Dr Gono never ceases to amaze me, after crowding out news on the print and electronic media on an imminent solution to the cash crisis he has finally revealed what is in his ambit, nothing except the usual rhetoric that does not offer any help and hope to the Zimbabweans who have experienced economic malaise. He has in fact reserved the waste as a Christmas present for the suffering masses of Zimbabwe.
What has particularly made me to pen this article, as follow up to the other one at http://zimfinalpush7.blogspot.com/2007/12/to-what-extent-does-economic-strategy_1600.html, is the fact that there is a sinister propaganda connection between economic strategy and planning in Postcolonial Zimbabwe.
Dr Gono's cash shortage busting is one typical, and the unveiling of this irrelevant and unsustainable strategy was accompanied with the usual rhetoric, that the economy is under siege from cash barons, who are hoarding cash.
While it is not debatable that barons and cronies are partly responsible for the cash crisis, the logic of the blame shifting hear was to shift ownership responsibility of the rapidly declining economy to barons and cronies thus diverting national discourse from real issues of economic mismanagement which must be interrogated.
The same policy attempts I raise in my article, I mentioned that Dr Gono and company are attempting to criminalize rationality, thus swimming against the tide. Dr Gono's futile attempt to account for the cash shortages by blaming cronies and barons is not only devoid of holistic economics knowledge but a whole heartered attempt to present the real underpinnings that construct ZANU PF's economic strategy and planning.
As I alluded to, in my last article that the neo-populist strategy is meant to bridge the widening gap between the poor and the party, by projecting the masses as victims of the scheming of the rich or private capital. The opposition and other interest groups in Zimbabwe have also kept quite about this falsely projected opinion, thus playing well to the hands of ZANU PF propaganda.
What must be interrogated is, why is it that the barons and cronies are hoarding the purported huge sums of cash?
The answer lies in that rational, sane and law abiding citizens of this mismanaged economy, whom we are told are economic criminals are engaging in financial exclusion, by carrying out all their transactions excluding the financial sector (e.g. Banks).
This practice of rationality is a result of a consistent policy disaster by ZANU PF economic planners and strategist, after leading mass looting of businesses during the "operation lower prices/Operation dzikisai mutengo", businesses are now left under stocked or not stocked at all, causing rational citizens to turn to imports in an effort to avoid starvation.
The logic of ZANU PF carrying out the operation was to pre-empt public anger and pending mass unrest, which could possibly have been accompanied by looting, by itself instigating the looting. Thus ZANU PF had turned into its own opposition.
This strategy has however backfired; combined with the already in existence, low industrial capacity utilization. To make almost all transactions fall outside the formal market.
Then according to Dr Gono's thinking people must then go and deposit any excess cash in the banks yet the banks are charging punitive bank charges, very low interest rates and restrictive, low withdrawal limits.
The rational attempts by law-abiding citizens to then make a living through purchasing from the so-called black market notwithstanding the aggressive attempts by ZANU PF to destroy all civilization. Are now called concerted efforts to sabotage the economy.
It is upon this fact that I submit that DR Gono's false economic prescriptions, are devoid of logic, and are doomed to fail, because all facts point to the fact that by around February next year we will be in the same crisis.
Dr Gono's crowding out of legislated players and wrongly interpreting the law, as allowing him to extend his tentacles in all spheres of Zimbabwean life, some kind of unelected demi-god. Is with a lot of inflationary disaster than the logic he claims to be championing.
The irrelevant solution to the cash crisis will chew up a lot of public revenue, which was supposed to be used for the meaningful payment of drugs of the sick and develop the nation among other national priorities.
A lot of monies have been spent on purchasing vehicles and on high administrative costs of instituting and implementing the irrelevant solutions to the economic crisis in the name of the economic turnaround slogan.
Dr Gono is also the major cash baron, who through the unelected and powerful RBZ is purchasing foreign currency on the black market to fund government programmes. Dr Gono should first explain his source of foreign currency as a public gesture of accountability to the Zimbabwean public before pushing for his false war against rationality.
Dr Gono's attempt to criminalize rationality is a threat to civic liberties including the source of the false rationale of trampling property rights in the name of economic turnaround and protection of the poor. How can a crime be so ubiquitous, who will effect the laws when all the people, are breaking the law.
Dr Gono is one person who is now a liability to the nation by falsely pretending to be aware of the right medicine to the economic ills whilst administering the wrong dose, which is more of being an arsonist than a fire fighter.
Dr Gono should cease crowding out and polluting the intellectual discourse with irrelevant bus stop arguments. Zimbabwe needs to implement the right policies, than to pursue speculators, barons and cronies. How can Kleptocrats pursue themselves?
Hillary Kundishora is a Scholar of Strategic management. He can be contacted on hkundishora@yahoo.co.uk.
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