PYD Sceptical on the Open for Business Mantra

On 10 September 2018, President Emerson Mnangagwa swore into office a new 20-member Cabinet, 15 Deputy Ministers, 9 Provincial Affairs Ministers and 2 Ministers of State in Vice Presidents’ Office. The appointments were made in terms of Section 104 (1) of the Constitution. The new Cabinet has been dubbed the “Dream Team” in some quarters. Stembiso Nyoni, Joram Gumbo, Cain Mathema and Oppah Muchinguri – Kashiri were the only ministers who were retained from the Robert Mugabe’s cabinet, whilst Patrick Chinamasa, Obert Mpofu, Simon Khaya Moyo, David Parirenyatwa, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Supa Mandiwanzira were left out of the cabinet with some deployed full time to party business. Newcomers to the corridors of power include Prof Muthuli Ncube, Kirsty Coventry, Obadiah Moyo, Sekai Nzenza and Mangaliso Ndhlovu.

The cabinet’s role is to direct government policy and make decisions about national issues. The government policy is premised on the Zanu PF manifesto. The Zanu PF manifesto structured the election campaign and subsequently government policy, thus laying down policy priorities. The manifesto stated an ideal policy framework whereas the cabinet will have to adapt party ideas into practical and sustainable government programs.

After having his electoral victory validated by the Constitutional Court on 24 August 2018, President Emerson Mnangagwa assured the nation that his government will be seized with the creation of a favourable environment for investors as espoused by Zanu PF Manifesto under the banner of “Zimbabwe is Open for Business”. For Zimbabwe to be open and have various investors scurrying for opportunities, the government needs to address the epidemic corruption prevalent in the country, restore confidence in financial sector and most importantly revive agriculture and industry for employment creation and the expansion of the tax base. 

Zimbabwe is ranked 154 out of 176 on the Corruption Perception Index, a development that do not augur well with the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra. Most of the corrupt activities are recorded within the civil service with law enforcement agents and local authorities being the worst offenders. Corruption has caused immense damage to the social and institutional fabric of Zimbabwe. 

Van Rijckeghem and Weder (2001) did some empirical work showing that in a sample of less developed countries, there is an inverse relationship between the level of public sector wages and the incidence of corruption. However, there is a paradoxical relationship of public sector wages and corruption in Zimbabwe as 97 percent of Government revenue is currently being taken up by public sector wages due to a bloated civil service. Therefore, the task of the new government will be to address this fiscal anomaly and strike a balance between adequate remuneration and combating corruption.

The general populace that reside in local communities hope for a radical change to the economic environment with a view of the current unemployment rate at 95%, making available very few job opportunities outside the government. Thus, employment creation becomes imperative for the second republic administration. The government must ensure that all people who are able to work have jobs where they do not labour in vain, have access to health provision services and decent housing and most importantly are able to support their families. 

President Emerson Mnangagwa is regarded as a pro – business reformer and many have adopted a cautious optimism towards his newly appointed cabinet. However, with a scenario of Zimbabwe being heavily indebted, the task becomes enviable. In absolute terms, less aid has been provided while the need for it has drastically risen due to financial constraints that have been in existence since 1998. It is important for the open for business mantra to be linked to socio – economic justice anchored on moral behaviour with political commitment. 

Chipinge district is endowed with agro – business opportunities, and it has attracted large scale investments in the same sector. Nevertheless, there has been gross negative growth in the district, as large scale investments has resulted in increasing inequality, poverty and a serious absence of community empowerment. Therefore, PYD calls upon the new government to come up with a framework that place people and local communities at the centre of socio – economic growth promotion in accordance with the UNDP concept of Sustainable Human Development (SHD) process. Thus, economic growth has to relate to the quality of life of local communities. 

PYD urges for the development of a business model that would best serve the needs of a human and ecological community. It would become a matter of social embarrassment in an event where local people would witness large scale investments within their communities but that will not translate to socio – economic transformation. The actual value of communal land comes from social factors and could provide a greater measure of equity and socio – economic responsibility. 

There is need to restore public confidence in the financial sector. For the past 18 years, Zimbabweans has lost confidence in the banking system. This was due to the fact that there was both inconsistent and unreliable monetary policy framework that made it impossible for the ordinary people access their money. Both supply side factors and demand side factors affected access to financial services by local communities. The supply side factors presented challenges to the financial sector to avail services to the rural and marginalised communities, whereas the demand side factors enabled rural and marginalised communities to avoid the banking system. Therefore, the new government must come up with a well developed financial system that can enhance the promotion of socio – economic development all across the demographic divide of Zimbabwe. 

Platform for Youth Development Trust (PYD) is a community based organisation that is driven by genuine community issues. The organisation will embark on government policy monitoring so as to interrogate its relevance to issues of social justice and community empowerment. As much as capital investment can bring employment for people and infrastructural development, it is important to PYD that the investments do not create social inequality, rural marginalisation and loss of social capital. Social capital in this context includes communal land and safe ecological system.

Community Cohesion – A Panacea for Social Development and Equal Opportunities

Chipinge Rural District Council has elected Patience Mlambo (ward 18) as the Chairperson and Charles Mugidho (ward 20) as the Vice Chairperson, both of the MDC Alliance party. PYD notes a positive development for a woman councillor to be elected Chairperson for the Chipinge Rural District Council.  There are 15 Zanu PF Councillors, 14 MDC Alliance Councillors and 1 PRC Councillor, making a total of 30 elected Councillors in Chipinge Rural District Council. Patience Mlambo and Charles Mugidho won by virtue of the drawing of the lot beating Councillors Muzamana and Misheck Busangavanye (ward 26) both of Zanu PF. 

This is in terms of section 45 (4) (b) of the Rural District Council Act which states that “If at any meeting at which the chairman or vice-chairman of the council is to be elected, more than one candidate is nominated for that office—             

(a)        the election shall be by secret ballot; and             

(b)        if two or more candidates receive the same number of votes and the addition of one vote would entitle any of those candidates to be declared elected, the result as between those candidates shall be determined by the drawing of lots at that meeting.”  

Councillors Muzamana (ward 16) and Misheck Busangavaye (ward 26) lost the Chairperson and vice Chairperson posts respectively on the backdrop of the drawing of lots when they were tied on the number votes with their respective competitors. 

Chipinge Rural District Council is the principal planning and development agency with its jurisdictional zone that is designed around communal land in the district. The function of the Chipinge Rural District Council is expected to be non-partisan but all inclusive as play a significant role in relation to socio - economic development, from a non – partisan point of view. Thus, the integration imperative (efficiency, effectiveness, coordination) calls for an all-encompassing approach so as to provide leadership, promote community cohesion, stakeholder partnership and be accountable to the community residents.

It is of paramount importance for the elected Councillors and the rest of Chipinge Rural District Council to create community cohesion, unity and sense of purpose for social development to be real and sustainable in the district. This can be realised through working with community stakeholders to develop and implement a shared vision for promoting the well-being of Chipinge district and improving the quality of life of the residents. Thus, transforming people in the district of different political persuasions and socio - economic backgrounds into a community of people drawing inspiration from a common developmental agenda. 

At a very basic level, both the Chairperson and her deputy need to allow the community have the much needed policy interactions outside political party alignment. MDC Alliance and Zanu PF all know what they regard as their political turf. This turf related behaviour was very clear during the campaign period. It was a period of territorial conquests and setting up of political issues around the defense and conquers of party territory. It becomes important to recognize the fact that the instinctive commitment to the defense of political boundaries can easily extend to irrational and intense political battle levels to the detrimental of community development.

Several of the political turf battles that exist in the district created, defined and triggered community vulnerability and social regression. Therefore, Chipinge district need local political leadership that can interact with people of all political persuasion without personal safety and/or issues of livelihoods coming to scrutiny at any setting. The district needs a safe turf for all people.

As the Chipinge Rural District Council design the community’s socio – political and developmental narrative, it is important to prioritize approaches that bring people together in order to create a broader sense of belonging and not polarisation. Its work should reach out across political lines to make development real and sustainable.

A community is and must be inclusive, and the great enemy of community is exclusivity and polarisation. A political group that exclude others on the basis of belonging to a different political group cannot be regarded as a community but a clique who carry the tendencies of defensive  political bastions against the aspirations of a community. In Chipinge, instead of being ignored or denied different political persuasions should be celebrated as a gift and a community value.

PYD put emphasis on the importance of the Chipinge Rural District Council to construct planning services around the needs and aspirations of local communities regardless of political opinion and affiliation. The poverty and social inequality prevalent in the district can be addressed through effective planning, public investment and the establishment of non-partisan developmental agenda. 

The obligation to respect, protect and fulfill rights cuts across political affiliation and people cannot be deprived of their means of subsistence due to the fact of political affiliation. Chipinge Rural District Council is obliged to ensure that the service provision and developmental agenda is enjoyed without discrimination on the grounds of political opinion and/or affiliation. Thus, the new administration should ensure that any new laws, policies and programs do not deny any right either de jure or de facto to selective portions of the population. 

PYD has seen the negative effect of inappropriate resource allocation as normally leads to indirect discrimination within the community, and is advocating for an inclusive approach to community development.