Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Joseph Chiteza
3 July 2009
opinion
Harare — Honourable Government Ministers from MDC-T who boycotted last Monday's Cabinet meeting must be told to uphold reasonable standards of behaviour or risk bringing themselves and the entire inclusive Government into disrepute.
Surely, there are acceptable ways of behaviour that are expected of Cabinet Ministers.
Ministers are also Parliamentarians and perhaps this is why there is an urgent need to have a code of conduct governing the behaviour of all elected public officials.
Universal principles of politeness and mutual respect are needed today more than before in order to promote national healing.
There are several other mechanisms that could be devised to express displeasure other than boycotting important State meetings to score political points in a country run down by sanctions and outside political and economic interference.
Anywhere in this world, people cannot fight their kith and kin in public and expect respect, whether at village, district, provincial or national, let alone, international level. The boycott was a serious betrayal of public confidence invested upon the Ministers by the people of Zimbabwe.
In the Western world, not attending Cabinet because the leader of the country had brought the meeting forward by one day would be deemed extremely irresponsible and hypocritical.
It is ridiculous that in Zimbabwe such behaviour escapes public scrutiny because of political polarisation. The old adage that says time lost is time wasted cannot be further from the truth.
Zimbabweans want serious people who are fully engaged with turning around the economy. No one can pretend that they were spectators when the country's pillars were being pulled down.
The ghastly sights in our prisons are the result of our squabbling which created fissures that reconciliation is trying to mend. This writer is a member of the public who feels that elected officials must at all times debate issues vigorously, explaining their positions clearly while remembering that they vowed to well and truly serve Zimbabwe.
Time will teach these Ministers a lesson if they begin to feel they can hold the nation at ransom. Cabinet is serious and honourable business.
But unnecessary grandstanding is destroying our country. Even if they do not like President Mugabe, he is the Head of State and he is the one who swore them into office.
There is formal politeness and political correctness in every culture and we are no exception. We need to see formal politeness in Mrs Khupe and everyone else.
Ministers must not try and play to the gallery - they should be working to rebuild the country. The people want food on their tables, water in their taps, electricity in their homes, medicine in their hospitals and teachers in their schools. The current situation dictates that all parties in Government show seriousness.
We would like to see a functional Government that takes every opportunity to discuss issues affecting the nation and not novices who fuss at the slightest opportunity. They cannot expect to preside over the administration of laws and policies when they disregard those very same laws.
It is even shocking when Dr Lovemore Madhuku, a law lecturer, chips in with views that promote the laws of the jungle. Is it right or wrong for Ministers to publicly disrespect the President?
What does the law stipulate on that? Or is there no means of overseeing the conduct of Cabinet Ministers, especially when they are summoned by their chief executive?
Did they make not swear oaths of office and loyalty when they became Ministers? Do they understand how valuable it is to uphold those values for the public good? These are issues Dr Madhuku must tell us because he teaches law.
The man, however, brings discord to everything that seeks to protect the rights of ordinary people.
He would rather speak to please George Soros, a businessman and miner, who sponsors the NCA and give views that undermine the President of a country or its citizens. We expect all members of society, and without exception all Ministers to uphold the law and respect everyone.
If they can do this, next headmasters will have no control of their teachers! There is a danger that such behaviour breeds anarchy and and has a ripple effect on the behaviour of the generality of the population.
It must be nipped in the bud. I feel that many of our politicians are pulling the wrong strings and think that running a country is like operating a dummy to amuse an audience.
We need solutions, not antics. We need people who look themselves in the mirror everyday and remind themselves that they are servants of the public. Whatever concerns they have about the Global Political Agreement - or disagreement - must be handled maturely without prejudicing the people of Zimbabwe.
They must be concentrating on creating jobs and re-establishing industry. They must make sure CAPS Holdings makes enough drugs for our hospitals.
They must realise that Chiadzwa, Ashanti, platinum and coal are the pillars that will put Zimbabwe on course to recovery. These are the issues that need serious debate, and the sooner the better.
We do not need pretenders. We do not need empty promises, empty vessels and sweet nothings. This must be our slogan.
Mr Biti, please do not tell us that aid will come when certain benchmarks are met because it is like admitting that you have no solutions of your own, that your promises to build Zimbabwe were based on nothing, that your hands were just as empty as your predecessors' whom you lampooned so openly.
It must be made clear to MDC-T members of Cabinet that to be offended by small issues all the time is neither a practical nor a satisfying way to live.
It is also bad for one's health to lie between one's teeth.
We want results.
Why is it that the party that is represented by the so-called upwardly mobile classes (academics, businessmen, Westerners etc) tends to be most intolerant about ordinary people who live away from the glare of lights and development?
Why is it so intolerant of rural people who were helped to own land by politicians who today cannot travel to Western capitals?
Zimbabweans cannot and should not feel happy to see restrictive measures slur them while they feel sanitised. It sets a very bad precedent. Why should we believe that a party that claims to be as powerful as MDC-T does is a victim of a Government in which it is a member?
When one enters into a contract, with another, one cannot choose to publicly threaten that contract. It is blatantly mischievous to even find the voice to do that.
It will breach the agreement and in our case the peace that was created as a result of the GPA. They cannot be victims all the time, surely.
They clearly seem to suggest that they will be able to deliver when America and Britain are satisfied by their ability to put their leaders right there at the top, to dismantle the obvious benchmarks that were made by us.
I interpret such actions as unwanted harbingers. The intention may be difficult to see but the old rule of thumb that actions speak louder than words usually decodes the real intent of such actions, sooner or later.
There must, however be room for tolerance and compromise. We are Zimbabweans. Nothing will change that so we must act responsibly. We, therefore, must see Ministers working to improve Zimbabwe.
The principles of togetherness must be upheld. We are one people and less public rudeness will build bridges towards political tolerance.
We hope to see a reinforcement of respect and tolerance rather than flip-flopping to satisfy our political egos. According to one writer, in a dynamic and ever- changing world, we wish each other well, but pause to see if the other fellow is holding an olive branch or a gun behind his back.
I hope MDC-T Cabinet Ministers are serious nation builders.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
you forget the altering of the GNU before it was signed and without the MDC's knowledge... actually... theres alot more..
Another self-effacing post from the author of "ZIMBABWE IS A PATHETIC PIECE OF CRAP."
yes... thats right... another modest post from myself.
Heehaw!
haha.
Idiot, I knewthat you will take the lethal bait, given your phenomenal stupidity and naive unreflexivity.
Awt-independent, the author of "ZIMBABWE IS A PATHETIC PIECE OF CRAP."
Now, efface THAT, idiot!
Beggarson88, go beg ask your bloodstained dad Mugabe why he turned Zim into a rotten banana republic?
Need to get the Wombles to Zim to clean up the banana skins. Oh laa la la la, hey banana won't you slip on the skin, oh la la la la hey banana , womble up the rubbish and put it in the bin. Plenty of rotten skins in Zim.
Iwe Katz mwanawewe ... may l suggest to you that the T-MDC should pull out of the GPA Unity gvt and do their own thing. Did they join the ZANUpf set up as a spoler or a partner? If the abhor our President so much, why be in his gvt? Please call a spade a spade and get on with the business of politics. The true colour of the T-MDC is coming out and the Mabwes of Great Zimbabwe are learning all the time. Next elections this lot will have some explaining to do to the public. Pamberi ne Zimbawe,… [Read Full Text]
What a load of tripe! At the risk of repeating an earlier post, I would have thought that the following amply demonstrates who is and who isn't serious about making the GNU work.
a. the fact that the parties to the GPA agreed that there would be a cabinet of 31, held 16 by the MDCs and 15 by zanu-pf. When it came to swearing in the cabinet, Mugabe unilateraly swore in an extra 10, all for his party.
b. Under the terms of the GPA no senior government posts can be filled by Mugabe until he has consulted and… [Read Full Text]