Nature of Government deals must be made public!
- Category: Business and Economics
- Date 13-03-2022
We have so many deals, apparently, which Government of Zimbabwe, has
signed with several countries, we have been briefed of MOUs, signed on
behalf of the country, which have never been disclosed to the public.
One
of the key roles of the State, is to ensure that the public, or
citizenry, has adequate information regarding Governance and leadership.
We have Belarus - Zupco bus deal, we were only told that more than 671
buses, are on their way to Zimbabwe, and the nature of the deal was
never disclosed to the public. But why President and, and the whole
team? What is Belarusians , getting from the Zimbabwe deal in exchange
of buses? We may find ourselves mortgaging our country to foreigners in
the next fifty years, if we are not careful, and by that time, Mnangagwa
and the whole team, won't be there to explain to the nation, on what
exactly happened on these deals. We need a transparent Government, which
must discharge it's duties diligently, by ensuring all Government deals
must be disclosed to the public.
What I find more interesting,
on this one, is headlines, you won't even find a single paragraph
describing the economic implications on the nature of the deals. To some
extent, it is rumoured that Fossils Agro, was involved in the
transaction of the deal. Fossils and Sakunda, are getting over 140 000,
profit from a single bus, and this is completely public theft of
national assets or coffers. Who was involved in the signing of the
deals? From my own assumption, I thought, Economists, Lawyers,
Academics, Researchers, and other key people were supposed to be
involved, and after satisfactory, the nature of the deal was supposed to
be made public. Infact, all deals must pass through Parliament for
regulatory and legislative agenda. The role of Parliament is for
approval, and allowing the public to have scrutiny, on such deals before
any approval. To my surprise, these deals are done in the background of
our nation.
Who Is Behind All These Deals?
what is the role of the State
Procurement Board ( SPB), is it still functional? Do we still have an
SPB in place? We can't have few political elite, continuing to enrich
themselves, at the expense of the whole nation. Recently, Kudakwashe
Tagwirei, popularly known as KT, was reportedly having over 50
companies, which were registered under different names and hoaxes, and
as a result, the same individual makes Central Bank' s role and other
financial institutions Moe difficult, given the context that, he is
already controlling all sectors of the economy. Do we still have a
central bank to talk about? Do we still have a State Procurement Board,
to talk about? Do we still have a Parliament to talk about?
Zimbabwe Institute of Strategic Thinking - ZIST recommends the following :
1. Nature of Government deals must be made public
2. Citizen's perspective is critical for all National deals
3. The role of State Procurement Board ( SPB), must be strengthened
4. All individuals involved in public deals must be exposed, for public scrutiny
5. Tender procedures and systems must be transparent and made public
6. National cake must be shared equally
7. Opposition parties must play their role to ensure that they provide checks and balances to the Government of the day
8. We need proper investigation and research in all public deals
9. The role of Private sector is key in ensuring accountability plays a key role to these public deals
10.
Declaration of wealth, must begin right from the President , Cabinet
Ministers, and all Government officials, to ascertain accountability
& transparency
Conclusion
1. What happens to those who have shortchanged the country, in shady deals?
2. Who is behind all these shady deals, since the inception of the new dispensation?
3. What is left for our children, and families, with this level of looting in our country?
4.
Can an individual be an Advisor to the President, at the same time,
business partner, and at the same time, a beneficiary of Government
deals? Is this possible in any country set up?
5. Do we have a timeframe for looting, or it will be looting throughout? Till we have an empty country?
We
need a proper Economic & Development Research on all our
transactions and public deals, before any awarding of national tenders
or contracts.
What is the position of our National & domestic debt?
At one point, the Finance Minister, reportedly told a news conference,
that our foreign debt stands at 18 billion. How do we arrive at such
figures, without any explanation? The next thing, the same people are
building huge mansions around Brook, Greystone park, Philadelphia etc.
Any explanation towards the national debt? I thought the public was
supposed to be cushioned with proper Research information, on how and
why we arrived at such figures. Nobody knows, how much our foreign and
domestic debt stands at? The farm mechanization project or debt, was
recently attached to RBZ, and later on National debt. The debt stands at
1.2 billion United States Dollars, and the public in general never
benefitted from such a deal. We have the Brazilian deal, which involved
the former first lady, Grace Mugabe, she got away, and now it is the
whole nation, which must foot the bill. On top of that, the same
individual, in her capacity as the former first lady, she is receiving
her husband's benefits, and package, after all their deals were attached
to the central bank.
Do we have sanctions, in this country, or we have sanctioned ourselves to poverty ?
Tinashe
Eric Muzamhindo is the Head of Zimbabwe Institute of Strategic Thinking
- ZIST, and he can be contacted at countrydirector@zist.co.zw