Emmerson Mnangagwa
After reading the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Retired Major-General Dr. Sibusiso Moyo’s remarks in The Herald of 14 December 2017, and Terence Mukupe, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, I was left wondering what exactly Tendai Biti had said which had angered the two many. I had earlier seen the full text of Tendai Biti’s presentation to the USA Senate, which I had fully admired. I then had to google around for video footage of Tendai Biti’s presentation, and I came across two presentations, the first which was the paper that he read, which was identical to the written text that I had seen, and then one video tape in which Tendai must have been responding to questions, a video which had been posted on an internet platform by Terrance Mukupe.
So I listened to the clip posted by Mukupe several times to establish what Tendai may have got wrong, but I did not find anything amiss. Tendai was impressing upon us as Zimbabweans to walk the talk as a country, in line with the flowery promises made by President Mnangagwa, and that the 2018 was a major test on whether we can move away from the past 37 years of corruption, capture and cohesion into a new order, into a new Zimbabwe. A lot will depend on the next elections, if we were able to deliver as a country a free and fair legitimate election in respect of which everyone accepts the results thereof, then there is an obligation for the international community to assist us in resolving particularly the debt question where we have to engage the World Bank, IMF, the ADB and the Paris Club of lenders.
Surely, these are things Mnangagwa’s ministers must be proud of, given that the President himself has said that is what we should aim for as a country. Tendai never said anything negative, he spoke about us as a country. It was the United States authorities who said they are not lifting sanctions on Mnangagwa yet, and if Minister Moyo who confirms he has had a meeting with the United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe wants to know the position of the United States on sanctions, he should simply ask the United States Ambassador.
We must walk the talk as Zimbabwe, implement electoral reforms.
Minister Moyo also wants us to believe that only Government has the prerogative to speak on behalf of the people. Firstly, he has the privilege to invite the United States of America and talk through government’s position, like he has already had a brief meeting with the Ambassador. He can call for as many meetings as he want with the Ambassador.
The good point Minister Moyo brings up is that its too early for anyone to judge them. He makes us want to believe that they are no longer the brutal Gukurahundists, or diamond looters who have been named in United Nations reports, so the ball is in their court to prove that they have changed. The way the Mnangagwa regime handles the elections will determine whether the country extricates itself out of the mud which Zanu PF got it into.
Zimbabweans must be aware that there cannot be a new start with a party which has been in power and mismanaging for the past 37 years.
Kennedy Kaitano
For ease of reference, the links to the Herald report and the Zimeye documentary are given below for scrutiny.
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