“Mugabe, Gono Retire To Your Borrowdale Mansions Before We…”
Our beloved Zimbabwe was once the bread basket of Southern Africa. Now it is the basket case of Africa. All countries in Southern Africa, were reliant on Zimbabwe in times of hardships, be it famine or times of unstable political or economic environment. So now we all wonder how we came to be what we are now. Zimbabwe was an exporter of grain, tobacco and beef and it even had quotas to meet in the EU, but now we cannot even feed ourselves. Zimbabwe is now an importer of almost everything. This is all because of the disastrous economic and political policies of Mugabe and his Zanu PF.
What Mugabe and his advisors didn`t understand is that Zimbabwe is an agro-based economy and by destroying agriculture, he was in fact destroying the back-bone of the economy and thereby destroying our beloved Zimbabwe. Mugabe politicised the land issue and used it to solicit for votes from his supporters and to silence the war veterans instead of embarking on a managed agrarian reform.
Mugabe, despite having started the destruction of the economy in 1997 by giving out the zw$50000 to silence the war veterans cash and misusing the war victims compensation, he didn’t hear the alarm bells ringing when the Zimbabwe dollar nose-dived and lost its value against major currencies in a blink of an eye. The real victims of the war were never compensated. Chenjerai Hunzvi was the one used by the Zanu PF thugs to loot the fund and Mugabe did nothing as he was part of the looters.
Mugabe continued with his disastrous policies in order to buy votes from the poor people of Zimbabwe. He embarked on a chaotic land reform programme, grabbing utilised commercial farmland and giving it to his supporters. He targeted land owned by white commercial farmers only, confiscated it through his draconian laws. The exercise was done haphazardly thereby hurting the economy.
Mugabe used the land issue as a campaign tool against the opposition. He used the land issue to campaign for the 2002 presidential election against the MDC. Mugabe really knew that the issue of land was an unresolved issue that he had overlooked for many years, but now because he knew his support was shrinking, he used the real issue that people went to war for to his own advantage.
He was facing a real challenge from the MDC, so he embarked on a corrupt and chaotic land redistribution programme but his aim was to win the votes and the real people who needed the land never benefited but they were pushed deeper into poverty while Mugabe and the Zanu PF elite were enriching themselves. Mugabe and Grace have managed to grab in excess of ten farms between them while the majority of Zimbabweans are still living in poverty and struggling to have a single decent meal on their tables.
In essence the land was never redistributed but instead Mugabe and his cronies just used the people to grab those farms they had eyed for themselves for years and the masses of Zimbabwe are still landless. Mugabe and Zanu PF are cruel, they will use you to their advantage and before you realise, they will throw you out. Zanu PF and Mugabe have no mercy for the people of Zimbabwe, all they want is to see the country in chaos and the people suffering.
Mugabe was not finished yet. After having failed the nation by destroying commercial farming, he embarked on a money printing spree with his blue eyed boy Gideon Gono at the helm of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. They masterminded how to enrich themselves whilst propping up Zanu PF. Without foreign currency from exports, the country couldn’t balance its books and the country couldn’t import the basic necessities like grain and fuel. Gono was tasked with devising ways of keeping Mugabe and Zanu PF in power.
He started running the country with the authority from Jongwe. At one time people were asking who was the president, Mugabe or Gono? He embarked on quasi-fiscal activities meant to keep Zanu PF in power. He embarked on a money printing spree. The money printing machine at Fidelity Printers was put on a 24/7 shift. Gono was printing money at an alarming rate, changing denominations of the currency like a possessed man. As the Gono money became more and more useless, the RBZ resorted to buying foreign currency from anyone, everywhere including Mupedzanhamo market, Road port and the diaspora.
Those who were in the business of sourcing the foreign exchange for the RBZ, would confirm that the RBZ was always the highest bidder when it came to buying forex from the black market. Gono wanted all the forex coming into the country to be in the RBZ`s coffers.
Gono`s activities fuelled inflation to an alarming rate and rendered the zw$ useless. Gono tried everything to save this useless currency but couldn’t sustain the pressure. He couldn`t cope with inflation let alone convince the people to accept it as legal tender. He tried recycling the old currency including coins but it couldn`t work. I wonder which economics Gono was applying. He was used by Zanu PF and Mugabe and he ignored all sound economic advice.
Gono became public enemy number one because people who had money in savings accounts, just woke up one morning and found out that they had lost everything they had worked for in their entire life. Mr Gono, I think the nation deserves an apology on this one.
Gideon Gono refused to take the blame in the destruction of the economy. He asked one reporter how one man can destroy the economy of the entire country. So in other words he is agreeing to destroying the economy but he is refusing to take the blame alone. Anywhere Gono, you know who you were trying to please when you landed us into this mess. Everyone knows you, Gono and your boss Mugabe masterminded the demise of this once vibrant economy. We all know that you did this to keep Mugabe and Zanu PF in power and to continue looting the little that this country still has. Gono you must go but you must not go alone. You know who to go with.
Mugabe must go to save Zimbabwe and Gono you must go too to save this economy. Mugabe is a liability to his party, its only that no-one is brave enough in Zanu PF to tell you this and anywhere they are benefiting from your incompetencies. You protect their corrupt activities so they would want to be protected as long as you are alive.
Gideon Gono is the stumbling block at RBZ. Why cant Gono just resign and leave the new minister of finance to implement sound reforms and revive this economy. When we talk about reforms at the central bank, Mr Gono, we ate talking about you leaving that building in Samora Machel avenue and maybe work in Zanu PF`s tuckshops. Now we hear Mugabe talking about bringing back the ZW$.
Please gentlemen, get back to your senses and give this economy the chance to recover and attract investment first before we can think of our own currency. (Apa Gushungo marasika). Mr president you are lost, cant you see the green shoots of recovery since you gave the ministry of finance to the capable hands of Honourable Tendai Biti. Give him a chance and if he fails then we can blame him.
Gono and Mugabe, we have had enough of your failed policies, so please don’t poke your nose into this money side. Retire and live in your Borrowdale mansions before we decide to start investigating where the money used to build those mansions came from.
See you next time.
Frazer Muzondo @ Change Zimbabwe
Posted by Sakhile Malaba
on November 23, 2009. Filed under Opinion.
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