via The Heart of the Matter: ZANU PF will never put the nation first | SW Radio Africa by Tanonoka Joseph Whande 18 November 2013
When Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF goons refused to live by decent political and economic laws and standards to which all other nations subscribe, the international community retaliated with targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his close associates.
They showed defiance and informed the western countries that Zimbabwe did not need them and would, from then on, adopt and implement a ‘look east policy’ in which eastern countries like China, Singapore, Malaysia and others in the region would be Zimbabwe’s trading partners at the expense of the western bloc countries.
Chinese companies got big government contracts and were invited into big business joint ventures with ZANU-PF bigwigs.
The biggest achievement of this look east policy was Zimbabwe’s peak month of inflation, estimated at 6.5 sextillion per cent in mid-November 2008.
Zimbabwe printed paper money at will and the economy simply died.
The advent of the Government of National Unity somewhat slowed down the rot. The introduction of a three tier currency regime of the US Dollar, the South African Rand and the Botswana Pula helped in starting Zimbabwe on its way to recovery. It cannot be denied that the then Finance Minister Tendai Biti did a sterling job and recovery, although painfully slow, was on the way when he left office.
As soon as Patrick Chinamasa, who preceded Biti, succeeded Biti at the finance ministry, economic scarecrows started moving hands and legs in warning.
The business community’s reaction to ZANU-PF’s return to power was far from enthusiastic. They had worked well with the GNU Finance minister whose party stood its ground on many fiscal matters but now, business is once again exposed to ZANU-PF’s ignorant business practices.
Just last week, Zimbabwe’s banking sector said that it is facing severe liquidity problems as the economy has been sliding backwards since the elections in July.
A senior banking official is quoted as saying that “close to $1 billion was funnelled out of the banking sector to offshore accounts in the run-up to the polls, as political uncertainty gripped the economy”.
Francis Dzanya, BancABC chief operating officer, said “the massive movement of money has worsened the liquidity conditions in the market” while businessman, Charlton Hwende states that today, less than four months after ZANU-PF was returned to power, the Zimbabwean economy has slowed almost to a halt.
ZANU-PF must understand that all the economic rules that apply to other countries apply to it as well. They cannot have it both ways; maybe in China but not when dealing with capitalist countries who guard their economies so jealously and for good reason.
Just last month, ZANU-PF party’s Secretary for Business Development and Liaison, Sithembiso Nyoni, pleaded with the business community to assist the party in dealing with the country’s economic problems.
Zimbabwe just has to play by the rules and forget the look east policy.
No one is prohibiting Zimbabwe from indigenising its economy just as no one is prohibiting Zimbabwe from righting historical land imbalances but these should be done in an orderly, transparent way. Simple as that.
The way we have gone about both has scared those who want to partner us in business ventures that would benefit not only the investors but the nation.
Is it ever necessary to kill a farm owner to get the farm when a simple Presidential Decree can achieve the same objective even before a court of law?
Why can’t we sit down with those aspiring to invest in our country and negotiate our positions while they do the same instead of grabbing what’s not ours and trumpeting this stupid, outdated populist nonsense in this day and age.
We need them; they need us. We need each other. It is being reported that the government is alarmed “by the worsening economic crisis as companies continue to close shop following the July 31 elections”.
A group that calls itself the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development recently said that the government should stop servicing the country’s debt and prioritize service delivery until a proper debt audit for Zimbabwe is done “from the Ian Smith era to the present day”.
This is nothing short of a cop out. We look for silly excuses to justify our continued retention of Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF. Who trusts these people?
Forget about Ian Smith for goodness sake. Forget about a bush war that ended 34 years ago.
Just as much as fighting to liberate this country does not give us the right to trash it, so is it that we can no longer blame our failures on the same colonial government we defeated 34 years ago.
Do we not know where the problem began and where the problem lies even today? As we go begging for money and financial relief, we are not taking anyone to task for misappropriated monies and for the continued abuse of diamond yields.
We continue allowing the daily theft of millions and millions of dollars from Chiadzwa Diamond Fields yet beg for money for this and for that while encouraging the thieves in government not to pay what they owe as if economic protocols and laws governing governments around the world do not apply to us.
The heart of the matter is that if this ZANU-PF government wants the cooperation of both local business and foreign investors, it has to submit itself to the same economic rules and laws that govern other nations.
We must respect property rights as well as human rights.
Our judiciary must work to show its independence and professionalism so as to inspire confidence in those who deal with our government and want to invest in our country.
Stop the rhetoric and get on with the job at hand.
National income derived from diamonds and other national entities must be known and must, of necessity, go into national coffers and be part of our budget.
What kind of budget is it that excludes even the smallest of national income? Why should we be asked to pretend that there is nothing coming from our diamonds while we struggle with a budget we will never come up with because we allow individuals to steal from national coffers then complain that we don’t have enough of everything?
Why should the children go begging when daddy steals millions and millions from his family every day?
For decades, our sadistic government has been totally dysfunctional; unable and unwilling to care for its own citizens. I shudder to think what would have happened over the many years if churches and non-governmental organisations had not stepped in to do all that work that the government was refusing to do.
Now, four months after stealing complete control of the government, the same insensitive thieves are going after the hapless population again. They are messing up the little progress that the devastated nation had started to see. They are going after the churches and NGOs to take the little money donated to them by concerned individuals and other organisations in and outside Zimbabwe.
This is atrocious and macabre.
Chinamasa, Nyoni and all those ZANU-PF sadists must not lecture us or the NGOs and business people in and out of Zimbabwe. Shut up and show us what you mean and from that we will understand your intentions.
No one trusts you, particularly your rhetoric. We are no longer interested in shouting stupid slogans but we are just eager to be left alone to make meaningful contributions to our country and to take care of our families, which is something you should be ashamed of having failed to do.
ZANU-PF, take your damned hands out of our pockets.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Monday, November 18th, 2013.
COMMENTS
That’s exactly the way it is! Well said!
Thanks for telling it like it is Joseph! Once a mercenary, always a mercenary until death. Such is our lives with these professional thieves.
Good work. But you forget smith fought to prevent zanupf (not blacks) from grabbing power with naive British help. That’s the way it was. History is already being rewritten. 18 April 1980. You reap what you sow. If you really “defeated” smith etc why you fail to destroy criminals zanupf? That’s the way it is. 2015 will be the next 2008
Sorry mate I disagree. Ian Smith thought that Blacks were 2nd class citizens not allowed to vote.Nobody could say with certainty Zanu pf would turn out this way. Had Ian Smith given everybody the right to vote or live anywhere they wanted Zimbabwe would not of had a war. In fact Ian Smith created Robert Mugabe by doing this.There is a lot of good economically that Smith done but that is outweighed by the injustices that blacks had to endure. It saddens me that these injustices continue under a Black government.
ACTUALLY, THE ECONOMIC CRISSIS WE ARE GOING TO ENDURE THIS TIME AROUND WILL MAKE 2008 LOOK LIKE A WALK IN THE PARK.
IT’S SCARY TO SAY THE LEAST.
WHEN LIONS GO TO HUNT, THEY ORGANISE THEMSELVES AROUND EVERYONE AROUND. THE WEAK AND SICK, THE DISABLED, THE STRONG, THE FAST AND THE SLOW RUNNERS ARE ALL INVOLVED. THIS GIVES THE LIONS A BETTER CHANCE. ZANU PF BELIEVE THEY ARE SO SUPERIOR THEY NEED NO ONE BUT THEMSELVES. NOW THAT GONO CAN NO LONGER PRINT PAPERS, WHAT WILL YOU DO? NOW THAT YOU HAVE RING FENCED DIAMONDS TO FEED YOUR EVER GROWING APETITES WHAT WILL YOU DO? I SEE THAT YOU NOW WANT US TO BELIEVE THAT 30% OF WORLD DIAMONDS RESERVES HAVE RUN OUT. IS THIS ZANU PF WAY TO SAY THE DIAMONDS ARE NOT FOR US, BUT THERES ALONE? SIZA BONA!
TANONOKA THANKS WELL SAID YOU KNOW OUR LEADERS THEY ARE JUST TRADITIONAL AND OLD FASHIONED AND FAILING TO COPE WITH THE MORDEN WORLD.I GUESS WE JUST HAVE TO ALLOW THEIR GENERATION TO PASS THRU NATURAL CAUSES BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE AN OLD DOG’S BEHAVIOUR.
As you have said , we need them , they need us , what raises a lot of trepidations is that even though we need each other , the westerns have intimidated us a lot , they have intimidated us through the sanctions which were inpossed to Mugabe and the few individuals ,the sanctions have indirectly affected our economy badly .
We can not give away our resources cheaper to westerns becuase of their intimidations , the grapping of land was wrongly done , but why should we care about the people who doesn’t care about us , Joseph check the colours of our national flag , its not all decoration but the red colour means blood which sacriificed solely for our freedom , the slogan vana bevu , son of the soil explains it better .These westerns must lift the sanctions then we can open a new page for a way forward . We rather work together with the easterns and deny this kind of manipulation and intimidation from the westerns
TANONOKA..you are very late like your name…if this are targeted sanctions…why the USA is saying that it will intercept the monies from the EU if ZImbabwe sale to them the diamonds…can you please clarify to the this type targeted sanctions how they work……………because this invovement of the USA in the Zimbabweans affairs causes a stir….people on the ground are suffering because of these silly measures…..
Don’t be slow man! Diamond money is going to the same people who are on targeted sanctions instead of it going into the national coffers.
It gives me hope that Zimbabwe still has young visionaries like Tanonoka,Revenger-avenger and many more.
Yes it is true. The Smith Regime was defeated by ZIMBABWEANS. The seed of the problem is that we failed to hold our revolutionary leaders accountable for anything. We were obsessed with hero-worshipping them until they became demi-gods and immune to error.
They were power- hungry, greedy and devided among themselves. In our naivety we hung on every word they said, even against each other.
Thus a hen was raised. The hen laid the eggs of greed, dictatorship and despotism. The Zimbabwe you see today is the product of those eggs.
Not even one history teacher showed me a copy of the Lancaster House Constitution. This very document shaped our destiny but remains a secret. Not even one Zimbabwean cared to know about it.
The solution to our dilemma must be centred around a well informed youth who are capable of thinking outside the “Border Gezi” box.
In those days no political meeting was held before a prayer to the One who owns and created land.We soon forgot about Him after “getting” what we wanted. Instead of honouring Him we poured innocent blood and the tears of the orphans, the widows and the opressed onto the land he gave to us. The “land” can no longer contain all these horrible screams of the tortured. From hideous farm basements through police/prison cells to organised “accidents.”
we’ll be looking for a detailed solution.
Yimi owenu
Jack the Rabbit, you are wrong. Blacks did have a vote in the Smith era although it was a qualified franchise. It was South African blacks who did not have a vote. The bush war was a sad state of affairs but you forget one important factor as does everybody else it seems. The fairest election Zimbabwe ever had was in 1979 when 64% of the population voted for a black government. Mugabe and Nkomo were invited to participate provided their supporters left their weapons outside the country but they did not. During 1979/80, black Zimbabweans were falling over each other volunteering for service in the Rhodesian military. Ask yourself the question, why were they not falling over each other volunteering to join Mugabe and Nkomo? Furthermore, South Africa had a similar history. How is it that they do not suffer from the same economic collapse as Zimbabwe has? Sorry mate, you cannot continue to blame injustices which happened 34 years ago on the thieving going on by ZANU PF today. The ordinary citizen is suffering far worse that they did under the Smith regime.
You don’t get it do you. Do you remember never in a thousand years. I don’t know which Rhodesia you were living in.In 1979 the country was Zimbabwe Rhodesia and the black vote was negotiated at Lancaster house.I don’t know where you get your information from. I am born and bred in Zimbabwe and have lived there for over 50 years Mate.And if you’ve followed any of my correspondence I am not a admirer of ZPF or their policies but was not an admire of the Rhodesian Front either.Blacks never had a vote prior to 1979.I don’t know what you mean by quality franchise but if it is what I think you mean i.e. That the vote of whites was 10 times the quality of Blacks then you do injustice to those whites that are fighting for justice along side their black countrymen.
What do you call a Champion of freedom of expression unable to take an alternative view? Offspring of PK Van da Byl!
Farai I do not know why some people think that no matter who or what was right because some were enjoying the masses do no count.To me the masses when they contribute everybody benefits. that’s why the POVO (people of various Opinions)opinion is so important.
Further to my last,what I WILL ALWAYS ADMIRE of Zimbabweans is their ability to discuss and communicate. So I would like to say to John, Mixed race,Zimbali,Farai,Zenzo,Revenger Avenger and everybody else we have talked about football and other things in the buses and trains I do think that it is important for us to listen and contribute because here is where we can be who we are.
Sorry Jack the Rabbit but you’re wrong. There never was a racial franchise in Rhodesia. If you’ll go back and have a look 1970 Rhodesian Parliament had 16 Black MP’s nearly one third of Parliament (long before Lancaster House). But there was a voting standard that was based upon the Magna Charta. There were blacks as well as whites that didn’t meet the voting standard.
Ian Smith’s “not for a thousand years” referred to doing away with “responsible majority rule” as opposed to “irresponsible majority rule” or a racial franchise either black or white.
Please keep in mind that under Rhodesian rule there was a thriving growing black middle class. Black Rhodesians had an adult literacy rate that was 30% higher than that of white Americans, and the country was well under way to “responsible majority rule” that would have been mostly black. Also its important to remember that the life expectancy of black Rhodesians was nearly double the life expectancy of black Zimbabweans and about the same as whites.
It wasn’t Ian Smith’s Fifth Brigade that committed the genocide of 20,000 Matabele men, women and children and murdered them because of their race.
Sam Rayburn, a very wise American statesman, once said “any Jack-ass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one”. It took thousands of jack-asses, from all over the world, decades to kick down the barn that was Rhodesia and after nearly half a century of braying and kicking, these same jack-asses have yet to build a country in its place.
What was once the “breadbasket of Africa” is now the “arse-hole of humanity”
Jack the Rabbit, if you are 50 years old, then you were born a Rhodesian and should be proud of it, you should also know what “qualified franchise” means.
No, it does not mean “that the vote of a white man is 10 times better than the vote of a black man.
The Rhodesian “qualified franchise” was based upon the Magna Charta, and the Westminster Parliamentary systems.
The qualifications were:
1. Voters had to be of the age of majority. (at least 21 years of age)
2. A citizen (at first for 6 months, later it changed to 2 years)
3. There was a literacy requirement. (voters had to be able to read and write to a given standard)
4. The ownership of “immovable property”
There were no other qualifications. There was NEVER a racial franchise. There were thousands of BLACK Rhodesians on the voters rolls (those records still exist if you care to look for yourself) and not all white Rhodesians met the standard. Also remember that many qualified people both black and white chose freely not to be listed on the voter’s roll. It was their right.
In Rhodesian Society its voters were expected to “put down roots” as Ian Smith called it.
Ian Smith went to great pains to explain the problems that would be encountered with “one man one vote”.
How do you give a “vote” to a man that doesn’t know what a “vote” is?
How do you give a vote to a man that “doesn’t even know what government is?”
How do you give a vote to a man that doesn’t read or write, that’s never seen a paved road or a town.
Also, the “one man one vote” undermined the authority of the traditional tribal chiefs and headmen (the traditional leaders of black society)
Sorry mate, but “if you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it”.
cheers
As always you will get those with their own opinions that suits their ends. Were those literate middle class people allowed to use the same toilets and drink in the same pubs?Even the Rhodesian Army segregated.The police force Blacks could only progress to Sargent.The Public toilets were labeled BLACKS, WHITES ONLY and Coloreds and Asians. I remember what I saw you remember what you chose to see. When I began my contribution it was to show that all including Ian Smith are responsible for the situation we find ourselves in and for me it has gone off track. Attitudes like those shown by some of the replies show that some people still have tunnel vision and only see whats in front of them.You need to look at your side. For us those that you speak about that were put into those post were irrelevant and done nothing for the masses.
Khabo you must stop reading the Herald, you have been brainwashed!The “westerns” which include all governments,NGO’s and charities have donated many millions to keep Zimbabweans alive amongst many other projects. This despite the ingratitude of ZANU(PF)and their clones.
ZANU-PF DESTROYED THIS NATION
Hello Jack the Rabbit my good friend. If you are going to speak the truth then you should speak the whole truth. Yes the Rhodesian African Rifles were black, the Rhodesian Light Infantry were white, but you didn’t mention the fact that the Selous Scouts were integrated both black and white and there was NEVER a single Selous Scout that was the product of Affirmative Action. Each man earned the title. There was also integrated Military and Civilian Police and all were required to submit to there authority.
Yes there was some segregation and you seem to be very bitter over the fact that you didn’t get to use the same loo as the whites. It seems a bit petty to me. After all Rhodesia was a third world country and segregation was a part of global culture at the time. The Untied States had its segregation until 1963 and apartheid didn’t end until 1992. You traded segregation for slavery under a black, communist master. Now your master is old and soon you and your grandchildren will be sold to a new yellow master. I hope you’re happy.
You must also ask yourself, why are there not any black Chinese? It is because you are not allowed in their country or culture. They won’t let you use their loo either, but that doesn’t seem to bother you.
For myself, I am a free man and will always live as a free man. I can make peace or war and I am very good at both. But today, I choose to make money and I am good at that too.
Until you are free, I will watch over you and help you when I can. But you must remember “the crocodile has eaten the sun” and the curse that is upon all Zimbabwe will not be lifted until what has been stolen is returned to its rightful owners.
The first step is to return Hwange to nzoe, he is neither black nor white.
My friend this is only the first step on a very long journey, and the sooner you get started, the sooner you will reach your destination. Or you can await your new yellow master and go on living on your knees.
Die groot wit aap has spoken.
Die groot wit app. Ek stem saam ou boetie!!
Die groot wit aap. Ek stem saam ou boetie!!