ZANU-PF must deliver on promises

via Deliver on promises – DailyNews Live 14 APRIL 2014

As the economic crisis deepens in Zimbabwe, the Zanu PF government must begin to put its money where its mouth is to avert the suffering of its 14 million citizens.

The liberation movement which has been in power since independence in 1980 should be jerked into action by the liquidity crunch currently prevailing to deliver on their electoral promises.

Zimbabweans are hard-pressed on every side with the economy in intensive care as hundreds of companies continue to close down.

Economic analysts who argue that the economy is the albatross around President Robert Mugabe’s neck, attribute this free fall to Zanu PF’s policies such as indigenisation which they say should be put on hold or revised to attract investor confidence.

Hundreds of companies have since closed shop since the beginning of the year against an unemployment rate currently pegged at 80 percent.

Elsewhere in this publication, we report that this figure is set to rise after the de-registration of 176 companies while 634 might be de registered in three months’ time.

This unfortunate state of affairs will worsen the burden on 60 percent of citizens who are deemed to be poor.

Statistics availed by the United Nations reveal that 25 percent of rural households live on just one meal a day; it is then not surprising that one in four children under the age of five are malnourished.

A significant number of workers have gone for long periods without pay while civil servants are up in arms with government over pay increments.

Delivery of essential social services is almost on its knees as people are failing to access basic needs like water, basic health care and education.

Is this the empowerment that Zanu PF was talking about in their manifesto?

We wait patiently for the economic growth of 6,1 percent spelled out in the Zanu PF economic blue print, ZimAsset.

Graduates from tertiary institutions wait patiently for the millions of jobs which the ruling party promised.

Analysts say to prevent total disaster, Zimbabwe needs to put in place policies that attract foreign direct investment.

We couldn’t agree more.

But changing policy alone will not have the desired effect as the ruling party needs to do much more if it is to attract investors like developing a national branding strategy which will rid it of the ‘bad boy’ image it attained over the past decade.

Elsewhere in this publication, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has urged Mugabe to swallow his pride and work together with him to avert the suffering of the people.

We couldn’t agree more with him.

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