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By Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo
Our nation is grappling lack of cohesion. We are buffeted by inconsistencies and incapacitation to achieve national goals. We are a wounded nation, and we require proper leadership remedial for national healing.
This is the only country where you find people working only on national television, ZBC TV, and on the ground, traffic robots won’t be working. We need a solution to congestion around all our major cities. The moment, you switch on to the TV, you experience a working Government or work in progress. By the time you open the window, you feel like forcing yourself through those burglar bars to avoid falsehoods peddled on the national broadcaster. It is high time, we must face reality, look into each other’s eyes, and reflect on national interests.
Gone are the days when guesswork carried the day. The direction of our country remains unclear. We have so many inconsistencies regarding policy formulation and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is high time the leadership must adopt a proper Economic Recovery Framework and business model to run Zimbabwe. We have a high level of unemployment and a lack of a sound development policy. It is high time, leadership must focus on strategic thinking around the current trajectory.
1. We must develop a sound development policy
The gatekeepers of the day have kept us guessing on what is our National Development Agenda? This question remains a thorn in the flesh: Do we have a development agenda to revive this country? Can we go for another ten years, with guesswork, or do we need a properly-outlined development agenda to rebuild our country? How best can we decongest the city of Harare? We need flyovers, we need spaghetti toads, around town, we need to create towns around Harare, we need technological advancement, we need proper infrastructure, we need new approaches, new thinking to shape our country. What is our agenda, as a nation? We can’t spend five years, receiving vaccines, we need to create our own laboratories, we need to strengthen our research and development capacity, we need to create business opportunities, more industries, and we need a clear direction of where our country is going.
2. STRATEGY
Clearly, we have no strategy to deal with the current trajectory. Why do we keep on receiving bandages from neighbouring countries? Do we need donations from regional countries? We have gold, we have platinum, we have chrome, we have strong human resources, we have the capacity to deliver the best beyond Africa, and where is our problem? We are one of the best in terms of literacy in Africa, and we are the worst, in terms of development. We have everything at our disposal, and what we need is Strategy, to come out of this poverty, vicious cycle. Honestly, you tell me, the only thing, our society admires is ” Mbinga”, Mbingaldress, Mbingaldino, and we can’t empower our own society, to create wealth for ourselves, and the generations to come? We need proper Strategic Thinking, to share the national cake, equally, using proper Economic Recovery framework, to deal with the current mess we have in our country
3. Leadership Remedial
To be honest, we are living in a guesswork formula where we wake up to find statues around town, museums along Bulawayo road, elected Members of Parliament being booted out of Parliament, legitimate opposition leaders being evicted from their offices, people being evicted from their farms, displacement of residents in most parts of the country, and no proper business formula to run the country. We are the only country, where you find those smuggling gold worth 100 million United States Dollars, per month, being elected in strategic positions of governance. This is the only country, where you find a retired Chief Justice, bouncing back without any justification to do so, and where you find a constitutional amendment being done, to bring back an embattled Chief Justice, in an embarrassing manner. There are times when leadership is supposed to sit down, reflect, and provide Intelligent answers to a wounded nation like ours.
4. New Thinking Approach
We need Smart Thinking in doing business. We can’t continue using the same approach which Mugabe deployed during his reign. We must come out smarter, and develop a way of doing things. If looting can double within a period of four years, then we have to ask ourselves, do we really deserve this, and are we ready to call ourselves, a NEW DISPENSATION? Should that phrase exist, or be part of our own vocabulary? We would expect to see more engagements between the ruling party, and opposition movements in Zimbabwe, as a way of creating fresh ideas, fresh politics, and perhaps a different way of doing politics. We need a fresh wave, surround ourselves, with sound people, who can contribute positively, towards the national cause
5. We need Mental Vaccination
We have gone through a lot, and we find ourselves in an unstable manner if we are not careful. This is the only country, where you find people getting home, as late as 2300 hrs queueing for ZUPCO buses, and still regard the process as ” normal”. This is the only country, where socialites, can call for citizens to post their phone numbers so that they can receive free airtime. I could not believe it, with my own eyes, when I witnessed, more than 8000, civilized people, posting their digits, scramble for free airtime so that they can get bundles to remain on social media, whilst in South Africa, a 19-year-old, can own more than three houses. The best remedy, one can get in Zimbabwe, is to get free airtime, from MBINGA, or any blesser around town.
6. Lies are a normal diet for us
We have a budget surplus, of over 5 trillion, which is in the form of Treasury bills, and the same surplus will be used to fund free education from grade 1 to grade 7, by 2030. We have used the surplus to purchase drugs, and other health necessities, for our own health care workers, and other front line workers, and by year-end, every civil servant, will have access to pool funds, to clear all the debt arrears, and also clear our national debt. We have managed to open credit lines, and more industries to service our national debt.
We need a good business model to run ZIMBABWE
Few nuggets I have:
1. Seperate politics and development
2. We need a well-structured policy framework
3. The face of the country ( Presidency), must REFLECT Smart Thinking leadership
4. The President must settle for the best
5. Propaganda & lies must never run our country
6. Role of Private sector is key to National Development
7. President must be surrounded by sound & smart Strategic Thinkers
8. Competency must be the order of the day
9. Civic engagements are in the best interest of our country
10. President must be worried about his legacy
11. There is life after politics
12. We need a Kenyan ( Uhuru Kenyatta – Raila Odinga way of doing politics)
13. We must move away from begging & shifting blame. Let us take responsibility for all our mistakes, and shape our nation
14. Let’s decongest our minds with toxic politics, and deliver the best for our country
15. We need an Independent Advisory Council, stipulated within the provisions of our constitution
16. We need to feel the impact of the Presidency on the ground
17. Leadership must never reduce themselves, to comedians, through their associates
18. We need to define our destiny
19. Investor’s confidence is key to National Development
20. Something is wrong, and it must be corrected
21. Two wrongs, won’t make something right
Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo is the Head of Zimbabwe Institute of Strategic Thinking – ZIST, can be contacted at countrydirector@zist.co.zw