Malvern Mkudu
In 1980 President of Tanzania Mwalimu Julius Nyerere congratulated newly elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe saying ‘you
have inherited a jewel in Africa, you must preserve it’. These words pregnant with meaning meant that whatever the flaws of the inherited country then at least those from the outside envied it.
Mugabe then, inherited a country fraught with economic and social inequalities but at least the economy was working. The new government’s task was to at least keep the economy working but also deal with the inherent inequalities built in the system.
Early economic policies such as the growth with equity of 1981 and the First Five Year National development plan between 1982 and 1990
yielded growth rates of 10% and 4, 6% respectively.
These were followed by the economic development policies of the 1990s , the most prominent being the economic structural adjustment programme which was introduced at the behest of the world bank and international monetary fund to liberalise the economy. The results were disastrous as real economic growth fell from 4% in 1985 to 1, 4% in 1990.
The economy has been in free fall since then and the recent ZIMASSET policy has not inspired confidence either. Premised on the goals of total empowerment, the economic blue print is aimed at harnessing the benefits of the land reform program and the indigenisation policy to address economic inequality and drive development.
At independence in 1980 the informal sector was relatively low accounting for only 10% of the labour force mainly the urban poor. Today the informal sector has grown employing some of the country’s most skilled people and believed to have about $7 billion circulating while employing 800 000 people.Most people in the informal sector do not have secure jobs.
Only in 1984 manufacturing accounted for 32% of the economy’s GDP. This has rapidly changed in the last few years with the manufacturing sector accounting for the biggest number of retrenchments in the last 2 years.
Even President Mugabe conceded in his birthday interview that the manufacturing sector was letting the economy down. As a result the government has failed to create jobs especially for those living in the urban areas.
Economic analysts blame this on the ruinous policies of President Mugabe’s government but the political leadership maintains that economic
sanctions are to blame for the economic meltdown.
The government of late has been trying to go back to the ESAP era through several private public partnerships it has embarked on, the notable ones being in road infrastructure. This has further squeezed money from citizens in toll gate charges. The economy has shrunk over the years and there is no clarity how ZANU PF plans to achieve economic equality when the economic cake has shrunk.
Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti famously said it is better to own 10% of an elephant than to own 100 % of a rat and this is the situation that Zimbabwe finds itself in as the country celebrates 35 years of independence. The economy has become smaller although fully liberated and the poorest have been the most affected. There is not enough for everyone.
Most ordinary Zimbabweans who are lucky to be employed are going home without their salaries and some are struggling with debt. The poverty stricken Zimbabweans especially those in urban areas have not realised the benefit of the ruling party’s empowerment policies.
The government has abandoned its pro-poor economic policies through the introduction of pre-paid electricity in the urban areas and they are mulling introducing water meters. These policies have only hurt the poorest in the urban areas.
It is clear from several indicators that President Mugabe has failed to preserve the jewel he inherited. He may have scored points in transforming the economy and attempting to address inequalities between black and white but he has failed in narrowing the gap between rich and
poor.
