Stop the blame game!

Source: Stop the blame game! – DailyNews Live

Eric Chiriga  18 July 2017

HARARE – If there is one thing our leaders are masters of, it is the blame
game.

They will always craft ways of explaining the cause of a problem, rather
than come up with pragmatic, long-term solutions.

For a long time, President Robert Mugabe’s government has blamed
sanctions, Western forces et al for the myriad problems faced by the
nation.

The sanctions mantra seems to have been shelved for now, though.

But for some time now, the new chorus that bond notes are being
externalised has been getting louder.

Word has been doing rounds in the corridors of power, with authorities
desperately attempting to explain why the bond notes – a surrogate
currency valued at par with the United States dollar – are also vanishing
from circulation, instead of them actually easing the cash crisis, as
promised by the monetary authorities.

On the contrary, the cash crisis is deepening, with the stubborn bank
queues getting even longer.

In their explanation of the escalating liquidity challenges, the
authorities have blamed externalisation and accused some elements,
including businesses, of skirting the banking system.

Just last week, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa told the National
Assembly that: “The practice by some traders, including foreigners
operating within the reserved sectors of the economy, to operate without
banking accounts is unethical business practice that should not be
tolerated in this country.”

“Non-banking of cash by such unscrupulous traders has a haemorrhaging
effect on the circulation of money in the economy,” he added.

Well and fine, those ill-practices could be contributing to the problem,
but it’s quite difficult to buy that as the major cause of the cash
crisis.

This is not the first time Zimbabweans are experiencing the terrible and
painful cash shortages.

Long-suffering Zimbabweans, who lost their hard-earned money to
hyperinflation, have simply been taken back to the dreaded period of
2007-8.

And since then, those painful experiences have made Zimbabweans lose trust
in the system, particularly the banks.

That lack of trust and confidence is the same reason why today’s cash
shortages are difficult to curb.

And government must regain that trust.

That’s where the problem lies, not the externalisation blame game
government is playing.

To also prove that government enjoys playing the game, rather than address
the root cause, is the issue of imports.

As local manufacturers faced decimation, government began pointing fingers
at the affordable and competitive imports for the industry’s demise.

The authorities went to the extent of banning imports – through the
Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 – in a desperate effort to save the local
manufacturers.

Though it might have had positive effect, the protectionist measure might
have worked in saving the struggling local industry, the manufacturers did
not get where they are – operating at way below capacity while scores
others shut down – because of imports.

No. Imports have always been there.

They are not the root cause of the problem.

Misgovernance, bad policies, lack of accountability and gross
mismanagement – the list is endless – are the reasons why Zimbabwe faces
the abyss.

And playing the blame game, coupled with the introduction of stopgap
measures – bond notes and SI64 – is not and will never be the solution to
Zimbabwe’s problems.

There is urgent need for the authorities to regain the people’s trust,
implement sound long term policies and above all, political will.