Source: 2013 promises haunt Zanu PF – DailyNews Live
Tendai Kamhungira and Blessings Mashaya 26 March 2017
HARARE – As the watershed 2018 national polls beckon, President Robert
Mugabe’s warring ruling Zanu PF is in a big quandary about what to say on
account of its dismal failure to deliver on any of its 2013 election
promises.
Among the promises that are coming back to bite Zanu PF are its utopian
pledges to create 2,2 million jobs – as well the much-trumpeted,
pie-in-the-sky mega deals with Russia and China, which were signed in
2014.
Analysts told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that the Zanu PF
propaganda machinery was “battling” to explain the failures in the light
of the country’s dying economy, with citizens no longer trusting the party
and its leaders.
Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said it was clear that Zanu PF was “a
monumental failure” which was good at promising “hot air”.
“Zanu PF will never deliver on any useful electoral promises.
“They are the epitome of political failure. The opposition can capitalise
on these monumental failures by Zanu PF and coalesce together to kick it
out,” he said.
“It is a year before the next election and Zanu PF is set to return with
another bag of empty promises.
“The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) contends that even when Zanu PF
became the de facto, illegitimate government they still had the obligation
to deliver by virtue of occupying office,” PDP spokesperson Jacob Mafume
said.
“In their 2013 election manifesto … Zanu PF made a sensational promise
that they would create 2,2 million jobs if they get a five-year term,
translating to 440 000 jobs a year.
“Instead hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs, with more
than 6 000 companies closing between 2013 and 2015 owing to the hostile
economic environment that Zanu PF reverted to after the government of
national unity,” Mafume said.
“As at present, hospitals are also in bad shape, and lives are lost
because of curable diseases. The majority of Zimbabweans are sinking in
abject poverty and corruption is rampant.
“State-organised corruption cartels are the order of the day, a good
example of which is the creation of a police state which has a tolling
mandate on the roads,” he added.
MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu, said Zanu PF would never bring anything new,
after it had “created vendors instead of the promised 2,2 million jobs”.
“The so-called mega deals penned with the Chinese in August 2014 are a
huge pie in the sky. The Chinese are smart business people. They will not
pour their money into an economy that is totally dysfunctional, where
there is no respect for property rights and where the rule of law is not
upheld.
“Anyone who thinks that Zimbabwe’s economy can be successfully turned
around with Robert Mugabe at the helm as president is certainly overdue
for a psychiatric examination,” Gutu said.
Another political analyst Shakespeare Hamauswa, also said Zanu PF could
never bring positive change to the country.
“The party is failing to manage simple political equations on succession,
and so how can they manage economic issues?
“The main problem is that the people are letting the politicians to decide
on their behalf. This is why even without any tangible promises Zanu PF
may emerge victorious again in 2018,” Hamauswa said.
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