Harare — DEPUTY Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara is one of the most energetic and emphatic members of the inclusive government. He is being accorded acres of space in the State media to rally the nation behind the coalition's efforts to revive Zimbabwe's comatose economy. Despite some rough edges to his personality, inevitably by-products from his days as a student activist, the learned Professor has been making good noises.
Mutambara has been imploring Zimbabweans to put their shoulders behind the wheel to move the country forward, saying the battle cry for his countrymen should put more emphasis on delivery going forward. As part of the building blocks to get the country working again after being plagued by a recession for nearly a decade, the Deputy Prime Minister is churning a catalogue of programmes which, on paper, make some good reading.
But what is disconcerting about Mutambara's approach to issues is that he is largely speaking to the converted. What is even more alarming is that some of the programmes - like latest project to rebrand Zimbabwe - do not resonate with the realities on the ground. It's like putting the cart before the horse.
It needs to be appreciated that the private sector, the central bank and civic society buckled under the weight of the recession while trying to draw government's attention to the very same issues of Public Private Sector Partnerships, rebranding etcetera. Their biggest letdown had always been politicians of Mutambara's ilk who cannot walk the talk.
Mutambara would like the rebranding of the country to be fashioned along the lines of the International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC) established in August 2002 to create a positive and compelling brand image for Zimbabwe's southern neighbour.
There is no denying that Zimbabwe needs an image makeover to appeal to investors, tourists, boost trade and benefit from globalisation. Competition for capital, tourists and skills is heating up across the globe and Zimbabwe cannot afford to be left behind.
But the issue really is not just about perfuming the country. Certain things need to be done first. How the country projects itself in the community of nations should form the foundation upon which the rebranding is anchored on.
As Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, only on solid foundations that are not built upon sand but upon rock can the structure endure the onset of stormy weather? Mathew 7:24-27
In the absence of a choreographed investment promotion, underpinned by sound policies that go beyond the rhetoric, any efforts to market Zimbabwe would be like applying lipstick to a bullfrog. It will not work. In fact, the country may end up losing a lot of money by rushing to engage top notch agencies to rebrand its image before its house could be put in order.
This is unlike the case of the IMC, which runs a sleek marketing campaign with the full blessings of the executive authority in South Africa and support from all the stakeholders concerned.
Even as the Deputy Prime Minister spoke about rebranding, his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-M) and ZANU-PF are haggling in full glare of a sceptical international community over outstanding issues arising from the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Several political activists are still to be accounted for and a solution is yet to be found to the wave of farm invasions disrupting agricultural activities in some parts of the country.
While the ailing economy and poor infrastructure concern visitors and investors alike, it is the absence of the rule of law, disrespect for property and human rights and the surge in crime that has dealt Zimbabwe a body blow.
Zimbabwe is perceived as high risk because of these and many other issues.
By its nature, capital is a timid and shy resource. It tends to move away from abrasive suitors with scant regard for property rights and natural justice.
Despite the GPA being clear on what should be done to get the country out of the woods, there has been resistance towards reforms with the latest boycott of a Cabinet meeting on Monday by ministers from the larger faction of the MDC underlining the party's frustration over the slow pace of reforms.
The discord over media reforms and the spanners being thrown into the works by ZANU-PF in the constitution-making process combine to make brand Zimbabwe a hard sell.
Sweden which took over the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) hit the nail on the head this week as Zimbabwe prepares to reengage the trading bloc in pursuance of the dialogue formally opened by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in Brussels last month.
"We hope that progress can be achieved quickly. It should not have to be complicated since the GPA entails what is needed for the EU to be able to reengage with Zimbabwe. Progress has been made in some important areas such as economic stabilisation. The EU is eager to reengage fully with Zimbabwe when there is concrete progress on some of the outstanding issues of the GPA, such as the respect for human rights, the rule of law, property rights and freedom of expression," said Sten Rylander, Sweden's ambassador to Zimbabwe.
The starting point for the inclusive government is to admit that past policies pursued by the ZANU-PF government destroyed the country's economy. The next step should be to correct these past mistakes. Rebranding can then follow, not the other way round.
Prior to embarking on the latest project, Mutambara had correctly pointed out what needed to be done.
In his article published in a local weekly in April the Deputy Prime Minister said the overarching agenda for the inclusive government is to create conditions for free and fair polls which should be done by carrying out radical political and economic reforms underpinned by five key activities namely: healing the nation, adopting a new constitution, resolving the humanitarian crisis, recovering and stabilising the economy and transforming the economy.
Zimbabwe has been failing in each of these areas.
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takunya_ndebvu
Man oh man!! I have hardly ever read so much mind numbing drivel in my life. You are nothing more than a apologist for despotic activities in Zim. What are you really afraid of! Do you think that to not back mugabe and zanu PF will be the death knell for you? I find your logic very disjointed and biased towards the current illigetimate ruling Zanu Poofs and Muggy Grab All i Can so juvenile! If you have ANY real and corrobarative arguments and facts----by all means let us hear them Hmmmmm??
Laybak68;
For your own information we no longer have the "current illegitimate ruling Zanu Poofs and Muggy Grab", what we have now in Zimbabwe is a Unity Government formed through the GPA that was signed by the three parties (now ruling the country) that got the most votes on March 29, and June 27, 2008.
I am not being apologetic of anything my dear friend. I support President Mugabe because he is principled. I support President Mugabe because he pursues the best policies for my children. I support President Mugabe because he is the face of liberation struggle in Zimbabwe.
I support President Mugabe because he has not faltered on his promises; he promised to provide schools to my children - thousands have been built since 1980, he promised health to all - many hospitals and clinics have been built, what only remains is providing the necessary drugs, he promised to built universities for my children - every province now has at least two universities where there was only one for the whole country at independence in 1980 and every province has at least four technical colleges, he promised to liberate my land - he has done just that and I am now a proud owner of a fertile piece of land that I never dreamt of getting.
What more do I want except to support a supportable leader, who is incorruptible, has been consistent and persistent in his quest to totally liberate the House of Stone. Any Zimbabwean who does not recognize and appreciate what President Mugabe has done and continues to do is insane and has to be mentally examined.
laybak68, I wouldnt take Takunya too seriously, he posts his nonsense on here all the time. He's so paranoid and delusional, he actually has posted that he believes the CIA invented homosexuality and spread it to africa. So you can plainly see he is quite delusional. But I'll let his posts speak for him, you can come to your own conclusions about our "board clown".
This analysis is dead on. Simple and clear. Zimbabwean politicians need to refer to the GPA for direction in trying to uproot the problems bedeviling Zimbabwe. Try to follow the GPA to its letter and things will change dramatically. ZANU PF is at the core of everything wrong and until SADC and AU realizes this, Zimbabwe will not be pulled out of these throes. We do not expect anything from these organization, anyway. They are composed of like-mindeds bend on stayinng in power.
Peter_C;
This editorial analysis is too far off the mark. It is actually going around in circles instead of tackling the real issues. The GPA clearly states the steps to be taken to rebrand Zimbabwe.
The first and foremost step is to lift the illegal, diabolic, racist and barbaric sanctions imposed by the west because of the land reform programme we undertook. The next step is for those who campaigned for these sanctions to acknowledge and admit that they are responsible for the destruction of our economy.
The third step will then look at how to correct the wrongs that MDC, Tsvangirai, Biti and all those responsible for calling for ruinous sanctions on the people of Zimbabwe, did to make the Zimbabwean economy what it is today. Anything else is peripheral and will fall into place the moment these issues are tackled honestly.
The other thing that needs to be looked at closely is what the Swedish Ambassador said. How can our own indigenously crafted GPA "entails what is needed for the EU to be able to reengage with Zimbabwe"? What this boils down to is that imperialists still want to tell us how to contact our internal business and affairs in Zimbabwe.
It also means that all these issues that are in dispute were inserted into the GPA at the insistence of those who imposed racist sanctions on us. MDC should tell its masters and so-called "strategic partners" to back-off and leave us to solve our own problems at our own pace. If they don't, they can rest be assured that anything detrimental to our sovereignty will NEVER be implemented.
We have to fully understand, first before committing ourselves and future generations, what the implications will be to us and posterity. It does not make any logical sense to adopt something that will impact negatively on our children.
Britain today has not adopted the Euro although it is a signatory to the documents that established the currency. Why should we rush things simply to please Sten Rylander and his imperialist colleagues?
If these are the conditions or the price we have to pay to get filthy lucre, then the lucre can stay, they can keep it to themselves instead of poking their long noses into our internal affairs. We have not invited them, so they can just keep or stay away.
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