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Panganai Kahuni Correspondent
Zimbabwe is soon going for what has been term “the watershed elections” in July or August 2018.

Political parties are busy making pronouncements that seek to lure voters to vote for them, provided their pronouncements meet the voters’ social, cultural, economic, peace and stability aspirations.

The media has a duty to help the voters in analysing the pronouncements made by political parties with a view of putting bare the effects of such pronouncements on their livelihoods.

Zimbabwe has gone through decades of isolation, resulting in the country’s economy getting into depression, thereby raising the unemployment and poverty levels of the citizens. It must be understood from the onset that Zimbabwe’s economic degradation was not caused by armed conflict, but by sanctions, corruption, externalisation of foreign currency and intolerant political environment among other factors.

This, in my humble view, requires sober politicians to apply strategies that seek to put in place State-building mechanisms that must ultimately contribute to peace-building. Taking Zimbabwe’s economy to unassailable heights has nothing to do with the age of the political leadership or about the past ills of political parties, but how they build on the past history in order to create a growing economy for the better of the nation.

President Mnangagwa’s mantra “Zimbabwe is open for business” and how he motivates the nation to embrace such a mantra, demonstrates that in his leadership, Zimbabwe is poised for economic recovery. The facts are there on the table for everyone to see. Of importance to note is his thrust to embrace a re-engagement strategy and the redefining of the Indigenisation Act.

In my view, both strategies are aimed at correcting the past and creating investor confidence, with a resultant effect of creating jobs. This is in line with ED’s pronouncement of growing Zimbabwe’s economy to middle income by 2030. This sounds well on course for the creation of an economy capable of bettering lives, incomes and social amenities. This speaks well to what Zimbabweans have been aspiring for during the days of economic stagnation.

Fellow citizens, forget the past, forget the age and appreciate how the man has steered the ship out of murky waters in the shortest period ever in our history and how he intends to take it to the middle income levels.

Hate him or like him, the man has shown demonstrable leadership qualities beyond doubt. His leadership has clearly demonstrated a measurable commitment of State-building, which seeks to contribute immensely to peace-building, ushering in a sound foundation for economic growth. The economic growth will resultantly create jobs; improve social livelihoods and better income earnings for every citizen. “Mungasvora”.

It is important to note that Zimbabwe under ED is poised to attract investors from across the globe. The fight against corruption and externalisation of foreign currency is what every citizen marvels to see regardless of political alignment or age differences. Voters are therefore urged not to be swayed by oratory and political rhetoric, whose effect is appetized by making people suffer more due to sanctions that MDC Alliance is calling for.

For the avoidance of doubt, the nation was surprised by the mantra for sanctions that Honourable Nelson Chamisa and his alliance leadership implored America to maintain on Zimbabwe.

If sanctions are a political strategy, how do they create the jobs for the youths that are currently unemployed?

Whose interests are sanctions serving and what role do sanctions have in growing the economy to middle income levels? Is this not a political strategy for the elites? If sanction are not aimed at destroying investor confidence, then God must help us understand their import.

Mr Chamisa’s message to the voting public is that of building airports in every village and providing the nation with bullet trains and bullet planes.

The bullet trains/planes yes are highly automated and are a good sign of economic development, but being advocated at the wrong time and space.

The cost of a bullet train is too high to think of now regardless of its usefulness in the long-distant future.

Development policies must not be crafted to start their effect from the future to the present, but vice versa.

Imagine poor Zimbabwe today thinking of buying a bullet train that costs $70 billion and constructing airports in every village.

This to me sounds like economic suicide that will leave the country in debt for 10 generations to come. If ever there are people who think the country is ready now or in the next 10 years to embrace bullet trains/planes and making Gweru the new capital city as advocated by Chamisa, then they must be daydreaming.

The answer to our prosperity lies in gradually growing the economy to middle-income levels and creating jobs for the “unemployed youths” and improving incomes before thinking about bullet trains/planes and airports everywhere.

The $70 billion bullet train if available could be used to improve industrial capacity utilisation, thereby creating jobs and improving incomes. This is why ED and Zanu-PF are concentrating on finding global and local investors.

Some say it never rains but pours. Listening to PDP’s Jacob Mafume speaking on Star FM, the gentleman was angry with himself and everyone.

The programme moderator had a mammoth task of restraining the emotional Mafume. One would think Mafume wanted to beat everyone in the studio as he needlessly interjected.

This was during the discussion on electoral reforms on Star FM on March 26, 2018. While it is noble to raise issues on needed constitutional changes, care must be taken not to exaggerate the slowness of the legal process. Constitutional changes cannot be hurried only to satisfy the MDC Alliance without following parliamentary due processes, lest it becomes flawed and fraudulent.

The European Union representative spoke calmly and expressed his views more intelligently than the lawyer Mafume. While Mafume, at some point raised intelligible issues, his emotions overshadowed his contributions to the extent that even lawyers would not want to be associated with him.

Fellow citizens, while it is healthy for the MDC Alliance to call for electoral reforms, it is also important for them to practise those reforms within themselves.

It is dangerous for one to say by being appointed Vice President by their departed leader one was being anointed to be the leader of MDC-T.

My understanding is that anointment is only done in a monarch or kingdom. This is another challenge to democracy that the MDC Alliance is bringing into Zimbabwean politics which may have a negative effect on investor confidence.

Such an individual, if voted into power, could easily pose a challenge to remove since a constitution is not cast in stone and can be amended.

What stops Chamisa from changing the national Constitution to suit his ego as exemplified by his failure to follow due constitutional process of his party as pointed out by Obert Gutu, regardless of him being said to be the most popular candidate for MDC-T presidency?

Fellow citizens, as we get deafened by political parties’ pronouncements, let us be careful in our selection of what policies address our needs.

Dr Panganai Kahuni is a political socio-economic commentator, researcher and diplomat in the SADC Region writing on his own behalf.

Policies must not be designed to address our needs from future to present but from present to future.

In selecting the best candidate for leadership, let us not be swayed by age, oratory and political rhetoric, but by measurable and doable economic pronouncements. Nations that want to help Zimbabwe in practising democracy must be neutral as opposed to Americans, who only listen to MDC Alliance without according other political parties an ear.

Dr Panganai Kahuni is a political socio-economic commentator, researcher and diplomat in the SADC Region writing on his own behalf.