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NewsDay

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GNU in shambles

Politics
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday said he met with President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday and the two principals to the unstable coalition agreed the past six months of the inclusive government had been problematic. Speaking at the official launch of the five-year Medium-Term Plan (MTP) in Harare yesterday, Tsvangirai said: “The President and I agreed […]

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday said he met with President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday and the two principals to the unstable coalition agreed the past six months of the inclusive government had been problematic.

Speaking at the official launch of the five-year Medium-Term Plan (MTP) in Harare yesterday, Tsvangirai said: “The President and I agreed when we met yesterday (Wednesday) that the first one and a half years were progressive, but in the last six months there has been discord. Why don’t we go back to the time when we believed in ourselves?”

He said it was unfortunate that there were some people that were complaining of not having being consulted about the MTP, adding it did not bode well for the tripartite negotiating platform.

“I strongly believe in the tripartite situation. It’s unfortunate when one of the parties complains, it means it’s a two-legged pot,” said Tsvangirai.

The PM was responding to an outcry by Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president Lovemore Matombo that the labour body had not been consulted in the crafting of the policy document.

“The document was supposed to have consulted even the poorest people in the country and hear what their needs and concerns were,” said Matombo.

“It does not mean if you are poor you do not think. I feel such people were not consulted for their input.” Tsvangirai called upon all partners in government to ensure full implementation of the economic blueprint.

“Sadly, Zimbabwe is known for producing quality economic blueprints which have fallen short on implementation, or fantastic documents that remain tucked in some bottom drawer in some government office,” said Tsvangirai.

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said there was need for policy alignment so that there could be certainty, predictability and an enabling policy framework. “Mr Prime Minister and Madam Vice-President (Joice Mujuru), the problem is our politics, let’s fix our politics. It is our politics please,” he said.

Mutambara said government and the private sector should be actively involved in the implementation. “The challenge is we are over-managed and under-led,” said Mutambara.