The Sunday News
THE job stay away that was carried out in some parts of the country on Wednesday did little if anything to help the situation of the ordinary citizen but left opposition political parties more confused and feeling irrelevant. They were forced to eat humble pie.
The stay away derived its inspiration and borrowed its impetus from protests that rocked the country’s busiest border post — Beitbridge over the miscommunication in the implementation of new rules on importation of certain products under Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 as the Government moves in to ensure the success of the Buy Zimbabwe Campaign as well as limit externalisation of foreign currency.
It is in the same vein that some unscrupulous businesspeople are taking the new regulations as justification to increase the prices of affected products, most of which are not basic and are locally made.
The position of the ordinary citizen is now that of the meat in a sandwich and that is uncomfortable. They (ordinary citizens) are the proverbial grass in the fight between two bull elephants.
It is therefore our submission here and now that the Government should do something to protect the interests of consumers who are now at the mercy of super profiteering businesspeople. The misinformation on the Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 was however, not the basis of the stay away, lest the two be confused and misunderstood.
The stay away was a job action that was mooted and carried out by civil servants who wanted their grievances to be looked into.
However, in an economy that is dominated by small and medium scale businesses and informal traders, the fact is that the stay away did nothing to improve the ordinary people’s livelihoods.
This is why despite calls by opposition political parties who wanted to hijack the civil servants’ cause by calling for a continued stay away, it failed to take effect as it was business as usual on Thursday.
The people of Zimbabwe have said it and loudly so that they no longer need a spokesperson to amplify their grievances and it is high time the opposition political parties wake up and smell the coffee.
The stay away, as an expression of civil servants’ anger after delays in salary payments by the Government was destructive in nature as some opportunists took advantage to loot as well as destroy important basic infrastructure.
Although the stay away was for civil servants, there were some malicious and rogue elements that capitalised on the job action among them some political establishments and civic organisations that could not but curse their continued failure to instigate such action.
The idea of them (political establishments and civic organisations) wanting to foment political instability in the country through acts of insurgency using social media platforms should be rejected and condemned with the contempt it deserves.
Political parties were however, seen falling on each other to claim glory as they wanted to associate themselves with the stay away that was not organised by any of them.
What happened in Tunisia where social media platforms were used to communicate violence and social unrest should never be allowed to happen in Zimbabwe.
The cost of violence and destruction of basic infrastructure is too huge to meet.
We cannot afford to allow destabilising forces to run the country when there is a legitimate Government that is responsive to the demands of its populace. Zimbabwe is a peace loving country and its citizens are known for being enterprising, hard working and law abiding.
The law enforcement agents were however, on high alert as evidenced by the number of people who were arrested for inciting violence and exciting others during the stay away. Some of the hooligans are now facing prosecution after being caught on the wrong side of the law.
It is in this light that the Head of State and Government President Mugabe on Friday urged patience on the part of civil servants saying the problems bedevilling the nation’s economy were not permanent.
The President said Government would strive to ensure that the problem of delays in salary payments was addressed. He said the challenges should not be interpreted to mean that Zimbabwe was a poor country unable to meet its obligations.
We urge the civil servants and the nation at large to take solace in the words of the President.
He said civil servants should remain vigilant to fly by night opposition parties whose machinations are designed to lead them astray. And we agree with that statement.
