By Bernard Bwoni
The ruling party’s 6th
Peoples’ National Congress under the appropriately titled banner of
‘Accelerated Implementation of ZIMASSET’ kicked off amid the uncertainty and
tensions within the upper intraparty echelons of power and its prologue brought
certainty and stability to the matter. The Vice-Presidents Mr Emmerson
Mnangagwa and Mr Phelekezela Mphoko have now been sworn in, the rogue ruling
party elements have been disabled and replaced and now is the time to
temporarily shelf the factional politics and start focusing on the economy. The
main thrust of the Congress was to look at the state of the party, addressing
the issue of factionalism which had been publicly and dangerously threatening
to undermine the party. It also focused on the state of the country’s heavily
compromised economy and looked at proposals to hasten the implementation of the
government’s ZIMASSET economic blueprint. The ruling party’s First Secretary and
the President of Zimbabwe His Excellency President Robert Mugabe in his Congress
opening address was open and honest from the onset telling the delegates “We
have not done to you what we should have done; some of us failed us and failed
you”. He was making reference to some of the party leadership who had naively
taken it upon themselves to prioritise personal ambitions and agendas parallel
to party objectives and national direction. The National Congress has brought
clarity and finality on the issue of factionalism which had been threatening to
tear the ruling party apart from within. The instigators of the factionalism
and the degeneracy were named and their clandestine and cabal overtures against
the party were laid bare. Now that the pre-Congress commotion and dust has
settled it is back to basics.
It is the hope that President
Mugabe’s steely message that drew deafening reactions when he made it clear
that all those public official implicated in any palm-greasing will be dealt
with according to the laws of the land will be followed by actual action. The
electorate is not interested in just words minus real action and the President
was very clear when he said “all ministers, their deputies, chairmen and civil
servants found to be guilty will lose their jobs and go to jail”. This
resonated well with the expectant electorate and all that is now left is
execution.
Now that the Congress is over and
done with and the ruling party’s realignment has been finalised the thrust now
should be the country’s frail economy to address issues of unemployment,
service delivery, budget deficit issues and infrastructure development as per
the premises of the ZIMASSET economic blueprint. The triumphant ruling party is currently the
sole authority of the land with a resounding majority following the 31st
July 2013 elections victory and should remain focused on governing in the
national interests. The subversive
inter-party and intra-party cabal elements have been defeated and there should
be no more excuses. The ideals of the liberation struggle and the ruling party
must be brought back to the forefront ahead of personal and narrow-minded
counter-revolutionary objectives for the sake of national trajectory. As the
President rightly puts it “We are bound together by the fact of being
Zimbabweans. That’s why we must be proud, take care of Zimbabwe, and build a
fortress that prevents any intruders coming in without our permission. We have
a responsibility to protect this land so that it never becomes a colony of
those wanderers again”. This is a national economy that requires collective national
spirit and intervention to harness positive outcomes.
The politics of the Congress were
dealt with decisively and no doubt that the outcome was one united ruling party
with the specific function to revive the country’s battered economy. The mood
and message throughout the Congress was clear on the urgent need to implement
ZIMASSET at the accelerated pace. There were deliberations on the state of the
economy and state of agriculture from which recommendations were drawn. The
Finance Minister Mr Patrick Chinamasa highlighted treasury’s difficulties in
collecting revenue and the negative impact of the huge import deficit. It is
imperative that the government put into place measures in place to protect local
industry from cheap and inessential imports. The Minister also encouraged the
nation to develop a culture of saving for the future and a culture of paying
back borrowed loans to ensure the viability of local banks.
The government’s economic
blueprint will yield positive results with effective implementation. The
Infrastructures and Utilities clusters such as power generation, railway and
road rehabilitation, dam construction, and irrigation schemes are critical in
supporting the productive sectors of the economy. The completion of the Hwange
Thermal Power Expansion which will generate an additional 600 megawatts into
the national grid, the Gwayi-Shangani power plant will add 700 megawatts; the
Kariba Extension will add 1000 megawatts and Makomo Resources an additional 600
megawatts. The government is also encouraging investments into solar energy and
wind power. In the next few years once all the power generation projects are
completed Zimbabwe will be exporting power to its regional partners.
The recurring theme of value
addition and beneficiation continued throughout the Congress. The fact that the
country is still exporting resources in their raw unprocessed form means that
employment is in effect being exported as well and the country losing out. The
general consensus is that focus should be on implementing fiscal corrective
measures to restore investor confidence in Zimbabwe’s economy. The realignment
of the ruling party politics has far-reaching implications for the nation as a
whole with the party’s 6th National Congress addressing the main
sticking points that had been stalling progress. It is only a matter of time before people of
Zimbabwe start reaping the fruits of this realignment. Revolutions bear
fruition on the back of successful and effective implementation of laid out
programmes. The ruling party revolution rests firmly on the successful and
accelerated implementation of ZIMASSET. The ruling party has no choice but to
deliver on the election promises and cannot afford to take the foot off the
pedal simply because of the impotent nature of the opposition politics. The
party has rid itself of counter-revolutionary coterie comrades and now is the
time to refocus on getting the wheels of the economy turning again.
bernardbwoni.blogspot.com
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