Ministerial stupidity

via Ministerial stupidity – The Zimbabwean 28 January 2015 by Jera

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has accused local company executives of lacking ideas and ambition. Chinamasa rattled on with some pugilistic metaphor – accusing one corporation of ‘punching below its weight.’ It is hard to tell whether the minister is referring to company executives or the Zanu (PF) government.

Just 2 months ago, at his budget presentation, Chinamasa stated that 4,600 companies had shut down since 2011, resulting in 55,400 job losses. Some corporations, foreseeing disaster, relocated to neighbouring countries, from where they now export to us goods that at one time were manufactured in Workington. Even government-owned businesses such as CSC – which is really just cattle herding on a grand scale – have collapsed.

If Chinamasa stopped talking for a moment, he would realise that he is part of the problem. It is government’s duty to create an environment conducive for business. If anything, any CEO whose company has survived Zanu (PF) deserves a giant shiny medal.

Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees, Christopher Mutsvanga, again reiterated his call for war veterans to ‘take up the fight in order to accelerate the successful implementation of ZimAsset.’

Honestly, Mutsvangwa is trying to squeeze milk from a bullock. These are the same war veterans who, upon receiving fully equipped farms, uprooted fences, slaughtered eland for meat, sold tractors and returned to their land where they now dig for mice all year.

Without the necessary funding, Zanu (PF) can sing the ZimAsset song until 2018 but nothing will come from it. Perhaps Mutsvangwa found himself confronted by a reporter’s camera and microphone. What was the man to do! He blurted out whatever came to mind.