“It requires everybody to work hard and for our people not to be greedy, selfish and corrupt,” said secretary for administration, Didyms Mutasa in a recent interview with The Zimbabwean. “It will be difficult for us to deliver on our election promises if we have greedy and corrupt people among ourselves.”
Mutasa said his party faced an uphill task of delivering on its election promises and made an appeal to the electorate to remain patient. President Robert Mugabe last week called for zero tolerance against corruption, which he said was working against efforts aimed at developing the country.
Mutasa also warned his party against over-dependence on external support. “I am not very happy to go and beg from external sources. We need to put our heads together and work on our goals and not go begging for hand-outs. We must first of all work on our own before we go to seek external assistance,” he said.
Meanwhile, the party has appealed to Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to return home saying the government needs their skills for economic development.
“They are all Zimbabweans and let them come back home,” said official spokesperson Rugare Gumbo. “It is the policy of the party that Zimbabweans who left the country and were living in other countries should be allowed back into the country. Most of those people have got very good skills and they are highly educated.”
The nation lost a significant number of professionals during the economic decline and political uncertainty of the past decade and a half. Millions settled in neighbouring countries and in the UK, Europe and North America following an economic and political meltdown that turned Zimbabwe into a pariah state.
Gumbo denied that people had fled political persecution from his party. “There are some who just disappeared on false claims that Zanu (PF) was persecuting them. But we are saying that anyone who is a Zimbabwean is free to come home because we need the skills of these people to develop the country,” said Gumbo.
He ruled out any amnesty for what he called “economic criminals” who fled the country to evade arrest and prosecution for crimes involving the externalisation of foreign currency. “Those people would have to justify that they do not have a case to answer to and there are responsible authorities who would be dealing with those matters,” said Gumbo.
The Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, Gabriel Shumba, said he was cautious that Zanu (PF) was genuine in its calls. “This call should be complemented by a general amnesty and clear guarantees that those exiled for their activism and political beliefs will not be subjected to witch-hunts in the form of prosecution for alleged past political crimes, and that they will be able to conduct their work without fear of harassment,” said Shumba.
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Interesting he didn’t say to those who left, “Come back, bring your skills, and we’ll investigate your charges of attacks, and seek justice for you.” Wonder why not. I think that’s what they want.
The culture of taking people for granted is still pervasive. Why has changed so much that would attract a highly skilled person to come back? What would this highly skilled person work on when so many companies are closing? Zimbabwe ranks lowly in terms of doing business,health services are poor and expensive, political intolerance is unacceptably high, education is in the drain and a lot has not been done to improve the situation.
The call by Mutasa for Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to return home is a noble idea but he must remember that we were not allowed to vote. I would personally believe that most of the people outside Zimbabwe were anxiously looking forward to coming home mainly pending outcome of the 31st July 2013 election results. The results seem not to reflect the will of the people. Massive rigging was in full force as several irregularities were eye witnessed. To name a few:- extra polling stations were added on the day. There was intimidation in the villages were voters were given numbers as if to cross-check who they had voted for. Headman arranged voters in groups and threatened to be evicted from the area if they vote MDC. Fake voter registration slips were being distributed and voters were being bussed to vote in areas they were not supposed to vote. Shambolic voters’ roll – lack of meaningful inspection and verification by voters, names missing, and western observers barred from elections, bias of the media during the elections – the list is endless. As of now civil service employees are proposing for a 99.4% increment for the least paid employee and if this is implemented, 3.64 usd billion would be required for the wage bill alone and this is equal the total budget. If the environment is conducive people from the Diaspora will flock back home without even being asked to do so. At the moment investors are reluctant to put more capital into Zimbabwe because of indigenisation policy. Economic development in Zimbabwe can be brought about through proper free fair and credible elections.