via Economy on its own as Zanu PF fights – DailyNews Live 20 October 2014
HARARE – While Zanu PF and a few misplaced businessmen were, for three weeks, fixated on the Grace Mugabe provincial rallies — the economy has been quietly but surely sinking.
The day Grace was holding her second rally at the City Sports Centre — the Confederations of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) — were launching the manufacturing survey.
As the first lady was performing her ‘mini Unity Accord’ at the City Sports Centre where Amos Midzi, Godwin Gomwe and Shadreck Mashayamombe publicly embraced following a fall-out — the CZI was telling the nation the manufacturing sector had slumped to 36 percent up from 39 percent.
The survey blamed low local demand, a lack of competitiveness, shrinking export markets and power shortages for the decline.
This has been a story told many times but in different forms.
What is frightening is Zanu PF’s and indeed its governing ministers’ lack of demonstrable appetite to deal with pressing economic matters.
Instead, we have seen real appetite to engage in political gamesmanship in the current Zanu PF succession issue in which some ministers abandoned government duty to travel with Grace to her rallies.
This is a kick in the teeth for both Zanu PF supporters and the generality of Zimbabweans who had cautiously trusted Zanu PF to deliver on its electoral promises.
Events of the last three weeks have clearly shown that there is no feeling of doing government business until congress business is done and dusted.
Even in the face of little value to be gained from Grace’s rallies, President Robert Mugabe’s government’s attitude or at least that of some of his ministers has been at worst — a signpost of what the future could be holding for Zimbabwe.
This is the time that farmers should be getting seed and other inputs for the next agricultural season but there is no sign on the ground that the relevant ministry is alive to this.
Again this is the time that exporters would be looking to get preference to access raw material for production but as it is, their concerns which have been sitting on the government minister’s table, are yet to be tackled.
Government’s own revenue is falling and there is no solution in sight to improve things which hinge on the regaining of significant capacity utilisation in local companies.
The Grace Mugabe rallies and the subsequent kowtowing by Cabinet ministers were the last things the economy needed.
COMMENTS