Zimbabwe Independent
30th December 2011
AS the wobbly alliance of the inclusive government stumbles into 2012, there are concerns that the relative economic stability Zimbabweans have been experiencing will be short-lived if the three political parties continue with their endless squabbling.
In 2011, parties in the inclusive government have bickered over anything from civil servants’ salaries, financing agriculture, the constitution-making process to diamond revenue.
As it does an introspection of its performance in 2011, the inclusive government needs to ask itself whose interests it is serving –– are they individual, partisan or the interests of Zimbabweans.
The Zimbabwe Independent looks at how ministers fared during the year while operating on shoestring budgets, among other factors. Below is our assessment of the performances of some of the ministers. While some ministers have been visible for the right or wrong reasons, there were others who were completely invisible. Can someone tell us what exactly are ministers Gabuza Gabbuza of Public Works, Olivia Muchena of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, and Giles Mutsekwa of National Housing and Social Amenities are doing in their ministries?
Webster Shamu –– Media, Information and Publicity. Grade: D
With new newspapers on the market and thriving, Shamu seems reluctant to ensure fundamental legislative reforms are put in place to open the airwaves and allow independent broadcasters to function.
Shamu has resisted media reforms because they form the cornerstone of his party’s continued political hegemony. He has also defied a cabinet decision to regularise the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which controversially awarded two commercial radio licences last month to two companies linked to Zanu PF.
Despite the inter-party pact, Shamu is not keen to implement genuine media reforms. No single television and community radio licences have been issued to date by BAZ despite promises made in the Global Political Agreement to increase players in both print and broadcast media.
However, Shamu can be commended for allowing private media to cover state functions, which had become a preserve of the state-controlled media. He has also allowed foreign media to cover events in the country. Shamu, though not frequent enough, has organised meetings with editors from both private and public media.
Threats to journalists seem to have lessened –– there were fewer arrests and the arrests this year were mainly instigated by individuals using criminal defamation laws.
Shamu still has to repeal repressive laws like the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa). He has also failed to campaign within government for the abrogation of criminal defamation laws and Public Order and Security Act.
Walter Mzembi –– Tourism and Hospitality Industry. Grade: A
One of Mzembi’s greatest achievements this year was winning Zimbabwe’s bid to co-host with Zambia, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly in 2013.
This will bring together 186 countries to the Victoria Falls and it will be among the biggest world events to be hosted by Zimbabwe in recent years. During that period, the Victoria Falls will generate more money than it does in a year.
Because of his sterling work marketing Zimbabwe, the Economic Impact Research for 2011 to 2021 released recently by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) shows that Zimbabwe will be the second fastest growing tourism economy in the world at an annualised growth rate of 8,2%.
During the first half of the year, the tourism sector registered a 14,3% growth in tourist arrivals and bed occupancy compared to the same period last year.
Mzembi was in March crowned the African Tourism Minister of the year at the Africa investor tourism Investment Awards in South Africa. He was shortlisted in a highly competitive category which included ministers from Zambia, Kenya, Namibia, Morocco, Uganda, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique as nominees.
Mzembi also launched a new tourism brand in February: “Zimbabwe –– a World of Wondersâ€, which he has popularised at home and in major source markets of the world where it has been well received. To market the country as a tourist destination, Zimbabwe has joined the global destination group as a founding member.
He has designated the whole of Zimbabwe as a tourism development zone. Mzembi has won a seat in the executive council of UNWTO, which he has used to leverage Zimbabwe’s position against sanctions and travel warnings.
Mzembi definitely needs to take a bow for the excellent work he is doing.
David Coltart –– Education, Sport, Arts and Culture. Grade: A
Coltart is one of the hardest working ministers in the inclusive government and has been a great asset to the government, which has failed to deliver in many areas. He is hardworking and committed to reversing the decay in the education sector. When he joined the ministry in 2009, most teachers had left the profession; those that remained were not motivated as they were always striking and the student-textbook ratio was pathetic. But this has all changed.
The student-textbook ratio in primary schools is now 1:1 after he sourced donor assistance from UNICEF and other western agencies. They donated 13 million textbooks worth US$50 million. He is now targeting secondary schools across the country.
Teachers, although they are not paid much, are motivated and have rarely gone on strike. Despite pressure from teachers’ associations, he has refused to scrap incentives being paid by parents through the school development associations. Temporary teachers no longer outnumber qualified teachers.
Recently, he launched the US$85 million education fund by government and other western donors to assist secondary schools. To improve infrastructure at schools, he launched the education transition fund phase 2 to rehabilitate school classrooms, water and toilets. Coltart definitely deserves an A, hopefully other ministers will be able to emulate him.
Zimbabwe finally saw New Zealand touring the country this year after Coltart brokered a deal to end the Black Caps’ self imposed ban on playing in Zimbabwe.
The Black caps toured Zimbabwe for a one-off Test, three ODIs and two T-20s which they all won. But that deal and the subsequent tour will be recorded as victory for Zimbabwe as they successfully navigated their way out of international isolation, thanks to the cricket crazy Coltart.
The Australian “A†side also toured Zimbabwe in June where they played two-four-day matches and a triangular ODI series which also featured the South African “A†team.
Tendai Biti –– Finance. Grade: C
Since dollarisation, economic growth and performance has been steady and the multicurrency regime has brought stability to different economic sectors.
In his 2011 budget statement, Biti recalled that most of 2009 and 2010 was devoted to STERP I to restore macro-economic stability following the ravages of hyperinflation and the cobweb of controls throttling business activity. He indicated that focus will be on consolidating macro-economic stability in the 2011.
Despite being at the epicentre of a government of disunity, Biti managed to attain his set objectives, including attaining a single digit inflation target of between 4% – 5%.
Biti had a difficult job of allocating a budget where expenditure is outstripping revenue, but his budget outcome was in line with his set objectives since he managed to allocate a cash budget pegged at US$2,7 billion.
The performance of Biti is not bad since he seems to be fighting a lone battle given the lack of political will to bring about a conducive economic environment which encourages investment and economic growth. However, Biti needs to tell us what happened to the SDR funds. Why is he not utilising them? Biti can be criticised for his bid to force a deal which would result in NSSA financing troubled ReNaissance Bank.
Obert Mpofu –– Ministry of Mines and Mining Development. Grade D
The biggest achievement of the minister this year was the attainment of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) status. Despite the sanctions slapped on diamond producing firms following the acceptance of Zimbabwe in the elite club, the economy is set to benefit hugely from being a member of the KPCS.
But the performance of the Mines ministry was also negatively impacted by the indigenisation drive targeted at mines and this has stalled investment in the mining sector.
Despite some good work, Mpofu has clearly failed to deal with the issue of diamond leakages.
With that cloud hanging over him the good work is overshadowed by his reluctance to plug minerals revenue holes which have failed to boost the fiscus.
Welshman Ncube –– Industry and Commerce. Grade D
The greatest achievement was securing investors in the non-functional Zisco with government disposing off its stake to ESSAR. But the deal has been marred with irregularities this year and the slow pace of concluding it has overshadowed the good work on the deal.
Issues debatable remain the impasse over iron reserves which are believed the ministry overlooked in signing on the deal. Also, ESSAR now holds 51% of the iron and steel giant which contravenes the indigenisation drive currently being spearheaded by government.
But from reports from the 2011 annual report of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, capacity utilisation in industry has improved to levels above 57% and Biti’s interventionist policies which protected industry somehow brought above the improvement in capacity utilisation. But the recovery process is now being impeded by lack of liquidity in the economy.
He has also come up with a distressed companies fund, which is a plus for him. Cabinet has approved the disbursement of US$40 million to distressed companies.
Ignatius Chombo –– Local Government and Rural Development. Grade F
Minister Ignatius Chombo (pictured) carried over from where he left off last year –– that is fighting elected MDC councillors. He took his crusade against MDC-T councillors to zealot levels –– firing them willy-nilly and clashing with his deputy, Sesel Zvidzai, in the process.
The courts were not too pleased with his exercise of authority and spent the better part of the year overturning his decisions. The issue of his personal wealth refused to go away and late in the year journalists from the Daily News were arrested after publishing a story that claimed that he was flaunting his wealth.
Service delivery issues continued to haunt local government authorities particularly in urban areas. After all the hullabaloo about indigenisation, one wonders how he allowed a parking deal between the Harare City Council and South African company Easipark to pass despite the fact that council benefited nothing from it.
This is where heads should have rolled. Questions continue to be asked concerning the appointment of special interest councillors that were viewed in opposition circles as politically motivated to bring Zanu PF into local government despite their defeat in elections.
Theresa Makone/Kembo Mohadi –– Home Affairs. Grade F
This is a ministry with two ministers yet neither succeeded in the relatively simple task of overseeing the erection of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo’s statue in at least one city. The two ministers neither succeeded in improving service delivery at the heavily congested Beitbridge border post despite one of them hailing from the area.
The co-ministers were virtually invisible throughout the year. Makone will be remembered for her visit to see the son of Zanu PF politician Didymus Mutasa in police custody.
Mohadi made occasional media appearances to discuss the issue of the Joshua Nkomo’s statue which is still to grace the Bulawayo landscape despite frequent promises to that effect.
Inefficiency continued to characterise the operations of Home Affairs departments and long queues persisted as people tried to acquire passports, birth certificates and national identity documents. The voters’ roll remained in shambles with all the dead people still registered as voters.
Oppressive legislation like Posa continues to impinge on the democratic space of the MDC as well as that of ordinary citizens, but the ministers made no attempt to have such laws repealed or amended.
Priscilla-Misihairabwi-Mushonga –– Regional Integration and International Co-operation. Grade F
Perhaps the major question to be asked is what exactly should this ministry be doing that cannot be done by the Foreign Affairs ministry or even Industry and International Trade?
Maybe minister Misihairabwi-Mushonga has been asking herself the same question but prudent enough not to voice her concerns in the public sphere lest she be asked to jump off the gravy train.
So she spent the better part of the year articulating party positions consisting mainly of fending off attacks on party leader Welshman Ncube and attacking Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Paurina Mpariwa –– Labour and Social Services. Grade F
Minister Paurina who? Few of the workers even know the name of their minister and that speaks volumes about her visibility and performance. It was another poor showing by Mpariwa as workers’ woes continued.
Perhaps there was not much she could have done since most people are employed in the informal sector. The plight of pensioners continued unabated and in most cases some failed to access payments.
Most complained of infrequent and grossly inadequate pay-outs of less than US$100 monthly. The poverty datum line stands at more than US$500 per month for a family of six.
Nicholas Goche –– Transport and Infrastructural Development. Grade E
Goche has been preoccupied with party business and GPA negotiations to the detriment of his ministerial duties. Zimbabwe’s major highways are still not dualised more than a year after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with developers. Among the roads to be dualised are Harare-Bulawayo, Plumtree-Mutare and Beitbridge-Chirundu highways.
Secondary roads are also in a sorry state as most of them are riddled with potholes. This is despite the fact that the ministry is raking in millions from toll fees under the Zimbabwe National Roads Authority.
The ministry has failed to speed up completion of expanding and refurbishing national airports at Harare, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Kariba and Buffalo Range. The delays are affecting the tourism recovery as large planes cannot land or fly from tourist resorts such as Victoria Falls, Lake Kariba or Gonarezhou National Park.
The ministry further looks lost on how to resuscitate ailing public transporters such as Air Zimbabwe and the National Railways of Zimbabwe. The ministry has further wavered on its policy to ban importation of second-hand vehicles and left-hand drives into the country. The market has been kept guessing without any policy clarity.
Saviour Kasukuwere –– Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment. Grade D
Saviour Kasukuwere was arguably the most powerful minister in the country this year. Kasukuwere was tasked with overseeing a controversial law but he appeared at most to be overwhelmed by this responsibility.
He confused people by the way he handled indigenising the mining sector. There was a shift in the deadline for mining companies to comply –– with an earlier pronunciation in March stating six months and 45 days to submit their plans. As a result the performance of the mining stocks fell on the ZSE to a low, below the parity when the indices started.
Kasukuwere failed to give a clear indication on how they will value the minerals as there has been little exploration on the ground and his constant answer was that valuations will be based on the value of the resource on the ground and not on the investment. But then how do you value reserves? Again more confusion.
Further to that Kasukuwere threatened to cancel mining licences of foreign miners. It had to take the Mining Indaba to get a clearer that there will be no cancellation of mining licences.
Kasukuwere orchestrated the Old Mutual indigenisation plan where he cut a good deal for the youth who fall under his ministry. The end result of the whole deal did not provide a clear end-shareholder and complicates the shareholder matrix.
The Employee Share Ownership Scheme has been handled well, but questions are being asked about the community trusts. Does this mean that only resource-endowed areas will benefit from national resources; what about areas without and does it means they should not get a share of the national cake? Wouldn’t it have been better to set up a sovereign fund so that everyone benefits?
But we will give him credit for his openness as he has always disclosed what he is up to. He was openly castigated by the president for running a one man band and he seems to have listened.
Eric Matinenga – Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs D
The ministry has the duty to reform parliamentary systems and operations, oversee the constitutional review process and supervise the disbursement of Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Zimbabwe has a Westminster parliamentary system mixed with an imperial presidency. However, the House has largely remained subordinate to the executive, merely passing all executive bills without robust debates.
The constitutional review programme is currently behind schedule and it will not be completed before the end of 2012. But this may be due to financial resource constraints. It seems COPAC is beyond the minister’s reproach.
There are concerns that CDF was abused and the public is still waiting for the audited accounts for the 2010 financial year. The public strongly feels that abusers of the fund should be exposed and prosecuted.
Patrick Chinamasa Justice F
Zimbabwe is perceived to have a poor human rights and justice system. Chinamasa has done nothing to improve that perception. The prisons are overpopulated and prisoners have inadequate meals and clothing.
Sanitation is very poor as observed by the Justice Portfolio committee in its reports after visiting some of the prisons. The overpopulation in prisons is linked to the slow dispensation of justice at the courts and denial of bail on frivolous grounds.
Chinamasa has inexplicably refused to bring to parliament legislative amendments expected to open up the democratic space and respect for human rights. These are Posa Amendment Bill, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and Human Rights Bill. Chinamasa’s actions go against the spirit of the GPA, which called for such legislation.
Sipepa Nkomo – Water D
There is still room for improvement. Ever since Samuel Sipepa Nkomo came into office as Water Resources minister he has shown passion for solving Bulawayo’s perennial water problems.
But he needs to work in harmony with the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project headed by Dumiso Dabengwa instead of trying to hijack it. Nkomo has worked tirelessly to implement the long-awaited Mtshabezi-Umzingwane water pipeline to harness the underutilitsed Mtshabezi Dam water. The project is now 90% complete with electrical connections expected to be completed in early 2012.
Nkomo has also successfully lobbied for the refurbishment of 72 Nyamandlovu aquifer boreholes which supply 30 000 cubic metres of water to Bulawayo. The boreholes have been lying idle for many years.
However, Nkomo has been notorious for announcing unrealistic deadlines to complete the projects. The Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline was initially supposed to be completed by October before he changed it to December and now to May.
The implementation of the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project has also failed under Nkomo’s stewardship. He grabbed the MZWP from Dumiso Dabengwa in what boosted his political mileage in the region.
Nkomo seems to understand that Bulawayo residents and business have endured serious water rationing for years as the city’s supply dams are failing to cope with the ever increasing water demand.
Emmerson Mnangagwa – Defence C
Mnangagwa seems to have contained the indiscipline which in 2009 and 2010 was on the rise in the army due to alleged hunger, nepotism and low salaries.
Despite Mnangagwa’s feared personality and character, he at one time seemed to be losing control of his senior army commanders who were making political statements.
But he has since reined-in on army commanders like Major-general Douglas Nyikayaramba, who had said earlier this year he would not accept an MDC-T election victory.
He has since been ordered not to make political statements. For now he seems to take heed. Mnangagwa was quick to distance the Defence Forces from Nyikayaramba’s statements.
However, Mnangagwa needs to depoliticise the military. The ZDF must be a non-partisan professional force committed to the well-being of all Zimbabweans. Mnangagwa has a duty to spell that out. Reports of military personnel beating up and intimidating people have dramatically gone down,but these have to end.
Mnangagwa must, however, be commended for the construction of National Defence College, which is being built in Harare and will benefit Zimbabwe and other military and security personnel in the region.
Sydney Sekeramayi – State Security
Sekeramayi run a shadow ministry and it is difficult to assess his performance. However, there is need for more transparency on the running of his ministry.
Joseph Made – Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister E
Just where is Joseph Made?
The agriculture minister has been conspicuous by his silence during the critical time when farmers were preparing for the 2011/2012 agricultural season.
A significant number of farmers, who are still unpaid despite delivering grain to the Grain Marketing Board last year, struggled to access inputs to prepare for the current season, but strangely the Minister is not making much noise to ensure they get their dues.
Faming organisations continue to bemoan lack of agricultural support and credit lines for farming and Made does not seem to have any answers.
Key institutions under Made’s ministry such as the Cold Storage Commission and the Agriculture and Rural Development Authority (Arda) continue to be in a shambles.
In terms of irrigation development, nothing tangible has been done despite the fact that most dams have water. In fact, infrastructure at existing irrigation schemes is crumbling.
Very little has been done on the mechanisation front and also to revive the horticulture industry.
Henry Madzorera -Minister of Health C
Minister of Health Madzorera can be applauded for securing $10 million for pregnant women as well as HIV/Aids patients to access free treatment at government hospitals with effect from January 2012.
This move marks a significant milestone for Zimbabwe to reach the target of reducing mother to child transmission to less than five percent by 2015.
Madzorera also managed to complete the second national HIV/Aids strategic plan for 2011 to 2015 which is designed to reduce the percentage of HIV infected infants born to HIV-positive mothers.He can be commended for promoting male circumcision through aggressive media campaigns roping in prominent celebrities, such as Winky D who appeals to the youth.
However there is still room for improvement on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer which pose a greater threat to Zimbabweans than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
There is also need for drastic improvement in hospital infrastructure and service delivery at most government hospitals.
Sekai Holland, John Nkomo and Moses Mzila Ndlovu- F – Organ of National Healing and Reconciliation F
The three ministers have failed once again to provide insightful leadership for this complex issue. The three ministers should just be fired because they failed to initiate anything meaningful under the national healing programme.
The organ that has no legal framework to work with and has not had any impact since its formation apart from endless talkshops.
That Mzila Ndlovu of MDC was arrested for conducting an “illegal†national healing meeting, just shows the extent to which this organ is ineffective.
The issue of Gukurahundi still remains a burning issue, a number of reports of harassment, intimidation and violence have been reported throughout the country. The organ has been abysmal in their response to these issues.
It’s time the three ministers be relieved of their duties.
Francis Nhema – Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management C
A major challenge that Minister Nhema has faced is deforestation with statistics being that this year the country lost nearly 312 000 hectares of land and more than 30 million trees annually due to the unsustainable use of natural resources.
To combat this Nhema said 10 million trees will be planted by 2012 running under the theme “Forests for Peopleâ€. One can only hope that if serious commitment is put the targets will be achieved.
Nhema has also struggled to curb the shocking extermination of rhinos as Nhema struggles with poaching. While about 37 poachers and illegal dealers in rhino horns have been arrested, Nhema has complained that lack of resources was making it difficult for his ministry to fully deal with poaching.
Much still needs to be done terms of land degradation in both rural and urban areas. Areas of concern have been some parts of Gokwe North and mining areas that include Mutoko, Chiadzwa and Shabanie. He still needs to deal with alarming levels ofwaste management.
Elton Mangoma Minister of Energy and Power D
Tasked with solving Zimbabwe’s power problems Energy Mangoma duties were onerous from the word go. He had to come up with a plan on how the country would deal with the supply shortfall of 600MW.
Huge figures were flagged for the Kariba and Hwange Power Stations and for some moment the Batoka Gorge became regular news with the minister trying to give timelines on when these projects would be completed.
However, in the absence of funding, such projects were too big a task even for the minister. His ministry is heavily investment-dependent.
He had issues with NocZim and the Rural Electrification Board as he tried to assert his authority over a ministry plagued with corruption as huge amounts of money transacted in the sector.
There has not been any strategy on how Zesa will recover the money that it is owed in bills and he has not come hard on how the tender system for the energy saver light bulbs and prepaid meters was bungled His arrest over a US$6 million fuel deal of which he was acquitted was a huge obstacle to his ministerial duties.
To his credit, he did manage to get cheaper ethanol fuel on the market through distributor Green Fuel and appointed a new energy board.
Tapiwa Mashakada Economic Planning and Investment Promotion – C
Tapiwa Mashakada’s task is clear: craft a national economic development strategy and attract investment for the country. Just like the Ministry of Finance, his ministry has to work with all the ministries.
Mashakada launched the MTP which said the economy needs at least US$9 billion for its recovery. His challenge still remains on how the economic recovery would be funded and the document is not clear. His push for foreign investment has largely been unsuccessful as Zimbabwe’s policies are generally unbankable. FDI inflows have still remained low.
He has to convince foreign investors that the laws are flexible enough and he has the Zisco/Essar deal to use as his bait. He is still to push for Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection bills in Parliament although he must be applauded for the launch of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority one stop shop.
Heneri Dzinotyiwei – Science and Technology C
Dzinotyiwei, the unassuming mathematician, may not have had a high media public profile during 2010 but behind the scenes he has changed a lot in the science industry. The affable minister steered through parliament the ratification of the Biotechnology and Genetic Modified Organism (GMO) convention.
The ministry has further set regulations on importation of GMO foods into the country. While importation of GMOs remain highly contentious among Zimbabweans it’s a fact that the world has moved forward and most agricultural production the world over is using such technologies.
It is highly commendable that Zimbabwean farmers and industrialists can now also join the bandwagon officially and improve food security.
Stan Mudenge -Higher and Tertiary Education F
Zimbabwe’s enviable standards of education are now history. Mudenge has consistently presided over the continuous decline of our educational system with many colleges now offering dubious tertiary qualifications.
Those privileged enough are sending their children to foreign colleges at a cost to a struggling economy. Ironically, Mudenge has continued to support the Presidential Scholarship scheme that last year alone gobbled $56million to support students at South African universities yet back home students are struggling to have accommodation, books, water and decent meals.
Colleges have failed to retain the services of qualified and experienced lecturers as they continue to seek greener pastures outside the country. This further compromises the quality of learning at our tertiary institutions.
To cap his dismal tenure as minister he made the startling admission that he was technologically crippled, stating that the laptop he obtained under the government’s e-programme was gathering dust. Mudenge said he had engaged the assistance of an intern in his ministry to take him through the paces. Enough said.
Herbert Murerwa – Lands and Rural Resettlement E
The nomadic minister has been to the higher education and finance portfolios among others but judging by his performance nobody will eventually feel compelled to write his biography. The less said about his previous sojourns the better. There were expectations that a land audit would be carried out.
This would herald the start of a Murambatsvina-style campaign to weed out multiple-farm owners as well as put to productive use acres of farmland that are lying idle and currently being held for speculative purposes. Alas, this was not to be and the situation is pretty much the same as it was before the learned doctor took over.
The much touted land redistribution scheme is the biggest loser. Farm invasions also continued and in the absence of a land audit that would restore sanity to the sector, farm workers’ conditions of service also took a turn for the worse as they continued to be underpaid and lived in squalid conditions under farm owners who were a law unto themselves. The minister did not perform badly-he simply did not perform at all.
Sithembiso Nyoni Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development– C
In a hostile economic environment characterised by the closure of big companies in Zimbabwe’s erstwhile industrial hub Bulawayo and the influx of cheap goods flooding the country from South Africa, Botswana and China, it was difficult to imagine how the minister could have assisted the growth of small and medium enterprises or co-operatives for that matter.
But the ever-smiling minister did her best in the circumstances and was very visible in many rural areas actively promoting community development projects. Some of her work was done through ORAP, she helped found more than a decade ago.
The liquidity crunch did not help matters as financial institutions were averse to lending financial capital to potential entrepreneurs with little or no collateral to their names. More could have done but many of the challenges are beyond the minister’s personal capacity and will require a concerted national approach.
Nelson Chamisa – Minister of Information and Technology Development C
Chamisa has been very visible and executed his duties with passion. He was aware of the goings-on in the ICT industry and constantly urged local players to play a leading role in ICT development in the country.
As a result Zimbabwe has enjoyed improved internet and mobile connectivity, while ICT infrastructure has continued to be improved and upgraded. Chamisa fought hard for the scrapping of duty on ICT products and infrastructure and this has been extended to software, setting the stage for greater development.
The optic fibre link between Beira and Harare, through Mutare, and the link to Zambia are complete while the link from Harare to South Africa has now reached Bulawayo. Numerous base stations have been erected in rural areas, bringing ICT to rural people some of whom who can now use their cell phones to access the internet as well as make money transfers.
Chamisa has also been passionate about e-government resulting in his ministry establishing a government website where people can access information and interact with those in authority.
In addition an ICT government school has been set up at Makombe Building, to train officials such as permanent secretaries in basic ICT skills.
Perhaps Chamisa needs to push harder on the ICT Bill, meant to regulate cyber security, competition and pricing amongst other provisions.
Gorden Moyo – Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals F
Moyo is in charge of the public enterprises which are generally a hotbed of inefficiency and problems governed mostly by retired army generals.
Finance minister Tendai Biti announced last year that 10 parastatals will be privatised and up to date nothing of that sort has happened, not even a shake-up of the parastatals. Despite numerous press statements, the State Enterprises Corporate Governance code has not yet been implemented. All questions concerning public enterprises are referred to the line ministries. In other words all talk and no action.
Kasukuwere orchestrated the Old Mutual indigenisation plan where he cut a good deal for the youth who fall under his ministry. The end result of the whole deal did not provide a clear end-shareholder and complicates the shareholder matrix.
The Employee Share Ownership Scheme has been handled well, but questions are being asked about the community trusts. Does this mean that only resource-endowed areas will benefit from national resources; what about areas without and does it means they should not get a share of the national cake? Wouldn’t it have been better to set up a sovereign fund so that everyone benefits?
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