via Zimbabwe Urged to Respect Rule of Law to Fit in Global Community by Thomas Chiripasi 06.05.2014 VOAZimbabwe
The two-day Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust and National Endowment for Democracy (NED) conference on Zimbabwe ended in Harare on Tuesday with participants urging President Robert Mugabe’s government to up its game in their efforts to re-engage the international community and revive the country’s ailing economy.
The meeting held under the theme, “Zimbabwe going forward – Consolidating the Democratization Process and Reinforcing Re-engagement with the Global Community”, ended with participants calling on Harare to democratically run the country, respect the rule of law and enact clear policies that encourage and protect investors, among others.
Participants resolved that the government should put more effort in the re-engagement process as it seeks to rejoin the international community.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Monday told conference delegates that Harare is ready to fully re-engage the international community, adding the West should do its part by removing the so-called targeted measures imposed against President Mugabe and members of his inner circle for allegedly rigging elections, not respecting people’s rights and related issues.
UNCLEAR POLICIES
Delegates agreed that Zimbabwe is an economic and regional giant that is being weighed down by bad governance and unclear policies like the indigenization laws they said should be amended to ease investor worries.
Participants, who were drawn from the government, private sector, civil society and the international community, also agreed Harare should sincerely deal with corruption that they agreed was eating away the country’s social fabric as some people are living in luxury at the expense of the ordinary poor.
Earlier on, economics lecturer Ashok Chakravarti of the University of Zimbabwe urged the government to give title deeds to newly resettled farmers saying this would allow them to use the pieces of land as collateral to access loans from banks.
This, he said, would positively impact on Zimbabwe’s economic growth as the new farmers would be utilizing the land that was parceled out to them under the country’s fast-track land reforms.
Several economists have blamed the country’s economic meltdown on those agrarian reforms.
RAND
Chakravarti also urged authorities to consider adopting the South African Rand under a monetary union saying the use of the US Dollar is costly to the country.
Chakravarti argued that the South African rand was depreciating against the US currency yet South Africa remains Harare’s major trading partner.
But deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Khupukile Mlambo, ruled out the adoption of the rand and the return of the Zimbabwe dollar saying investors need time to understand financial systems in Zimbabwe before they can start investing in the country.
Former Zimbabwe Country Manager of the World Bank, Mungai Lenneiye, also told the conference that Harare should spruce up its image first before investors can start investing in the southern African nation.
Disputed elections and alleged violation of human rights by President Mugabe’s government continue to be cited as reasons by the international community for its reluctance to re-engage Harare.
LABOUR
Speaking at the same conference, representatives of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions urged the authorities to formulate a law that makes it mandatory for the government to regularly meet with labor and business under the tripartite negotiating forum as unions seek the restoration of a social contract between the state and its partners.
ZCTU third vice president, Gift Peter Mutasa, said the enactment of the law would ensure that labour and business concerns are catered for when authorities craft policies.
Discussions between government, business and labor under the Tri-partite Negotiating Forum stalled in 2010 following the establishment of the National Incomes and Pricing Commission.
Responding, Deputy Labour Minister, Tongai Muzenda, said the government was already in the process of crafting the law that he said should be passed by parliament before year-end.
But chairman of the Association of Southern African Development Community Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Oswell Binha, said legislating the discussions would give the government an unfair advantage over its partners.
Recommendations from the two-day conference will be forwarded to the government for implementation with follow-ups being made to ensure Zimbabwe’s economy is revived with frosty relations between the West and Harare being thawed.
COMMENTS
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Monday told conference delegates that Harare is ready to fully re-engage the international community, adding the West should do its part by removing the so-called targeted measures imposed against President Mugabe and members of his inner circle for allegedly rigging elections, not respecting people’s rights and related issues.
The West does not need Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe has nothing to offer when it has such bad dictators. Zimbabwe has gone down the drain, The West is not starving or suffering, The West is still the Major donor to Zimbabwe!
Talking talking talking and talking and nothing discussed is going to be implemented. Corruption at all levels has destroyed this country. No sane investor would ever dream of committing his money into this bottomless pit. Cases of corruption are so embarrassing. For example we have the perm secretary of higher and tertiary education who literally owns the ministry and bleeds that ministry dry by awarding himself huge allowances. The minister knows this but she does nothing. Dr mbizvo, the perm sec has numerous cases against him. A few years ago there was a report that appeared in the chronicle that said that this man caused the disappearance of so many cars in his ministry and that he took possession of 8 cars and his wife was issued with a govt vehicle although she is not a govt employee. Nothing happened to mbizvo. College principals are permanently stationed at their colleges. In the past we used to have a policy that said principals should not spend more than 2 yrs at a station. But not now. For example the principal of mkoba trs college joined the college from schools in the 1980’s as a juniour lecturer to senior lecturer to principal lecturer to vice principal and now is the principal. The same scenario is seen at most colleges. Dr mbizvo, together with some of these principals, runs these colleges like his private properties. For example he would be invited to come and commission buses at these colleges. Mbizvo would demand the type of gift he wants. For example at one college he demanded pigs- a boar and a sow for his farm, fridge, cow etc. He is untouchable
Sounds like everybody was stroking everybody.
For the record: the only area in which Zimbabwe is a “giant” is in the dis functionality of its government. In this area only, Zimbabwe is an achiever on a global scale.
The west doesn’t need Zimbabwe – wake up zanupf fools. The only way you can get rule of law is removal of zanupf and the replacement of all judges and the complete overhaul of the police and military. So zanupf go stew in your own juice. Best fire all of yourselves in govt and hand it over to someone who cares .
Urging the government to do the right thing is a complete waste of time. These people only understand force as is being exerted on them at the moment by the economy. The backtracking on the indigenisation policy being a case in point. If they were really serious they should start by empowering the millions of budding entrepreneurs in the informal sector, after all Chinamasa himself claimed that they now form the backbone of our economy.
Bob will just turn around and say IWE Zimbabwe Ruins is mine” Icho!
Urging the present Govt. is like talking to a brick wall!