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Mugabe jolted into action

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PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will on Tuesday deliver a state of the nation address in Parliament amid pressure for his government to halt the economic crisis that is spiralling out of control.

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will on Tuesday deliver a state of the nation address in Parliament amid pressure for his government to halt the economic crisis that is spiralling out of control.

BY OBEY MANAYITI

Mugabe’s last state of the nation address was delivered at the height of hyper-inflation in 2007 when the Zimbabwe dollar crashed to record lows while inflation figures shot through the roof.

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Harare West MP Jessie Majome (MDC-T) prodded Mugabe to act when she recently told Parliament that Section 140 of the Constitution compelled the President to address a joint sitting of the Houses to give a state of the nation address.

Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda yesterday confirmed Mugabe’s address on Tuesday.

“It’s true, there will be a national address by His Excellency in a joint sitting of Parliament on Tuesday 26th. The President is the one who is addressing and I don’t know the context of his speech,” Chokuda said.

Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza said the address should focus on issues like the economy, political situation and the labour issue, among others. He, however, warned that the country should not expect too much from Mugabe’s speech.

Political analyst Takura Zhangazha said focus should be on real issues and Mugabe must avoid turning it into mere routine rhetoric.

“The President should ideally focus on issues to do with the poor state of the national economy in relation to job creation, social service provision, the imminent food shortage due to poor harvests of the last agricultural season and making the Constitution democratically meaningful,” Zhangazha said.

MDC-T chief whip Innocent Gonese said Mugabe’s speech should focus on the failing economy and the ongoing job cuts, among other burning issues.

“It’s a provision of the Constitution that the President should come and give a state of the nation address,” Gonese said. MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu challenged Mugabe to use the occasion to publicly admit his Zanu PF government’s failure to address the worsening economic crisis.

“As the country’s largest and most popular political party, the MDC expects Robert Mugabe to own up and accept that the wheels of the economy have virtually come off in Zimbabwe,” Gutu said.

“We expect him to take note of the unprecedented dismissal of thousands of employees as a result of the Supreme Court judgment of July 15, 2015.

Zanu PF national spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo could not be reached for comment.