A friend of mine always says it must be hard to be Zimbabwean. He has an explanation for such a statement. Everything is inconclusive and everytime people are waiting.
Develop me with Tapiwa Gomo
There is abundance of patience.
He says after the formation of the MDC, people waited for the Constitutional Referendum of year 2000. After the “No” vote triumphed, the focus shifted to presidential elections of 2002 which the MDC narrowly lost.
While claims that elections were rigged were loud, there was also an admission that the MDC was still immature and that 2008 election would give them time to grow. That period of waiting for change, again was characterised by waiting, long queues, waiting, shortages, as the country experienced shortages of almost everything except shortages themselves.
This was the same time that the current cast of ministers, in the recently appointed into Cabinet, were ordained into what was then known to be a “War Cabinet”, except a few missing faces.
The objective was clear; to counteract the West, UK and the US which were thought to be interfering with internal affairs of the country. The West, UK and US have moved on.
Similarly, the outcomes of such an objective were very clear, all spaces of democracy and expression of dissent were narrowed, if not shut out. Militarisation and propaganda took centre stage.
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Do you remember headline stories of MDC training youths to illegally topple the government, the treason trial of Morgan Tsvangirai or the security forces finding an arms caché in the eastern city of Mutare and the uncovering of a plot to destabilise the country involving opposition members and army officers? What happened to these stories?
The country was put in a defensive and protective mode even when there was nothing left to defend or protect. The national youth service was launched with the purported objective of transforming and empowering youths for nation building through life skills training and leadership development.
The skills acquired by the graduates became vital tools in every election. Everything foreign was an enemy. Any antithetical view to the government was foreign-driven, therefore an enemy.
With all that happening the economy tumbled, capital retracted, government malfeasance became the order of the day, unemployment shot up as investors also became a target of the “War Cabinet” and chaos reigned.
It was a dark moment of chaos and thank God we survived. But time, opportunities and people’s lives were lost — and are irreplaceable. Similarly, during that time, the only choice was to wait patiently and painfully for 2008 elections with unwavering interest.
For many, the “War Cabinet” had done more harm than good and it was time for change, while for others especially those in the “politically correct camp”, a foot on a new piece of land meant joining hands with the “War Cabinet”.
The result of this hiatus inscribed an indelible mark of pain on our souls. We are a bleeding nation. We experienced our darkest moments and the worst of everything, including an inconclusive election which gave birth to a makeshift government of national unity. Once again, we waited for 2013 elections and here we are ladies and gentlemen.
The media has grappled with the question of what we think of the new Cabinet, which is in fact not so new, but recycled August 2002 “War Cabinet”. I suppose the question should be: What do we know about the faces in the new Cabinet as most of them have been there before, so they already have profiles?
There are men and women capable of performing their duties, unless they choose to be alliterate of what needs to be done. Some of them have a chance to redeem their reputations, if ever they had any.
However, for the avoidance of disadvantaging an objective analysis of how they are likely to perform, it is appropriate to match what needs to be done for Zimbabwe to move forward.
Zimbabwe is where it is today because it has been isolated for a long time plus a combination of bad policies that have scared investors and capital needed to spruce up the economy.
We have allowed politics to divide our society which makes national collaborative efforts almost impossible. We are politically polarised and cannot trust one another anymore. We have adopted populist policies to appease political egos at the expense of development.
We have been on a warpath with ourselves and we are still to find ourselves. Now the question here is who within this Cabinet can effectively pursue these issues without scaring those we wish to engage with?
Who in this Cabinet can facilitate the re-engagement of our country with the world? Zimbabwe now needs to be part of the world, but of course as a sovereign country. Who within this Cabinet can pursue pragmatic domestic development policies without bruising political egos?
The nation is yawning for unity of purpose. The Diaspora is fertile with both Zimbabwean financial and human resources all yawning to make the journey home once the train of progress is on the right rails.
Who among the ministers can convince investors both local and international that their capital and assets are now safe?
The post-election reaction of the stock exchange market bears testimony to the fearsome perception exuding from the status quo. And that needs to change.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how anxious some South African investors fatigued by perpetual industrial strikes and their wish to cross Limpopo and start business.
They too, at the time, were waiting for Cabinet announcement. Who then within the coterie of ministers will engage with these investors and reassure them that Zimbabwe is ready and mean business?
Only time shall tell!
