By Mapozho Saruchera
A few hours after His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa had finished delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA), on 1 October 2019, opposition MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa, took to Twitter alleging that the President’s address was a waste of resources and an unprovoked insult to Zimbabweans as it allegedly did not, does not address key issues facing the nation such as lack of electricity, water, fuel, non-availability of cash, poor wages, human rights abuses, terror, abductions, illegitimacy and reforms.
Chamisa’s remarks must have come as a surprise to those who managed to listen to the speech for everything he alleged to be lacking was clearly addressed. Lies have short legs indeed.
To begin with, President Mnangagwa made it clear that due to the impact of climate change, our economy was facing severe electricity supply challenges owing to reduced hydro-power generation capacity at Kariba Dam. To address this state of affairs, the President said Government had restored the cost reflective electricity tariff structure and increased power imports to provide the much-needed short-term relief. He added that more innovative initiatives would be implemented to ensure stability in the sector, while urging Zimbabweans to protect power installations in their areas. Now, what more was there President supposed to say?
Turning to fuel, the President said the introduction of cost-reflective pricing adjustments, coupled with the fuel procurement financing facilities structured by Government had seen some stability in the sector. The President also revealed that companies with foreign currency were now permitted to procure their own fuel through registered oil companies. To curb malpractices in the fuel industry, the President said Government would soon roll out an electronic National Fuel Monitoring System, while for the long term; a comprehensive National Integrated Energy Resource Plan was being developed.
On cash shortages, the President said Government was fully aware of the challenges faced by the public in accessing cash, which had resulted in some unscrupulous traders selling cash in exchange for electronic money. He went on to reveal that appropriate measures were being taken to address the cash situation, which included a gradual removal of arbitrage opportunities created through multi-tier pricing. One week down the line – even Chamisa is now aware that cash-out and cash back facilities have either been capped or banned, while trading in any currency other than the Zimbabwe dollar now attracts a fixed $6 000 fine so as to eradicate illegal foreign currency dealings.
As for the alleged poor wages, SONA was not the right platform to address that. There are different negotiating forums were Government and its workers meet to iron out any differences.
Speaking on the ongoing reforms, the President said that he had set up an Inter-Ministerial Taskforce to look into the political, electoral, legislative and administrative issues raised by the 2018 Election Observer Missions and the Motlanthe Commission of Enquiry. For the avoidance of doubt, it is important to point out here that Media reforms are at an advanced stage, with the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPA) and Public Order and Security Act (POSA) set to be repealed soon.
Alleged human rights abuses, terror and abductions are subject for debate. There has been a lot of misinformation surrounding these issues. For instance, how is the Government supposed to balance maintaining peace and enabling a violent opposition party to exercise its democratic right to protest? The so called human rights activist and countries like the United States (US) have, on many occasions, deliberately chosen to forget instances were the MDC has perpetrated acts on violence.
Lastly, illegitimacy – there is no need to dignify such a self-centered claim with a response. Truth be told, there is no need to burn the only country we have so that Chamisa can get in power through the back door.
