So, here we are, with yet another explanation to the
economic woes bedeviling our country Zimbabwe. And as usual, it’s someone else
or something else to blame for the economic quagmire that we find ourselves in.
Yet another excuse for failure. And no solution whatsoever being proffered. And
no sir, it’s not the ‘illegal sanctions.’ Time to change the music; there being
no dancers anymore to the sanctions song.
There he was on Monday, 21st July, Finance
Minister (FM) Patrick Chinamasa telling the
Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development that it was actually
because of dollarization that we have these ‘economic challenges’ that we have
(wonder why he prefers challenges and not decay!)
“The migration from
hyperinflation to multi-currency did a lot of damage to our economy,” Chinamasa,
whom some now prefer calling the No-Finance Minister, said.
This was a huge shocker to me
and obviously many others. For Chinamasa should know better. It is this same FM who in January of 2009, in
an acting capacity, formally introduced the multi-currency regime to the
economy. That coupled with the formation of the GNU between Zanu PF and the MDC
a little bit later brought economic stability and huge relief to the country
which prior to that had to deal with the worst hyperinflation ever seen and a
2008 which many would rather not be reminded about.
That stability, brought about by
dollarization, even resulted in a tiff between the erstwhile GNU partners with both
partners thinking they deserved the credit. The MDC claimed
they had rescued the economy from total collapse and Chinamasa and his ZPF thought
they were the ones who had in fact introduced dollarization and hence all
credit was due to them.
Prior to dollarization,
Chinamasa and his Zanu PF colleagues had superintended over an economy in free
fall. An economy in which prices of basic commodities changed upwards on a
daily if not hourly basis. Almost all shops had personnel solely responsible
for putting new price tags on goods on shelves. Chinamasa knows only too well
that he is not telling the exact truth.
In 2008, prior to dollarization,
the July inflation rate was 231,150,888.87%
souring to 471,000,000,000% in
August, shooting through the roof to an estimated 3,840,000,000,000,000,000% in September and had sky-rocketed to 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000% by
November. Those figures forced many pick-pockets into early retirement for
there were no pockets to pick anymore. It had become practically impossible for
one to move around or go shopping with their cash in their wallets or pockets
but in plastic bags and satchels only to return with the goods bought in their
pockets.
But just after dollarization and formation of the GNU, the
inflation rate fell to single digit figures for the very first time in many
years. It is also after dollarization, which Chinamasa surprisingly now blames
for our ‘economic challenges,’ that the country began to have positive GDP
growth rates.
What really boggles the mind is why, with all the
evidence to suggest that normality to the economy was brought about by
dollarization at his disposal; Chinamasa would still go ahead and make such a
ridiculous statement. If hips don’t lie,
Cde Chinamasa, what more of figures?
Well, the good thing though out of that surprising
detachment from the truth is that at least it looks like it’s the death knell
of the sanctions mantra.
We have heard that it was the droughts to blame, and then
they told us it was ‘illegal sanctions.’ Now it is dollarization that has become the
latest excuse. What next will Zanu Pf be blaming for their poor stewardship of
this great nation? And another big question is what’s really going on? Who is
to blame? Where and when did we get it all wrong? When did the wheels come of? What
caused all this free fall?
Some think it is after the implementation of the “successful’
land reform program that things began to go wrong. Others say our intervention in the DRC war
triggered the ‘challenges’ being faced today while others say the way our
former freedom fighters were awarded their ZWD50,000 gratuities is to be
blamed.
It must be noted that those huge and unbudgeted for payouts
to the veterans of the freedom war weighed heavily on the economy resulting in the
crash of the Zim-Dollar on the 14th November of 1997. That ‘Black
Friday,’ saw our ZWD sliding from 14 to 26 against the USD and a 40% crash of
the ZSE. That was way before dollarization which only came into being some 12
or so years later.
It must also be noted that on Thursday, October 19th
of 2000 (some 8 years before dollarization) after some food riots had broken
out and were spreading in most major cities,
www.independent.co.uk reported that one
Charles Ndlovu, a Zanu PF MP ‘said he would move a motion in parliament demanding urgent steps
to stabilize the crumbling economy.’
The mere breakout of food riots on its own points to a
situation where and when things were already going bad and for a Zanu PF MP to
say as much, like Webster Shamu did says a lot.
Takes a lot of courage for Chinamasa to say what he is
said to have said about the cause of our economic challenges. But I don’t think
such denial will not help anyone. We are at a time when honesty and integrity are
needed to correctly identify the real problem first and then seek the correct
remedial action.
Some HIV+ people I know, in their denial mode, shun ARVs
prescribed by doctors preferring Sekuru Godobori’s juju because they think were
bewitched. As a result they are always sick with their health continuing to
deteriorate. Chinamasa must not behave like such persons.
