The Sunday News
Limukani Ncube
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” opined Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who was an American politician, diplomat and activist.
While the above quote might be philosophical, it does however, give humankind the kind of counsel on how to approach life in general. Furthermore, it gives pointers on that for success to happen, there should be some form of mental picture of the kind of success that one envisages, and when that picture has been entrenched in one’s mind, a plan is then set in motion to make that dream come true.
Studies and theoretical positions on imagined interaction (Edwards etal, 1988) have suggested that communicators envision or think about encounters with significant others before and after actual communicative episodes, and that this mental activity serves important interpersonal as well as cognitive functions (Kenneth S Zagacki etal 1992).
As Zimbabweans, we have a dream. We have a beautiful dream that has been visualised and vocalised by President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. And for that beautiful dream to come true, he told us a week before being inaugurated as the President of the country:
“My desire is to join all Zimbabweans in a new era where corruption, incompetency, dereliction of duty and laziness, social and cultural decadency is not tolerated . . . In that new Zimbabwe it is important for everyone to join hands so that we rebuild this nation to its full glory, this is not a job for Zanu-PF alone but for all people of Zimbabwe.”
The President also called upon the international community and all those who call Zimbabwe home to come together in spirit and in action to chart a new economic trajectory that will ensure job creation and level the playing field for all players. In addition, he promised a socio-political environment that every Zimbabwean will be proud of, anchored on the country’s constitution, and on the ideals of the liberation struggle which by and large, made it possible for indigenous Zimbabweans to openly participate in the affairs of their country.
In that regard, it is time progressive Zimbabweans ignore pessimists and those who find pleasure in finding fault and digging up past mishaps to remain relevant and cast a shadow in the present. In just two weeks that a new political dispensation has been ushered, a seismic shift has taken place in the economic and socio-political spheres in the country and anyone who chooses to ignore that is lost. And perhaps an expression by Merry Stockwood best describes that person — a psychiatrist — whom Stockwood equates to a person getting into a strip club and then watching the audience.
The social media has been awash with such people, but truth be told, the country is moving forward and the new international community, including Asian and European powerhouses as well as America, have warmed up to the new dispensation. Therefore, Zimbabweans at home and abroad should ride on the wave and be part of the journey to economic recovery or be lost into the dustbin of naysayers. Economic and political commentators agree that the new dispensation has ushered in a new wave of optimism across board inspired by President Mngangagwa’s clarion call for a paradigm shift in doing business and work.
The Zimbabwe Business Forum-South Africa, a grouping of Zimbabwean business people based in South Africa, has declared readiness and willingness to set up new businesses and help revive ailing ones in response to President Mnangagwa’s call for them to invest back home.
Forum chair, Mr Marshal Rufura Ndlela, said their members were all along reluctant to invest in Zimbabwe because of political uncertainty.
“It has been our plan to invest home but there was uncertainty with respect to investment policies, liquidity, corporate governance and generally the economy. But we have been persuaded by the corrective measures taken by the army, Zanu-PF, the people of Zimbabwe and the inauguration speech given by President Mnangagwa. The assurance that all investments will be safe and his keenness to engage the diaspora who are in business in other countries has triggered our interest.”
And last week, the People’s Republic of China extended a $153 million loan facility to Zimbabwe for the upgrade of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, as the two countries continue to deepen their bilateral relationship. The Asian giant also announced two grants for the construction of the New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden, including the High Performance Computing Centre being constructed at the University of Zimbabwe, taking the total to $213 million. The loan and grants will be administered through the Export-Import Bank of China.
The $153 million loan, which carries a concessionary two percent interest rate, is payable over 20 years. It also has a seven-year grace period. Finance Minister Chinamasa was quoted by the media as saying Government expects the upgrading of the airport to boost tourist arrivals as is the case with the Victoria Falls Airport, which is experiencing a spike in arrivals after the completion of the refurbishment exercise.
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China also gave support to the people of Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle. On the attainment of independence, we elevated the level of co-operation to economic. It is this relationship that we are all gathered this morning to witness. Let me also hasten to say that Zimbabwe has in the past received support targeting various projects in education, agriculture, energy, transport and communication. We remain thankful,” he told the media.
Funding for the projects was first announced after the State visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015.
“As you may be aware, this support springs from the State visit by his Excellency Xi Jinping on 1 December 2015, where he pledged to support the construction of a new Parliament building. The new Parliament building will accommodate 650 members with room for expansion,” he said.
Ambassador Huang Ping said the Chinese are proud to be partnering Zimbabwe at this crucial socio-economic stage.
“It is my great honour to come and sign these three agreements on behalf of my Government together with Honourable Minister Chinamasa, representative of the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe, at this juncture of Zimbabwe’s socio and economic development,” he was quoted as saying.
He added that China, as an all-weather friend, will continue to support the Zimbabwean Government “through thick and thin”.
The President has hit the ground running and in order to ensure that he walks the talk, he told the 21 ministers who were sworn-in last Monday to get down to business and set priority projects that have visible impact on the ground.
Presenting a $5,1 billion 2018 National Budget Statement under the “New Economic Order” theme, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the era of indiscipline in Government expenditure, which has been blamed for creating unsustainable budget deficit must be stopped and announced a cocktail of cost cutting measures in the public sector.
These include maintaining a recruitment freeze on non-critical fields, reducing foreign travel delegations, closing technically insolvent parastatals, implementing a voluntary retirement scheme on civil servants to cut the wage bill, reducing diplomatic missions and trimming work benefits for senior officials such as fuel allocations, number of vehicles and cancelling first class travel except for the Presidium. In addition, the Government recently announced that it is amending the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act to reflect its policy position that the 51-49 percent requirement only applies to natural resource-based investments. Minister Chinamasa said; “Accordingly, the proposed Amendments will confine the 51/49 indigenisation threshold to only the two minerals, namely diamonds and platinum, in the extractive sector.”
Our sister paper, The Herald said in his opening remarks at the inaugural Cabinet meeting, the Head of State and Government said every minister should “think outside the box” and pursue “high speed programme execution.”
“You will recall that my acceptance speech underlined that we will hit the ground running . . . I used that figure of speech advisedly, all to underline a new ethos in administering and delivering public services and goods which must work to quantifiable and measurable targets which make visible impact on the ground. And the ground is where our people are presently, which means from the ground is where we must raise them starting today.”
He went on: “I am not talking of lifting them spiritually, something we leave to the able prayers of our bishops, priests, reverends and pastors. I am talking of raising them bodily, which means Government-led interventions that address the social conditions of all our people; that raise communities to higher levels of welfare.”
In a show of cultivating a new working culture, President Mnangagwa said Government officials should set themselves to implement identified projects within 100-day cycles until the 2018 harmonised elections.
“As time is of essence, we thus need to pursue high speed programme execution . . . I now wish to challenge you to think outside the box and come up with quick-win projects for implementation by each of your ministries in order to achieve the goals of my vision. In that context, you may wish to consult in your ministries on outstanding strategic programmes that can be quickly implemented within the framework of the vision of this Government. I have availed copies of my acceptance speech for each one of you to guide you in coming up with the priority projects,” the President said.
“I have also instructed the Chief Secretary (to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda) to assist you with details on unimplemented projects and previous Cabinet resolutions, from which you may identify areas for your priority attention. Out of this process, you should come up with a list of priority projects for presentation to the Cabinet office in a week’s time.”
The President said the projects identified should form the Cabinet agenda and ensure it functions on the basis of target-based programmes, with clear deliverables within set timeframes.
“I am sure you are aware that the advent of this dispensation has generated high expectations among all categories of our citizens, development partners and other stakeholders, who rightly see it as the dawn of a new era for Zimbabwe.”
President Mnangagwa said Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Monitoring of Government Programmes, Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, would be the Cabinet Chief Whip.
Cde Mumbengegwi, he said, would supervise implementation of Government policies, projects and programmes. President Mnangagwa outlined his broad vision to guide his administration when he took the oath of office on November 24.
He said highlights of his vision included fostering aspects of market economy in which enterprise is allowed, encouraged and protected; promoting mutually beneficial partnerships with investors; ensuring people access their savings from banks as and when they require them; dealing decisively with corruption, prioritising economic growth; ensuring financial sector viability and stability; adopting a high performance culture in the public service and pursing a sturdy re-engagement with all nations of the world.
In addition, the President arrives at his office at 8am daily and ministers jokingly said they were not used to it.
One remarked to our sister paper, The Herald last week: “Aaa vatouya (President Mnangagwa). Hatina kuzvijaira zvekumutswa makuseni akadai isu. (We are not used to waking up so early for work).”
Players in the tourism sector have added their voice, saying the pronouncement by President Mnangagwa that the new political dispensation will rigorously work towards reviving the economy will help in boosting tourism in the country.
In addition, the players said the peace which Zimbabwe witnessed during the change of leadership will also help in portraying the country as a safe destination for tourists.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority spokesman Mr Sugar Chagonda said the peaceful change of Government put the country at the centre of attraction in a positive way which can encourage more people to visit.
“The past weeks have seen Zimbabwe being on global news outlets for its change of governance. The new Government’s vision to re-engage other countries has resulted in our external offices informing us that foreigners have since largely started to show interest in our nation and this accumulates to us receiving more foreign visitors,” said Mr Chagonda in our issue last week.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) president Mr Innocent Manyira said the global coverage Zimbabwe received in the past weeks also helped to show the peacefulness of people in the country.
“People who had insecurities about Zimbabwe now know that we are a peaceful nation. This will be used as our marketing point and the new political dispensation has resulted in hospitality players also willing to expand. I saw an advert about Cresta Hotel calling on people living in the diaspora and locals to come and apply for jobs. This shows that there is hope in Zimbabwe and the adoption of a lean Cabinet will result in much needed implementation action of policies,” said Mr Manyira.
The country is by and large an agro-based economy and the President has reiterated that Government would enhance implementation of Command Agriculture and agro-processing value chain that have remained a key driver for fostering economic revival and development.
In his acceptance speech during his installation as Midlands State University Chancellor at the institution’s 17th graduation ceremony in Gweru last week, President Mnangagwa said he would ensure enhancement of the implementation of Command Agriculture and effective value addition and beneficiation.
“Government equally recognises the importance of agriculture as a key driver for fostering economic revival and development and it is in this respect that I see the enhanced implementation of Command Agriculture as key to the country’s development. Added to this is the importance of agro-processing value chain to economic development and as a basis of industrialisation value addition and beneficiaries,” he told the audience.
President Mnangagwa added that higher and tertiary education institutions remain critical in the achievement of multi-faceted socio-economic development of the country.
He said universities should complement Government efforts in transforming the economy by providing research and proffer solutions to industry and other socio-economic sectors.
