Politics should not downgrade Zim’s status

times.
It took him the Zimbabwean tag ahead of a political office to notice the need for addressing the injustices, which had been unleashed on his fellow nationals. The present “Coconut Economy” which has two diametrically opposite faces to it had seen one policy element losing significance when naively applied. A trade-off seems to exist between the presumed output and effected recipes to alter economic behaviour.

There is need to understand that it is the politicians who need the economy more than the other way round, with economic recovery prospects still deemed against a backdrop of a more active political calendar ahead of business matters, the solution lies in reviving our itinerary as a nation.
With bond yields approaching seven percent in Europe’s third largest economy, politicians saw it fit to recede ground in order to pull the land of clothing brands out of a mess. Greece was not to be outdone alongside Spain as their respective politics suffered as a consequence of mismanaged economies. With a current account deficit of US$81,9 billion and a GDP contraction of 3,7 percent to date, Silvio Berlusconi was always going to be a prime target by the European Union leaders to vent their frustration for an almost collapsing 27-nation bloc.

The positive outside of Zimbabwe is our politics had gone from worse to bad to better and that must be a springboard for a potential economic miracle. The good news is that the eurozone has woken up from the lie that Greece could one day repay its debts. A supposedly confidential new assessment of Greece’s prospects drawn up by the troika of the European Central Bank, the IMF and European Commission makes dire reading. Austerity has pushed Greece further into recession than expected, this year’s output is expected to shrink by 5,5 percent and the country will not return to growth until 2013. Greece’s debt is expected to peak at about 186 percent of GDP in 2013 even with a 21 percent cut on debt held by private creditors that was agreed on in July.

The Indaba on violence held in the capital last Friday is a heart-rending event, this could be what Zimbabweans desperately need. The superfluous fighting by lightweight political players when the heavyweights are basking in the glory of reconciliation smacks of insincerity and bad politics. That the principals agreed to nip the monster in the bud is refreshing, a direct comparison between the recently launched Medium Term Plan by the Kenyan government vis-a-vis the one penned by the Zimbabwean Government makes interesting reading. The latter blueprint is convincingly more detailed and smarter but the political buy in has been lackey in its approach. Some in our political circles believe the economy should only grow if they are to gain political mileage and relevance in the nation’s political discourse.

President Mugabe must not be viewed as a Zanu-PF emissary when dealing with national matters, Minister Tendai Biti must not be judged as an MDC activist when delivering the National Budget and legislators must not be seen to defend party positions when significant national matters are to be debated. When any political leader in Zimbabwe supports gays and lesbians, such leaders must be made to pay not only by those from the opposition but also their political kith and kin. When leaders are fanning violence and tribalism, they must be exposed for they will be threats to our national values. The West had managed to outwit us because they tend to rally alongside each other in national matters, any attempt to recolonise Africa, galvanise support for the Arab Revolution or developing their economies is normally dealt with unanimously. It is sometimes because of an uncertain and disregarding political culture that we cannot trust our economic policies as nationals. This could be the basis for over reliance on the IMF, World Bank and other Western institutions when they themselves are begging for a firewall from China in order to extinguish the eurozone on fire. The message has to be unequivocal from a Zimbabwean perspective.

The august House voted overwhelmingly to accommodate the Global Political Agreement. They seem to be in unanimous agreement in their quest to receive luxury vehicles but they certainly differ on how to empower their constituencies. Most of them are clueless on what it takes to bring back the local currency or to correct the endemic power outages that have battered prospects for economic growth.

Any public official responsible for agenda setting in Zimbabwean economic affairs without being cognisant of a bad marriage which currently obtains in the economics and politics of the country can only be a legend of failure. Voluminous literature on monetary policies, fiscal policies and other blue- prints such as MERP, Esap and Zimprest have come and gone with limited effect. The simple reason being a wrong marriage with the political affairs of the land. It is the politicians who are supposed to come from the economy not the economy being moulded from politics. The politicians enjoy maximising votes when businessmen are after maximising profits, any reverse motive by the stakeholders will create chaos, corruption and a capitalist society.

The world over, giant nations use politics to amass resources for their future generations by either exploiting weaker nations or directly investing in areas where such countries have comparative advantage. The difference with our political approach is we seem to prefer an active political regime within the country and it becomes remote as we cross the borders. One might take it as part of our foreign policy to act as good neighbours but if it is not to benefit Zimbabwe, the approach has to be reviewed definitely.

When Julius Malema, the ANCYL president, felt he was approaching his political crescendo, a political dark shadow suddenly engulfed him through the recent five-year suspension. This Zuma saw to be a precursor of a failed economic culture the richest African economy is revered for since the days of Nelson Mandela at Union Buildings. It was the ANC senior leadership’s duty to see to it that the vibrant, Young Turk was well managed knowing well that the marriage of the South African economy and politics was never going to be blissful.

Good economics could not be suddenly tainted by “bad politics” as the call for nationalisation of mines in South Africa and land reform was not to be a walk in the park against the background of a racially mixed populace of 80 percent blacks and 9 percent whites, and 9 percent Coloureds. The two indispensable institutions, politics and economics must be separable in order to avoid compromising on the efficacy of the government’s role in discharging its mandate.

Zimbabwe Inc is a potential buy for any well-meaning investor and let us not allow politics to downgrade its status as a must invest hub for the world.
Thank you and God bless you.