‘Learning nothing and forgetting nothing’
THE House of Bourbons had one serious problem, the inability to learn nothing and forget nothing. They continued making the same mistakes that in the end caused them to lose their power and influence not only in France, but right across Europe.
Louis Bonaparte remains the most renowned Bourbon. He ruled imperial France, a France that conquered Europe. He was a military strategist and his victory attests to his astuteness.
The French were so peeved by the Bourbons that they declared their country a republic and disbanded the monarchy. They had had enough of the Bourbons and wanted the House erased from their history.
It is interesting that other countries still have monarchies, albeit in a different form than the imperial monarchies of the gone era. The British still have the House of Windsor and the Dutch still have the House of Orange. They are now constitutional monarchies, ceremonial, but with the power to unite their citizens.
It is the idea of “learning nothing and forgetting nothing” that excites me. We have the same problems in Zimbabwe, an electorate that learns nothing and forgets nothing and a leadership in the same mould too.
Since 2000, we are now closing to a quarter century, the State has supported resettled farmers post the land reform programme. It has given them farming inputs and equipment on a platform that should have been a revolving fund.
The originators of the idea knew something that the general citizens did not, that the supposed loans were a largesse and would never be paid back. So for 22 years to date, farmers have been getting this support, but interestingly, production figures have not been improving.
Zimbabwe continues to import cereals each year to keep its citizens fed yet each season billions are poured to the farmers. Where is the money going? It is a fact that a lot of the inputs procured under Command Agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme are sold on the open market by the farmers.
Instead of farming, they sell the inputs to real farmers. Shockingly, they do not repay the debts they simply look away and Parliament in its wisdom or lack of it year after year endorses the takeover of private loans by the Treasury.
In true mafia style, the debts are not itemised, the beneficiaries are never revealed, but the public carries the can. So much for our democracy. This is made possible by the possible corrupt nature among the MPs.
The Executive gives them parliamentary cars. Cars that most of the MPs cannot service if they are out of office basically for free. MPs are perennially promised housing stands in the leafy suburbs, a thing that reminds me of the carrot and stick.
The MPs, in the hope of receiving the carrot, are induced to look the other way on accountability. They will pass the Debt Assumption Bills with perfunctory debates.
This week, the Cabinet with its eyes on next year’s election issued a statement for the continued support to farmers. Loans that are State-guaranteed. In 2021, only 14% of farmers paid back the loans, with the outstanding amount being taken over by the state.
The Cabinet said in the 2022/23 agriculture season, the National Enhanced Agriculture Scheme funding for traditional grains will be funded through State-owned financial institutions, CBZ Bank and Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC).
The scheme is expected to cover 205 000 hectares under maize, 15 000 hectares under soya beans and 3 000 hectares under sunflowers.
The Cabinet said: “Farmers will receive funding for seed, fertilizers, chemicals, irrigation, electricity, labour, combine harvesting services and transport.”
Basically, farmers have everything guaranteed and the only expectation is for them to produce.
The statement further said: “Under a robust Agriculture Mechanisation and Tillage Services programme, four facilities are expected to deliver 3 127 tractors, 56 combine harvesters and 1 100 planters. AFC is offering tillage and harvesting services, while farmers will be able to hire a total of 245 tractors and 47 combine harvesters.”
In presenting this agriculture financing package, Cabinet’s primary concern was food security. It has been Cabinet’s concern since 2000. Yet, 22 years later, it is still far from achieving its target.
Cabinet did not give any background to State funding of agriculture since 2000 because it would have caused grim reading. The billions of United States dollars poured does not match the return.
It did not say anything about the US$200 million farm mechanisation programme introduced by then central bank governor Gideon Gono in 2007. The debt for the programme that brought tractors, combine harvesters, trailers, ploughs, boom sprayers and other accessories was later taken over by the State under the RBZ Debt Assumption Act. The beneficiaries were never revealed.
Why is Cabinet continuing with a failed programme? A programme that in nearly a quarter of a century has failed to bring meaningful returns to the country, except to individual beneficiaries who have their debts taken over by the State.
The answer is simple. This has been an election gimmick. Zanu PF harvests electoral votes from the farmers and their families each election season. These are farmers dependent on the State and have their debts written off. It is about elections and keeping a certain section of voters beholden to Zanu PF.
Voters, on the other side, are happy to have a government that cancels their debts. Many have joined the bandwagon of not paying their bills in the hope they would be cancelled on the eve of elections like what happened in 2013.
The combination of political leaders and voters who “learn nothing and forget nothing” is Zimbabwe’s crisis. It ensures the country continues getting the same party returned to power despite its obvious shortcomings. The electorate is refusing to change and voila, it plays into Zanu PF’s hands perfectly.