National dialogue is the way forward: Opposition leaders
constructive ideas that might be used by those in power. After an election, it is not the case that society must fall on the basis of what is in the ruling party,” said Prof Madhuku.
He said Zimbabwe’s politics should be transformational instead of being adversarial between the ruling and the opposition parties.
“The current problem is that the biggest political parties that have the biggest support base tend to believe that the only reason for being in a political party is to get into power. They believe that if you do not get the power, you should make it impossible for society to progress. That is something that needs fixing,” said Prof Madhuku.
“There are two options for them; it’s either you are in Government or you undermine the Government. That is a wrong political discourse.”
He said Zimbabweans should learn from developed countries that politics is just done for a season yet development is progressively permanent.
Prof Madhuku said last week’s visit to Cyclone Idai-hit areas was an eye opener as it gave them an appreciation of the situation on the ground and how they can make the Government accountable.
MDC-T president Dr Thokozani Khupe said the major reason for participating in national dialogue is to come up with solutions that will improve people’s lives.
“We have these engagements because for some of us the major focus is to move the country forward for the good of every Zimbabwean. Dialogue is the only way to go. When we engage, we share ideas on how to move our great country and make it the jewel of Africa again,” said Dr Khupe.
“The dialogue is voluntary. Those who do not want to be part of the developmental agenda, it’s their own choice. But for us we are saying we are progressive parties who want to see Zimbabwe progressing as a country. We want to see Zimbabweans have a better life.”
She said their visit to Cyclone Idai-hit areas was to ensure that political leaders put their heads together as the magnitude of the disaster is immense.
New Patriotic Front (NPF) president Engineer Tendai Peter Munyanduri said President Mnangagwa has shown maturity by bringing on board various political parties together for dialogue.
“I also salute Zanu-PF and (President) Mnangagwa for initiating dialogue, that is a sign of maturity. We would have loved Chamisa to be part of the dialogue so that he also makes his input. Although we are not in power, our input should assist those in power,” said Eng Munyanduri.
He said after visiting areas that were hit by the cyclone, they came up with recommendations that Government can adopt to prevent similar disasters. — @nqotshili INDONESIA is keen to boost its economic ties with Zimbabwe with the low hanging fruits in the area of agriculture and textile industry set to be given priority.
Indonesia Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Dewa Juniarta Sastrawan yesterday paid a courtesy call on Vice President Kembo Mohadi and discussed various areas of possible cooperation.
Speaking after the meeting VP Mohadi said Indonesia had expressed its willingness in investing in the textile industry and assist in developing Small to Medium Enterprises. “I met with the Indonesian Ambassador to Zimbabwe who has just been accredited. He had come to pay a courtesy call on me. We covered quite a lot of ground. We covered our relationship, economic relationship and trade between the two countries in terms of our exports and imports,” he said. We were talking about increasing the cooperation between the two countries. We also talked about investment opportunities in Zimbabwe that is in agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing and many others. They are good in terms of textiles. Indonesia is known for its textiles and they are interested in that.”
“We also discussed about the development of small to medium enterprises. Indonesia is one of the countries which started in that area. Their economy grew from SMEs that graduated into big industries. They are interested in developing our SMEs and assisting them to grow.”
VP Mohadi said they had also talked about the possibility of having more people from Indonesia visiting Zimbabwe because of what the country can offer.
He said Zimbabwe was home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls, saying it was capital when it comes to the tourism sector.
“We also have Great Zimbabwe Monuments and the uniqueness of those monuments, how they were built and how they exist up to this day.”
Mr Sastrawan said Indonesia would to extend cooperation with Zimbabwe particularly economic cooperation. “We discussed various potential opportunities that we can cooperate. We talked about how we can start with the low hanging fruits. We discussed how we can cooperate in the area of agriculture. We want to invite our investors in the textile industry so that is one area we can quickly work on,” he said.
“We also spoke about tourism. We identified Victoria Falls as a destination and how we can increase the number of our visitors. We also discussed how we can expand our capacity building like having students from Zimbabwe going to Indonesia. Possible investment in mining and infrastructure development also came up in our discussion. I can see a lot of potential and several areas of co-operation.”