The Sunday Mail
Nyasha Patience Mandeya —
The 16th Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference theme, “Moving with Zim-Asset in Peace and Unity”, is relevant and timely. It would be self-destructive to ignore the economy in favour of politicking as matters economic continue to occupy centre stage in national discourse.
Zimbabweans are a diligent and highly intellectual lot, and have always been known to be peaceful and united even in the most economically taxing lost decade up to 2008.
That resilience has shown that Zimbabweans aspire for peace and unity because they cherish them as fundamental gains of the liberation struggle. The quest for total economic emancipation will remain a pipe-dream if the virtues of peace and unity are absent.
The ruling Zanu-PF is highly commended for being cognisant of the prerequites of attaining economic progress as outlined in the country’s premier economic blueprint, Zim-Asset. Thus the blessing of peace and unity is reflected on economic development which is a lifeline for any society.
This is buttressed by a model by Harberger (2005) where exogenous factors that encapsulate peacefulness, policies, history and culture serve as a necessary framework or suitable environment that permits an economy to prosper.
Peace and unity exuberate through reduction in crime and social violence, which, in turn, enhances national security in such a way as to promote development and a favourable investment environment, thereby inducing local enterprises and attracting foreign direct investment which is one of the driving forces of economic growth.
Economic and political reforms go hand-in-hand in order to attain ultimate goals. Thus for the ruling party to fulfil its economic promises to Zimbabweans, it must adopt a clear strategy with a far-sighted vision acceptable to all social dimensions among Zimbabweans.
One way of achieving this is to prioritise national dialogue which means that the internal front should be strengthened by a commitment to the principles of national unity, enhancing national identity, the sense of belonging and national allegiance.
To complement this, institutional dialogue among the executive, judiciary and legislature, the media and civil society should be reinforced. Further dialogue should be promoted as a means of communication and problem-solving.
This is necessary as it pushes forward the pace of development in the shadow of national unity and peace. One of the key success factors of Zim-Asset is access to funding which oils the wheels of the economy. An estimated financial bailout of US$27 billion is required for this economic turnaround plan to succeed.
As Zimbabwe does not exist in a vacuum, the international community becomes an important source of this all important capital. This calls for a united and peaceful Zimbabwe to approach international creditors with one voice.
Thus all political spectrum in Zimbabwe should reconsider opening up avenues for serious dialogue with each other to enable peaceful co-existence and come up with judicious decisions for the betterment of the country.
This would significantly contribute more to the improvement in economic development, resulting in creation of job opportunities that provide an income for its citizens.
This is in contrast to a scenario paused by a polarised state where the ruling party advocates economic development while the opposition pushes for economic isolation through sanctions (Zidera of 2001 is a case in point).
Thus lack of peace and unity can potentially derail foreign direct investment because of heightened perceived risk that makes investment opportunities attractive elsewhere, thereby impacting negatively on economic progress and overall well-being of the people.
In extreme circumstances, lack of peace and unity can degenerate into a civil war or conflict which effectively results in a loss of physical, human capital and social capital, which then reduces steady-state income per capita.
In addition, military spending on the conflict is bound to channel money away from more growth-promoting activities. Through the daily disruption to market exchanges, civil conflict will also adversely affect economic activities and, hence, income per capita.
Some of these same factors, along with others, may also reduce income per capita and its growth in neighbouring nations. These neighbours may also expend resources to secure their borders from rebel incursions – an action that may result in less productive use of resources.
No country can grow economically without peaceful co-existence among its citizens. Peace forms the basis of development. This is evident in the case of Angola where one of Africa’s bloodiest civil wars ended on April 4 2002, marking that country’s economic boom, with growth rates of more than 20 percent in 2005 and 2007 being achieved.
Angola now has one of the fastest-developing economies worldwide, courtesy of peace and unity. In April 2008, Angola quietly surpassed Nigeria to become Africa’s top oil producer. The country’s gross domestic product is projected to grow nearly 16 percent, placing Angola among the fastest-growing economies in the world.
In Zimbabwe, there appears to be a huge divergence in purpose and national vision to the extent that it is threatening to derail the process of economic development and growth.
From the onset, opposition political parties have had strong misgiving to Zim-Asset as a policy prescription to the point that certain elements continue to lobby against the national drive to resuscitate international credit lines for selfish political gains, while Government has being making strenuous efforts to mend relations with the same international creditors.
Of note has been the recent violent protests against policy pronouncements such as Statutory Instrument 64 and the introduction of bond notes. Effectively, domestic and foreign investors would develop cold feet as levels of disunity among citizens increase, thereby obscuring economic opportunities and retarding economic development.
It is expected that the ruling party will deliberate on maintaining peace and unity at the 16th Annual National People’s Conference to be held in a few days’ time.
In this regard, peace-building should be a responsibility of the state, opposition and citizens as we form a united front to bring about broad-based economic development envisaged through unity of purpose and shared vision.
In the past, commendable national efforts have been witnessed through such innovations as the Buy Zimbabwe Campaign that have boosted local production.
The nation remains optimistic that such unity of purpose will be applied in fighting vices such as corruption which has become rampant and now a threat to economic development.
It is impossible to achieve anything that uplifts the livelihoods of people without unity, and the call at this year’s conference should be for “Unity and more unity”.
This is underlined by the fact that unity is the first pillar of the party’s motto whose timeless mantra is “Unity, Peace and Development”. The quest for unity and peace is the wind behind the sails of indigenisation and economic empowerment.
Also encouraging is that this motivation for “Moving with Zim-Asset in Peace and Unity” in the attainment of economic objectives lays the foundation on the road leading to the 2018 harmonised elections.
We hold firm, both at party and national level, to the words bequeathed to us by the late, Vice President John Landa Nkomo. VP Nkomo said: “ Peace begins with me; peace begins with you; peace begins with all of Us”. Let us embrace a collective national effort to addressing economic challenges and turn them into economic opportunities.
Ms Nyasha Patience Mandeya is Zanu-PF Director of Economic Affairs. She wrote this article for The Sunday Mail in the lead-up to the 16th Zanu-PF Annual National People’s Conference, which will be held in Masvingo this week.
