Govt uses local resources to bust the illegal embargo

Integrating culture in the new National Development Plan

THE economic sanctions imposed on the country under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) of 2001 affected major infrastructural development projects in the country stalling progress in the country’s economic sectors. The economic embargo led to the abrupt abandonment of many mega Western funded projects at a time when the Government was financially incapacitated to complete them. Multi-million-dollar road infrastructure development programmes were underway and some of roads were left at different stages of reconstruction after they were destroyed by Cyclone Eline in 2000.

The cyclone left the country’s road infrastructure littered with potholes while bridges were swept away leaving most roads both major and minor completely impassable especially during the rainy season. In Matabeleland Provinces the BulawayoNkayi Road, Bulawayo-Kezi and BulawayoTsholotsho roads were some of the roads that tell the sad tale of the evil effects of sanctions as their reconstruction was affected by the embargo and up to now - almost two decades later, the roads are still in their unfinished state although the Government has of late been working on them.

These roads have become death traps and no longer belong to the modern road infrastructure era as they still represent relics of the gone-by colonial period where traffic from major cities to tributary and outlying district centres was minimal as cars belonged to the elitist whites. They are still single lane and are checkered with patches of tar and potholes of different sizes and depth.

Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Richard Moyo told Sunday News in a telephone interview that the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road and the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road were affected by sanctions as the partners pulled out before the work was complete.

He said it was simply the height of ignorance to say sanctions were targeted arguing that those who say so were suffering from serious political amnesia.

“It needs no genius to understand that sanctions are real and are not affecting those in Zanu PF only as has been argued in some circles. Sanctions cut across the entire economic spectrum, isolating the country and making doing business with the international community not only difficult but impossible.

“The Nkayi Road was being constructed by a company from Italy but it pulled out. Then there was another one from Turkey that also pulled out after the US imposed sanctions in the country. A lot of other projects that were underway were affected and some of them are still in that state as the Government has no money to complete the work.

“Only 40 km of the Nkayi Road had been done before the contractors pulled out. A number of other roads were affected too. We are happy that the Government is working on them now using local resources and we are soon commissioning the first three km stretch of the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road,” said Cde Moyo.

Other projects that are ongoing in Matabeleland North province despite sanctions, according to Minister Moyo are, the Gwayi-Shangani Dam construction, the Batoka Gorge and the investment in coal, gas and coke that has seen about 7000 youths getting employed.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Eng Joel Biggie Matiza said the Bulawayo- Nkayi and BulawayoTsholotsho roads were two major projects that have seen so many false kick-offs, much stalling, due to sanctions falling under the US$250 million availed by Treasury out of a total US$5 billion required to put the country’s road network in shape. He said work on the ground points to a serious intention to re-establish the trafficability of most of the country’s roads.

“Through the fiscus, an amount of US$252 million has already been availed to the department of roads for the road development programme, targeting to re-establish a proper road network in the country to enhance movement of people, goods and services. The Bulawayo-Tsholotsho and Bulawayo-Nkayi Roads are among the projects that benefited from the money released by Treasury and I am sure work is already underway,” said Minister Matiza. Some of the targeted roads in Matabeleland include provincial roads such as Gwanda-Maphisa, Maphisa-Mpoengs, Gwanda-Guyu-Manama-Tuli, Ingwingwisi Bridge, Dete-Binga and Binga-Karoi road.

Cde Moyo said that the U.S. sanctions were not targeted, but instead were comprehensive and economic in nature since they have adverse economic impacts both on the economy and on the welfare of the entire population as has been proved by ZIDERA.

The Act states among other issues that the U.S. intends to influence change of behaviour in the government of Zimbabwe by preventing the International Monetary Fund and the International Development Association (IDA), among other International Financial Institutions, from extending financial support to Zimbabwe. According to Section 4(c) of ZIDERA titled “Multilateral Financial Restrictions,” until the President of the United States makes the certification described in subsection 4(d), the Secretary of the Treasury Executive to each of the International Financial Institutions must oppose or vote against: “(i) an extension by the respective institutions of any loan, credit or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe. (ii) Any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any

International Financial Institution”.

Provisions of ZIDERA therefore confirm that U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe do have economic elements that inevitably contribute to the country’s economic collapse. Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Cde Edgar Moyo weighed in saying sanctions have had a huge impact on Zimbabwe’s educational sector.

He said sanctions have led to the mass exodus of teachers from public schools, caused by poor remuneration endangering the opportunity of kids from poor family backgrounds to acquire education, since they cannot afford the fees of private schools or travel abroad for education.

Sanctions have put to naught the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendations that primary education should be compulsory and free and should be made available and accessible to every child. “Sanctions have led to brain drain in the education sector where Maths and Science areas are the hardest hit. They talk about the DRC war because the US had interests and they slow down economic activity. Teaching material is now hard to come by and parents are struggling to pay fees,” he said.

Research has shown that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) incorporates the right to education, while the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), under Article 28, stipulates the right to education for every child.

The article went on to state that wealthy countries should help poorer countries to achieve this right. In view of the above, rich developed countries of the West should be in the forefront of implementing universal basic education, whilst they desist from actions that will directly or indirectly antagonize the right to education.

Furthermore, sanctions affected support programmes provided by foreign donors to Zimbabwe’s educational sector. For example, the Swedish government in 1996 established the Education Sector Support Programme, which was funded to the tune of 95 million SEK. The programme supplied textbooks and other educational materials to Zimbabwe schools. It also constructed school buildings and promoted gender equality in educational systems in Zimbabwe, bridging the gender disparity in schools but was withdrawn after the EU imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe.

The suspension of this project by the Swedish government has a significant negative impact on the beneficiaries. Affected families are now left with the responsibility of providing school materials for their children. It is therefore evident that it is the civilian population that is hit hardest as their basic rights and well-being are subjected to multi-faceted danger.

BY year end, Zimbabwe will launch the 2021 – 2025 National Development Plan (NDP) as a successor blueprint to the 2018 – 2020 Transitional Stabilisation Plan. This article makes a case for integration of culture in the 2021 – 2025 NDP. The basis of this article is binary. On one hand is concern over the historical overlooking of the linkage between economic and cultural development. On the other hand, is recognition of the progress made in acknowledging the role of culture in development even if there still exist gaps in how to translate this into national socioeconomic policy.

Rationale for integrating culture in the NDP Zimbabwe is a signatory to regional and international protocols that provide for incorporation of culture in national development frameworks. Of note is that Article 14 of the 2001 SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport implores state parties to make cultural industries a major cornerstone of their national economies. The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which Zimbabwe ratified, lays the responsibility on state parties to ensure that culture is integrated in NDPs so as to ensure the emergence of a dynamic cultural sector. In particular, principle five of the 2005 Convention states that the economic and cultural dimensions of development are mutually inclusive while principle six affirms that protection, promotion and maintenance of cultural diversity are an essential requirement for sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, championed by the United Nations, which Zimbabwe is a member of challenges members states to develop policies and interventions that take into consideration culture’s role in development across its economic, social and environmental dimensions and as a horizontal priority across sectors and disciplines. The 2030 Agenda further recommends the adoption of development models that are adapted to the local context and place culture at the core of sustainable solutions. It is on this premise that the NDP should also ensure that culture is explicitly reflected and integrated in the new plan.

Culture is about the people, their beliefs and practices. Setting economic targets and achieving them is not what solely builds a thriving and prosperous nation. A NDP that is responsive to and acknowledges Zimbabwe’s diverse cultures is one way of enhancing a real sense of nationhood. After all, the 2006 Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, which Zimbabwe is signatory to, considers cultural diversity a factor of equilibrium and important in the strengthening of economic development, resolution of conflicts and reduction of inequality and injustice so as to foster national integration.

Culture is also a source of employment and contributes meaningfully to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While robust monitoring and evaluation systems are yet to be developed to monitor the contribution of culture to the national economy, a UNESCO and National Arts Council of Zimbabwe initiated Culture for Development Indicators (CDIS) research in 2018 showed that the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCIs) in Zimbabwe contributed 6.96% to the GDP and accounted for 1.34% of the employed population. Concerted support to the CCIs has the potential to generate more jobs for the youth who constitute the largest employed and employable demographic dividend in Zimbabwe.

In pursuance of Zimbabwe’s foreign policy of engagement and re-engagement, culture in its expressive form can play the role of facilitating people to people engagement while also generating economic value and projecting Zimbabwe’s soft power. It is a notable fact that the strongest African economies also have the most vibrant CCIs in terms of economic value. The cases of South Africa and Nigeria refer. It follows therefore that as Zimbabwe aspires to attain a middleincome economy status by 2030, there needs to be corresponding investment in the CCIs so as to not only create jobs but also effectively project the country’s new status.

Value to be derived from integrating culture in the NDP Explicitly incorporating the CCIs in the NDP creates opportunities for the CCIs to also attract investment from cooperating partners and the private sector. To the extent that inclusion in the NDP is an indicator of national priorities, operators in the CCIs have leverage to attract private sector investment and international development finance. Arts, culture and heritage have traditionally ranked lowly in terms of occupational valor and national priorities. Following the seminal CCIs indaba with the Head of State in Bulawayo in November 2019, the next strategic intervention to give meaningful support to the CCIs would be integration of culture in the 2021 – 2025 NDP.

How to integrate culture in the NDP

By their nature, national budgets are an indicator of the nature and extent of inclusion of culture in NDPs. Therefore, it is ideal that both the NDP and successive national budgets integrate policy and fiscal incentives for the CCIs.

Furthermore, through successive national budgets, cultural entrepreneurs in the different fields of the arts should be given incentives through special entrepreneurial schemes to give new impetus to the sector and boost artistic creativity for development. Further incentives can include free importation of selected digital equipment since many artists are migrating to the digital space in light of COVID19.

As a precursor to the 2021 national budget, a pre-budget strategy paper has been developed. One of the prioritised areas is urban regeneration. Culture and the arts have an impact in developing the character of neighborhoods. There are ongoing efforts to regenerate townships in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare. The urban regeneration agenda creates an opportunity to recognise the transformative potential of culture in cities. Practice and precedence in the global north shows that culture often plays a leading role through establishment of cultural districts where various incentives are provided for citizens to participate in the cultural life of their community.