Mugabe & Tsvangirai spar in public over age

By Wonai Masvingise

HARARE – A policy conference in Harare yesterday turned into a battle of wits between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. A statement by Tsvangirai that old equipment found at most of Zimbabwe’s industries needed replacement exposed Mugabe’s worst fears about his age.

Mugabe, who is sharing power in a troubled coalition with Tsvangirai, interpreted the remarks by his political rival as an attack on his advanced age. At the end, what started as a comment on replacing ageing equipment turned into talk of Mugabe’s age after the 88-year-old rose to suggest that Tsvangirai’s statement was a veiled attack on him.

Speaking at the launch of an Industrial Development and the National Trade policy at the Harare International Conference Centre yesterday, the premier said his countrywide tour of the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe last year brought him face-to-face with aged equipment that needed replacement to revitalise industrial capacity.

“The sector is inundated with obsolete equipment,” Tsvangirai said. “I have managed to traverse the country assessing GWP (Government Work Programme) projects and I was shocked by the old equipment in some of the key industries in our towns and cities, with some of them dating back to 1923.”

Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924.

When it was Mugabe’s turn to address the conference, he started by digressing from his prepared speech to react to Tsvangirai’s assessment of industrial capacity. Mugabe alleged the PM was making an indirect attack on him.

“I listened to the honourable Prime Minister, Mr Tsvangirai’s delivery,” Mugabe said. “He made reference to his having visited various industries where he says he discovered that there was machinery as old as 88.

“He said 1923 instead of 1924. Anorova imbwa akaviga mupinyi murume uyu ndinomuziva (He was making an indirect attack on me, I know him),” Mugabe said, adding he should not be regarded as obsolete machinery.

Laughter from delegates drowned the remarks, but Mugabe had made his point about his desire to defy age and stay on. Although made in jest, the reaction belied Mugabe’s increasing insecurity about his age and reported ill-health.

Mugabe has repeatedly crushed hopes that a new generation in his party could step in to shape Zanu PF’s future, effectively pushing himself as the only candidate capable of leading the party against Tsvangirai. In a birthday interview last month, Mugabe intimated that anointing a successor would result in the party crumbling because of succession-related divisions.

Top officials in Zanu PF have fiercely fought among themselves for the past two decades as they line up to succeed the former guerrilla war leader. But none has mustered enough courage to directly challenge him, choosing instead to wait until he voluntarily steps down or dies.

Reverting to his prepared speech at the policy launch, Mugabe spoke like a man still around for much longer. He said it was government’s target to significantly raise the country’s export earnings by 2016.

“With regard to the National Trade Policy, the main objective is to increase exports and promote the diversification of the country’s export basket by harnessing comparative advantage in key sectors with the ultimate target of increasing export earnings by at least 10 percent annually from $4,3 billion in 2011 to $7 billion in 2016,” Mugabe said.

Tsvangirai said the new industrial development framework should transform Zimbabwe from a producer of primary goods into a producer of value-added goods for both the domestic and the export market.

“For the policy to achieve this, a number of strategies will be introduced such as creation of a well-resourced financing institution dedicated to provide industrial needs, provision of funds to distressed strategic companies, review of import tariffs and VAT on industrial raw materials and packaging, among others,” Tsvangirai said.

Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube, whose ministry crafted the policy document, said Zimbabwe’s trade policy lacked coordination. He said various trade-related laws and regulations administered by different ministries, as well as bilateral, regional and multilateral trading arrangements guided the trade policy over the last 15 years.

“The role of trade in economic growth and development in the face of globalisation needs no emphasis,” Ncube said. “It is in this context that this comprehensive National Trade Policy was developed to ensure the effective and meaningful participation of Zimbabwe in the global market.” Daily News