Zanu PF must face it; the balance sheet reflects failure in absolute terms

By Jacob Mafume

Recent developments that have seen service stations running dry and poor Zimbabweans failing to make it to work this morning are an indictment on Mugabe’s leadership, Patrick’s Chinamonics and the hypocrisy of Dr John Mangudya.

We have seen citizens losing their nerve with most resorting to stocking basics like cooking oil; this is driven by the fear of a looming calamity.

The People’s Democratic Party is irked by ZANUPF’s shocking shift of blame to the citizen, blaming them for “panic buying when everything is normal.”

ZANUPF have decided to heap the entire blame arsenal on social media activity ignoring the facts on the ground. They even arrested clergyman Evan Mawarire and charged him with an attempt to subvert a constitutionally elected government.

Shelf prices have risen for the past six months and diesel has since become scarce with a fuel black-market beginning to emerge.

ZANUPF as a whole has proved beyond reasonable doubt that they cannot run an economy. They plunged the economy into crisis a multiple times, they adopted ESAP and tens of thousands lost their jobs.

On black Monday the Zim dollar lost 71,5% of its value after they splashed millions of dollars in unbudgeted money and they invaded farms when land redistribution could have worked better in a systemic plan.

The money printing press was also an ingredient in the recipe for disaster spiced with quasi-fiscal activities. It took committed patriots to reverse the mess during the GNU; the PDP will of course mention part of the leadership including the ability of President Biti at the Ministry of Finance.

Less than half a decade later President Mugabe and his incompetent friends have returned the citizen into the doldrums, through his indecisive steward Patrick Chinamasa the economy is back in a bottomless abyss.

The economy is both in a recession, at the same time in an inflationary situation. In a normal environment a crisis of under accumulation will not go hand in hand with price hikes but the inflation in Zimbabwe is a result of the spiking cost of doing business and distortions in the market resulting from the misguided introduction of the bond notes.

We argued then as we do now that the introduction of the bond notes was a catastrophic attempt to deal with a dangerous situation. If the PDP was in government facing a choice between dangerous and catastrophic, the leadership would chose making the right decisions out of danger instead of taking short cuts with catastrophic ramifications.

The introduction of the bond note was cynical, disrespectful and a contemptuous move that had absolutely no logic, sense or justification on any rational ground whatsoever.

In our intervention on the introduction of the bond notes we mentioned that a currency at the end of the day is a relationship that captures the country’s productive capacity. It reflects a country’s output and the strength, quantity and quality of its real economy.

We stated that in the narrow sense, a currency is no more a reflection of the interface between a country’s exports and its imports. A country’s currency is easily a reflection of its current account or trade position.

Countries with strong and positive trade positions, enjoying trade surpluses will tend to have stable currencies.

In this regard to the extent that Zimbabwe’s productive capacity is near to zero, it cannot afford as yet to bring back its currency. Since 2012 GDP growth has been on a down ward spiral with growth in 2015 standing at -1,8 % and -3.8% in 2016.

More importantly we have always argued that a currency is a measure and indicator of the existence or otherwise of a social contract. A currency reflects in part the respect and confidence that the citizen has in the state or government.

Countries with contested legitimacy tend to suffer invariable currency collapses. An abused citizen simply rejects the authority of the state and the local currency becomes an immediate causality.

This point fell on deaf ears yet with reality dawning Mangudya confirmed in today’s Newsday that the situation in Zimbabwe reflected a lack of confidence in Mugabe, Chinamasa and ZANUPF.

Mangudya said the bond notes would not fail if they did he would resign it is time he owns up to his pledge, cooking up stories about economic resurgence is unsustainable.

This level of failure desires a strong political reaction, the simple step Zimbabweans must take is to register to vote and punish the culprits in 2018 although it might prove too far for folks.

Jacob Mafume, PDP Spokesperson