Online Reporter
Vusumuzi Dube in Beijing, China
ZIMBABWEAN officials have drawn lessons on the importance of leadership, structured planning and effective implementation from China’s development model, with the experience expected to inform recommendations for strengthening the country’s development processes.
Chief Director in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Jonathan Gandari said the just-ended Ministerial Seminar for Senior Public Management Officials had exposed the Zimbabwean delegation to a structured approach to national development, highlighting the need for leaders to lead by example and ensure that plans translate into tangible results.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 12-day Zimbabwe-China Bilateral Ministerial Seminar for Senior Public Management Officials held in China from September 1 to 12, Mr Gandari said the engagement had provided valuable lessons on the role of leadership in driving national development.
“I think this has been a very important engagement in the sense that we have been exposed to a structured, well-configured way of developing our country,” he said.
“What is very important, what is very striking here is the role of leadership in development, the role of planning and the role of making sure that what will have been planned is implemented and the tools to manage that development, that has been very, very important for us.”
Mr Gandari said the delegation had also learnt the importance of leadership humility, with leaders expected to remain connected to the people and lead by example.
“Also, what has been important for us is to learn the humility of leadership, that the leadership is in the people, that the leadership leads by example, and this is very important,” he said.
He said the seminar had further highlighted the alignment between the ruling party’s programmes of action and the work of public servants in implementing national development priorities.
“And also, to find the alignment between the public servant in our context and the party, the ruling party, that the party draws up programmes of actions and that as public servants, we craft the activities aligned to the thinking of the party, and that is fundamental,” said Mr Gandari.
The lessons from the engagement are now expected to be consolidated into a report for submission to the respective principals of members of the delegation, with some recommendations potentially proceeding to Cabinet for consideration.
“From here we are going to produce a report. The leaders of this meeting, of this delegation, are going to present this report to their respective principals,” he said.
Mr Gandari said the delegation’s composition, which included parliamentarians, public servants and ministers, would allow the lessons to be channelled through different institutional platforms.
“We have people from parliament, they are going to present to parliament the honourable MPs that we have. We have also the public servants, we are presenting through the Public Services Commission, and we also have ministers who are presenting through their own platforms,” he said.
He said there was hope that some of the recommendations would eventually be considered by Cabinet and adopted for implementation.
The Chief Director said the seminar was likely to be part of a series of engagements targeting different skills and categories of Zimbabwean leadership.
“From what I’ve gathered, these are going to be a series, and they are targeting different skill sets, different categories of the Zimbabwean leadership,” he said.
He said the continued engagements would be supported by the strong relations between Zimbabwe and China, which Chinese counterparts had described as a “five-star ironclad friendship”.
“Given what has been described by our Chinese counterparts here as five-star ironclad friendship, we see this being sustained going forward,” said Mr Gandari.
The seminar was organised by the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO) under China’s Ministry of Commerce and exposed senior Zimbabwean officials to China’s development planning, governance, infrastructure, industrialisation, digital transformation and rural revitalisation.
The engagement formed part of ongoing Zimbabwe-China cooperation in capacity building and public administration.
Blessing Chizhande