Mnangagwa to revive economy??

via Mnangagwa to revive economy?? – The Zimbabwean 20 January 2015

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to revive Zimbabwe’s lifeless economy. ‘Now we are focussing on developing our country.

Our Country is stable. Our country shall continue to be stable. Our challenge as a nation is to develop and make sure each family has food on the table,’ he said last week. ‘No country will develop without eating. The most important thing as Zanu (PF) is to support agriculture…. Those with multiple farms, we will take them. The few whites on farms, we will look into that and those with big farms, we will cut to size.’

The collapse of the agricultural sector was caused by racism. Zanu (PF) evicted farmers who had capital, export market connections and generations of farming know-how. In their place came an ill-equipped group of farmers – a significant number with neither the drive nor the knowledge for serious agriculture.

As the saying goes, ‘easy come, easy go.’ Those who looted white-owned tractors and irrigation equipment either ran down the machinery or flogged it for a quick dollar. Rather than continuing the racist agenda, Mnangagwa should take the lead in fixing the mess we are in. Furthermore, it is pretentious for the VP to speak of reviving agriculture at this late stage of the summer cropping season. It is 10 weeks before the 2015 harvest.

The financial sector, without which no economic revival can occur, is literally on its knees. Agribank, once the leader in lending to farmers, is all but dead and foreign lines of credit that fuelled the growth of horticulture in the mid-90s have dried up. And if the VP is so passionate about multiple farm ownership, perhaps he can begin with his boss, who owns over 10,000 acres of arable land and continues to grab more.

Mnangagwa has been part of government for three and a half decades. One wonders what new measures his party will suddenly create after all these years. Having been left in charge by the holidaying Mugabe, perhaps Mnangagwa was moved by the awkward silence to say something – anything really – never mind the silliness.