in these times and acting on it to make it happen.
Above all, the idea that we will all soon accept bond notes anyway reflects to me a man who is not only taking us for fools but also taking us for granted and it is time we prove him wrong. Let us all reject his paradigm and his narrative through action and not mere words and maybe he may begin to take us seriously.
It is very obvious that the problems we face in Zimbabwe can never be solved by Mugabe and his coterie of ministers who are in fact the chief architects of the problems in the first place. We must therefore do all we can to cause a paradigm shift in their minds that Zimbabweans can no longer be taken for a ride.
Enough is enough.
Vince Musewe is an economist and author based in Harare. You may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com. He writes in his personal capacity.
Post published in: Featured