Zanu PF blames everything on sanctions
IWOULD like to believe that Zimbabwe was right by reclaiming its land from the white colonial masters, but the way it was done still boggles my mind.
Zimbabwe was a settler colony and that alone attracted a number of white farmers who had large tracts of land while other countries were peasant-based colonies and were not as much privileged compared to Zimbabwe.
The late former President Robert Mugabe embarked on the land reform programme after succumbing to pressure from war veterans, who demanded compensation from the government. This riled white commercial farmers whose land was forcibly taken under Mugabe’s “fast track” land reform programme, resulting in Zimbabwe being slapped with economic and travel embargoes. In 1997, war veterans were each given $50 000 in gratuities after embarking on a series of protests. Poor governance, lack of policy implementation and corruption are major factors killing the country’s economy.
Mugabe came with marches against sanctions and now his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is also reading from the same script, coming up with musical galas.
The Zanu PF-led government should stop complaining about the effects of these Western sanctions, but concentrate on improving the country’s economy by courting regional and local investors.
Zanu PF has a tendency of blaming everything on sanctions when it fails to plan ahead. Firstly, the scourge of corruption has proved to be Mnangagwa’s albatross.
Mnangagwa is not sincere in fighting corruption as there is glaring evidence for everyone to see.
Corruption has become institutionalised in Zanu PF accompanied by the police's catch and release game, so crying that sanctions are destroying the country will not be taken seriously.
In order for sanctions to be removed, Zanu PF knows what must be done. It’s unfortunate that the Zanu PF government is not serious in pursuing political and economic reforms and without that, it will be hard to receive international support. Selective application of the law is the order of the day. Political activists are being arrested and incarcerated for days without getting bail on trumped-up charges.
On electoral reforms, we still have a yawning gap. Opposition political groupings have no space in the public media and we still have only State-owned television, which does not give air time to opposing voices. Since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe boasts of one television station and a few radio stations which are all run by proxies of the system.
Mnangagwa had a golden opportunity to institute reforms as he had international goodwill on his side when he toppled long-time ruler Mugabe in November 2017, but politics of entitlement got the better of him and shattered all the dreams of reviving the country’s ailing economy.
On his inauguration at the giant National Sports Stadium, all political movements gave him a thumbs up hoping that he was going to revive the economy and bring back Zimbabwe to its glory days.
There is a lackadaisical approach on implementing reforms because Zanu PF knows that the moment it implements these reforms it will reform itself out of power. Leonard Koni