The Sunday Mail
The fruits of the economic reforms and emphasis on production of the Second Republic have to be defended, otherwise Zimbabwe will continue to wallow in poverty instead of marching steadily forward to middle-income status in a decade.
President Mnangagwa, in his opening address to Zanu-PF’s 18th Annual National People’s Conference on Friday, not only stressed the positive directions and pressures but also warned of the dangers from those who, either because they were short-sighted or because they were greedy, could derail or reverse the gains already won and those to come.
Corruption, in the widest sense of the term, is the Zimbabwean disease.
There are always those who wish to reap where they have not sown and who wish to get rich by sucking the blood of the poor.
Neither Zanu-PF nor the Government are against private wealth. It has been stressed time and again in the Second Republic that Zimbabwe is open for business.
But wealth has to be earned by producing, not by cheating and stealing. If someone pushes production and productivity in their business, exhibits innovation and hard work, treats employees reasonably and pays their taxes, then the Government will do its best to smooth their path to riches by removing unnecessary and obsolete rules as well as ensuring the economic climate is favourable.
The President dwelt on those who are in effect sabotaging the economic reforms through black market currency manipulation.
Yet the Government has put in place proper markets for those who earn foreign currency through exporting or through support from relatives in the Diaspora.
The interbank market is there for exporters to sell their well-deserved foreign currency to importers who need foreign currency to buy the inputs to expand their production.
The bureaux de change have been relaunched under liberal rules for those with small sums to sell and for those who need to buy small sums for everything from holidays to paying external fees for their children.
But both systems presuppose that people use foreign currency when doing business and transactions with foreigners.
Unfortunately, far too many people still want to do business in Zimbabwe in foreign currency, and this is what fuels inflation, distorts markets and channels wealth away from the many poor into the hands of the unproductive rich. And the President made it clear this was unacceptable.
The Government is aware that many in Zimbabwe need some shelter from the worst of the economic turmoil, so it has re-introduced subsidies. These have been reformulated to be as direct and as transparent as possible, first to maximise benefits to those who need them and, secondly, to stop the cheating that bitter experience has shown is not only possible but has often been done in the past.
So both the President and the party chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri were careful to warn those selling and buying subsidised goods and services that cheating would not be tolerated. Businesses have no reason to cheat. The subsidies are coming from the Treasury and are not, as in price control regulations in the past, expected to be paid by the supplying businesses.
This is why private bus and kombi owners have been lining up to join the Zupco franchise scheme. They have to keep the rules and accept the Zupco operational management but in return can make a reasonable if modest profit.
This is why many supermarkets and shops will be willing to sell the handful of subsidised groceries, because the schemes have built in a margin between the permitted wholesale and retail prices. There is no need to cheat, so cheats have to be hammered, and hammered hard.
Land reform produced many gains as well as eliminating many injustices. But everyone knows that there are still distortions with some gaining by who they were or who they knew rather than because they could farm efficiently and productively.
The on-going land audit is expected to uncover the deficiencies in implementation and ensure that land reform is all gain.
Land reform was not just meant to address past injustices, but also to boost economic productivity and production.
Having blocks of fertile land lying idle while eager young and hardworking farmers are crying out for opportunities is not a meaningful gain.
Both President Mnangagwa and Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri were remarkably clear-sighted in their addresses and clearly wanted the ruling party delegates to debate and think through solutions.
Indeed a major part of the address by the party chairman concentrated on what still had to be fixed and on the need to implement the plans and resolutions of past conferences.
No one said economic reform and the switch from talk to productive action was going to be easy. All that has been said is that this is the only way Zimbabwe will stop stagnating and start growing, and growing sustainably.
Debate is needed; views can differ. But there must also be the common goals of a decent life for all, a rapidly growing economy that will produce a middle-income country in a decade (when today’s toddlers will still be primary school), and a willingness to identify and fix problems as they arise. Debate within the party and within the nation has to be on how we peform.
Businesses have no reason to cheat
The Sunday Mail
The fruits of the economic reforms and emphasis on production of the Second Republic have to be defended, otherwise Zimbabwe will continue to wallow in poverty instead of marching steadily forward to middle-income status in a decade.
President Mnangagwa, in his opening address to Zanu-PF’s 18th Annual National People’s Conference on Friday, not only stressed the positive directions and pressures but also warned of the dangers from those who, either because they were short-sighted or because they were greedy, could derail or reverse the gains already won and those to come.
Corruption, in the widest sense of the term, is the Zimbabwean disease.
There are always those who wish to reap where they have not sown and who wish to get rich by sucking the blood of the poor.
Neither Zanu-PF nor the Government are against private wealth. It has been stressed time and again in the Second Republic that Zimbabwe is open for business.
But wealth has to be earned by producing, not by cheating and stealing. If someone pushes production and productivity in their business, exhibits innovation and hard work, treats employees reasonably and pays their taxes, then the Government will do its best to smooth their path to riches by removing unnecessary and obsolete rules as well as ensuring the economic climate is favourable.
The President dwelt on those who are in effect sabotaging the economic reforms through black market currency manipulation.
Yet the Government has put in place proper markets for those who earn foreign currency through exporting or through support from relatives in the Diaspora.
The interbank market is there for exporters to sell their well-deserved foreign currency to importers who need foreign currency to buy the inputs to expand their production.
The bureaux de change have been relaunched under liberal rules for those with small sums to sell and for those who need to buy small sums for everything from holidays to paying external fees for their children.
But both systems presuppose that people use foreign currency when doing business and transactions with foreigners.
Unfortunately, far too many people still want to do business in Zimbabwe in foreign currency, and this is what fuels inflation, distorts markets and channels wealth away from the many poor into the hands of the unproductive rich. And the President made it clear this was unacceptable.
The Government is aware that many in Zimbabwe need some shelter from the worst of the economic turmoil, so it has re-introduced subsidies. These have been reformulated to be as direct and as transparent as possible, first to maximise benefits to those who need them and, secondly, to stop the cheating that bitter experience has shown is not only possible but has often been done in the past.
So both the President and the party chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri were careful to warn those selling and buying subsidised goods and services that cheating would not be tolerated. Businesses have no reason to cheat. The subsidies are coming from the Treasury and are not, as in price control regulations in the past, expected to be paid by the supplying businesses.
This is why private bus and kombi owners have been lining up to join the Zupco franchise scheme. They have to keep the rules and accept the Zupco operational management but in return can make a reasonable if modest profit.
This is why many supermarkets and shops will be willing to sell the handful of subsidised groceries, because the schemes have built in a margin between the permitted wholesale and retail prices. There is no need to cheat, so cheats have to be hammered, and hammered hard.
Land reform produced many gains as well as eliminating many injustices. But everyone knows that there are still distortions with some gaining by who they were or who they knew rather than because they could farm efficiently and productively.
The on-going land audit is expected to uncover the deficiencies in implementation and ensure that land reform is all gain.
Land reform was not just meant to address past injustices, but also to boost economic productivity and production.
Having blocks of fertile land lying idle while eager young and hardworking farmers are crying out for opportunities is not a meaningful gain.
Both President Mnangagwa and Cde Muchinguri-Kashiri were remarkably clear-sighted in their addresses and clearly wanted the ruling party delegates to debate and think through solutions.
Indeed a major part of the address by the party chairman concentrated on what still had to be fixed and on the need to implement the plans and resolutions of past conferences.
No one said economic reform and the switch from talk to productive action was going to be easy. All that has been said is that this is the only way Zimbabwe will stop stagnating and start growing, and growing sustainably.
Debate is needed; views can differ. But there must also be the common goals of a decent life for all, a rapidly growing economy that will produce a middle-income country in a decade (when today’s toddlers will still be primary school), and a willingness to identify and fix problems as they arise. Debate within the party and within the nation has to be on how we peform.
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