LEAD response to Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube press statement yesterday

I am speaking to you today against a background of recent speech by the the Finance Minister Honorable Mthuli Ncube. In his opening remarks the minister admitted to the existence of “exchange rate volatility, which has translated into unsustainable levels of inflation.”  He went on to say that “government is taking measures to stabilise the exchange rate and to bring down inflation to sustainable levels in order to achieve macro-economic stability.”

According to him “Macro-economic stability is an essential component of the Transitional Stabilisation Programme, critical for economic growth and the achievement of the goals set out in H.E.’s Vision 2030.  As is characteristic of this Government the decision to implement a holistic package of key policy measures is just a mere lip service meant to entertain the international community while at the same time keeping the general Zimbabwean populace hopeful. Mthuli should be told that stating the obvious is not good economics but just cheap political propaganda. Wishing the disappearance of the parallel market is a good thing but is not what is expected of a government minister. We want the minister to lead rather than simply react to economic fundamentals. Mthuli should be told that he is a minister of government and not a minister of religion. He should not lead the country with prophetic utterances but with deliberate economic planning.

Since the finance minister took office Zimbabwe has been kept on its toes with high expectations that something in the region of sound economics will come up and save the nation. However, what the Minister has managed to serve at our table is what can be best described as groping economics. As the famous saying goes, “a fruit does not fall far from the tree”. The Mthulian kind of economic policies are a mirror image of the Mnagagwean trial and error politics. The truth is that as we blindly grope in the dark led by a team of political and economic pretenders we will continue kicking pricks. It is clear that existing economic policies as pursued by minister Mthuli are unable either to explain the causes of the severe economic collapse or to provide an adequate public solution to jump-start production and employment. 

Prudence demands that if the Mnangagwa regime realizes that they have hit an imagination drought they should enlist our help. As LEAD we are more than able to spearhead a revolution in economic thinking that will overturn the prevailing Mthulian idea that free markets will automatically provide economic stability. It is unfortunate for Mthuli to think and mislead the Zimbabwean public with the illusion that economic stability will dawn on us by pursuing a laissez faire economic approach. The main plank of the LEAD economic approach (taking after Keynes) instead asserts that aggregate demand—measured as the sum of spending by households, businesses, and the government—is the most important driving force in an economy. We believe that free markets have no self-balancing mechanisms that lead to economic growth and development. 

As LEAD we propose government intervention through public policies that aim to achieve full employment and price stability. We believe that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes and therefore advocate for active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government to stabilize output over the business cycle. 

Our blunt but worthy advice to the Mnangagwa regime is that they should abandon fumbling economics. It failed during the Mugabe era. It keeps failing throughout Afrika and the third world. It is definitely bound to fail under the supervision of both Mthuli and Mnangagwa. Thriving black market cannot be blown away by high sounding bookish government pronouncements.  The only way out is a deliberate effort to create employment and regulate the conduct of industry and the banking sector. Black-market currency trading is easy and profitable business. Its effect is insurmountable. As we are witnessing in Zimbabwe it gives birth to fly by night millionaires. It frustrates sound and sustainable investment and industrial growth and economic development. Its worst impact is that it creates monopoly capitalism and cartels while at the same time plunging the poor deep into poverty. When you see millions of youths wondering up and down the streets doing nothing it is a sign of failing economic policies. When you see government budgeting for food relief and donor funding know that the economic approach has failed. Our people cannot afford the most basics such as sanitary wear yet Mthuli continues to sing a song of imagined hope.

As is hinted herein above, aggregate demand is influenced by many economic decisions—public and private. Private sector decisions can sometimes lead to adverse macroeconomic outcomes, such as reduction in consumer spending as what is obtaining at the moment in our country. These market failures call for active policies by government, such as a fiscal stimulus package. We have the resources as a nation to cause this stimulus. We, as LEAD support and advise government to adopt a mixed economy guided mainly by the private sector but partly operated by the government. The guiding principle in such an approach is redistributive justice. Those that are at a vantage economic position should subsidies government spending and fund the welfare of the poor. Prices and especially wages generally respond slowly to changes in supply and demand, resulting in periodic shortages and surpluses, especially of labour. A proactive government should be cognizant of this fact and come up with policies that influence the trends in prices and wages. This will make sure that wages are not overtaken by prizes and production keeps ahead of consumption.

 

Our banking systems are primitive. Banks in one country are operating on different packages which shows lack of seriousness in addressing the crisis bedevilling Zimbabwe. About 85% of Zimbabweans languish in poverty and the government must adopt strategies that are conducive to inclusive growth and anchored in inclusive financial intermediation by ensuring ease of access, availability and use of the formal financial system by all members of the economy.

The financial sector is the lifeblood of the national economy, we cant have economic development when the learned professor is playing games with our economy. Zimbabwe doesn't need a currency stabilization  taskforce. This taskforce is a sheer waste of taxpayers funds as we already have a Financial Intelligence Unit. (Economy haigadzirwi nemataskforce).We want to make it clear that as LEAD we will not sit back and watch Minister Mthuli destroying our economy whilst taking Zimbabweans as fools with his unending monetary policies which never yield any positive results towards economic development. We are tired of his semantics and mind games that he is playing with the people of Zimbabwe. 

The transacting public lost faith in our banking sector about 15 years ago. There is no public confidence and Mthuli Ncube continues to erode public confidence in the new dispensation. How do you strengthen the Zimdollar when you are generating electronic money without corresponding exports? Where in the world have you seen a currency called rtgs$? We are in a sorry state were culprits of economic sabotage and destabilization are trying to give solutions of a crisis they created which they fuel everyday. 

The Reserve bank of Zimbabwe should be accountable. Minister Mthuli Ncube should be accountable as well. When he announced the 2020 budget how much money was in his coffers? Governor Mangudya should inform the nation how much rtgs and Zim$ is circulating in Zimbabwe and how much USD we have in our banking system. 

Zimbabwe is the only country which has zipit rates, ecocash rates, swipe rates, bond rate, etc. This madness should stop forthwith. Anywhere in the world I can purchase a car with rtgs and I am not given a rate which is different from a perceived cash rate. Beyond the confusion in our economy us Zimbabweans are also too harsh on each other and we have turned into ruthless capitalists. Without a functional banking sector there will be no economic turnaround. Dr John Mangudya has failed to monitor money, in short he has failed his mandate as Reserve bank Governor. There is no digital trail on rtgs transfers and transactions. We don't have security features to protect depositors from rtgs and cyber crimes. People are losing thousands of dollars on a daily basis yet we have a governor who is incompetent and useless. What Mangudya needs to do is to create international linkage of accounts operated by RBZ and have real time automated deductions and payments of all exporters to curb externalization of money.

The way forward is to prioritize banking sector reforms as a matter of emergency. Regional banks are reluctant to do business with Zimbabwean banks because we dont have standard modern security features in our banking system. Biometrics are very important nowadays. How does the finance minister strengthen our local currency when there is no forex regulation? The so called "floating rates" is just another term to entrench corrupt activities within the banking sector and to cover up the uncouth fiscal indiscipline at the Reserve Bank. 

Banks should have regulations on thejr modus operandi. We cant have banks performing as they please without checks and balances. The challenges we face from the cash shortages means most people rely on swiping and mobile money transactions yet most retail outlets complain of shortage of swipe machines. Banks have an obligation to supply swipe machines and there should be a regulation in place that every shop must have a swipe machine on every teller in the shop.

Failure by Mangudya to govern banks has led to a lot of criminal activities by banks which are also culprits in supplying cash on the black market. ATMs should have cash at any given time and any bank that fails to comply should face stiff penalties. Banks must not oversubscribe and RBZ should do a daily audit of how hard cash is disbursed and used. RBZ should regulate and protect the transcating public from banking malpractices. Creating a conducive environment for investment and protect investors. Business is not making sense because prices are changing daily as forex rates keep fluctuating. 2% retention fee should be scrapped immediately unless employees and businesses can have tax returns every end of our financial year.

We suggest the following banking sector reforms;

1) Depositers security should be strengthened by having proper insurance packages to protect depositors funds 

2) Banks have to create an infrastructure to curb cyber crimes, money laundering, fake rtgs transactions, etc

3) We need to fully digitalize our banking system.

4)Track DHL packages of cash in transit in real time.

There is need to set up the Prudential Zimbabwe regulatory authority... to annexure 1

It is not a crime to admit failure, resign and pave way for other people who have ideas and solutions on practical ways to solve the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. As long as the finance ministry is not designing macroeconomic policies and strategies that encourage full participation of all citizens in the process of economic development and enabling access to financial services there will be no economic growth in Zimbabwe. We expect a serious government to facilitate inclusive, pro-poor growth. Zimbabwe is just not for the political elite, it belongs to every Zimbabwean regardless of social structures. We are going to be a thorn in Minister Mthuli Ncube until he starts serving the interests of Zimbabwe ahead of the interests if his former employer the world bank. 

#TogetherWeCan make Zimbabwe great again, if we all play our roles, hold government to account without fear or favour and desist from participating in corrupt, unethical and uncouth dealings.

I thank you.

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

LEAD PRESIDENT

International Women’s Day 2020 : "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”

International Women's Day is a day set aside every year on the 8th of March to celebrate women's achievements in all spheres of life. This year's theme is a clarion call to all women to ensure that they play a participatory role in advocating for gender equality and ensuring the protection of women's rights. There is nothing for women without women and every woman's hands should be on the deck to ensure that all women worldwide are treated as equals.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

In Zimbabwe women continue to be marginalised by structural deformities in our cultural, social, religious and political stereotypes. Women are still viewed as second class citizens which has stifled full realization of women's rights on our country. Contrary to the assertion that we are making improvements in terms of gender equality in public elected offices, 2018 general elections showed a steep decline of women elected into public office compared to 2013 elections.

We are still struggling to attain gender diversity at the workplace and we need to push for gender equality to become a reality. Gender diversity produces real benefits. Several studies have shown that a gender-diverse workplace is good for financial returns, employee engagement,  innovation and reducing turn over. We can only achieve gender parity when women start taking an active role in pushing for constitutionalism and protection of all gender related statutes.

 

Women in Zimbabwe continue to suffer from historical marginalization and structural inequalities that exist in the political, social and economic spheres. Historically, the colonizers made sure that women stayed in the rural areas whilst the men were in towns or mines working and that strengthened the patriarchal system and gender inequalities prescribed by cultural, religious and traditional norms.

The structural deformities in our society have subjected women to societal discrimination whenever they want to participate in politics or challenge anyone masculine in particular in the political arena. In our culture, a proper Zimbabwean woman is expected to be married, submissive, dependant, enduring and hard working. The moment a woman becomes aggressive, independent, ambitious, financially independent and empowered, a lot of tags are attached on her. Most women who have tried to venture into politics have suffered from negative stereotyping, name calling and had their images tarnished by men in politics who feel intimidated by powerful women. The first question any woman seeking to run for public  office in Zimbabwe faces is, "Is she married?" As if marriage is a qualification for leadership.

In religious spheres, men continue to dominate whilst women are expected to submit to church leadership, obey every instruction and are expected to be passive and to serve the church. Biblical verses have often been used as religious barriers to discourage women from plating active roles in politics. Women are accused of defying the natural order in religious teachings. Very few churches have managed to break the barrier of stereotyping women and have embraced women leadership in the church. 

Women also face patriarchal barriers to enter into mainstream politics. In rural areas young girls are married off at a very tender age due to poverty or religious beliefs which automatically disenfranchises them of their right to education and freedom of conscience. Inadequate financial resources to run an election campaign is a major challenge most women. Access to information is also a big challenge as well to grassroot organic women participation in politics as those in rural areas hardly have access to newspapers or radios. About 37% of women in Zimbabwe have no access to media. Young women living in rural areas are further marginalized because of lack of access to information. Greater family responsibilities poses as a big challenge for women to dedicate themselves to political careers. Women spend more time doing unpaid social work.

The formal male dominated economy has shrunk leaving a lot of women vulnerable to poverty pushing most women into the informal sector for survival. Government has not done enough to ensure that there are policies in place which benefit the informal sector and communal sector were most women are located. Fiscal and monetary policies being implemented by the government of Zimbabwe continue to neglect the masses and as long as they fail to have pro-poor and inclusive strategies to deal with economic empowerment of women, feminization of poverty will be further entrenched.

Women in the rural areas have remained economically disenfranchised. Most of them survive on subsistence farming, they have no viable markets and hardly handle any money. Instead of nurturing grassroot and organic leadership for local governance political participation, the rich, well connected and perennial bootlickers always find themselves winning primaries and running as councillors in areas they don't stay. It is important to start empowering grassroot women to stand for themselves and occupy local governance public offices as they are the ones who know what they go through and the solutions thereof.

Having more women in local governance will help in tackling major issues that affect women from poor service delivery, under equipped clinics and council schools including accessibility to clinics in rural areas. The burden of poverty has a heavier weight on a woman and it's high time women start amplifying their own struggle so that they occupy governance positions at every level. Gender based barriers inhibit women from accessing socioeconomic resources. Access to information is limited in regards to economic opportunities especially to women living in rural areas. 

Political violence is the major inhibitor of women participation in politics. Women living with disability had shown keenness to run for public office in 2018 but later withdrew their intentions because of the harassment and polarization. People living with disability should be given preferential treatment and financial support when they aspire to lead and make a difference in the communities. Disability doesn't mean inability and they deserve our support as individuals, political parties and government policies which are inclusive and supportive of their governance aspirations and empowerment.

Young women have raised various opinions on why they shy away from political participation in a number of platforms I have attended. Issues raised include sexual harassment in political parties, were they fail to ascend in the structures if they haven't provided sexual favours, being elbowed out by the older women in the parties, patronage and lack of internal democracy in political parties rank and file. Tenets of good governance are not being applied in Zimbabwe whether at political party level or national governance. Young women are not confident of the leadership in Zimbabwe, they feel marginalized by political leaders who are preoccupied with getting power at all cost or maintaining power without addressing the problems they face in tertiary institutions, political and economic challenges. In student unions young women always have the vice president seat reserved for them and the secretary for gender which clearly shows how patriarchy is deeply entrenched. We are going to be working with young female students to empower them to run for those powerful positions and to lead at every level in our society. It is important for all political parties to have a gender sensitive youth agenda. Instead of being apathetic, I urge young women to actively engage in politics and governance at all levels to influence the change they desire.

The strong man syndrome is very evident in our political culture in Zimbabwe. It is much harder for women to emerge as political leaders in our political terrain which is personality based and not value system based. We need a new culture of doing politics which is inclusive and political structures which will ensure recognition and realization of women's right to participate fully and equally in politics. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 5 is articulate on the importance of gender equality and inclusion of women.

 

The Constitution of Zimbabwe states that there should be equality of men and women at all levels of society. I have been told plenty of times that advocacy for gender equality is a feminist agenda, which is a false narrative. Gender equality is a constitutional provision which should be adhered to by every Zimbabwean. Women in Zimbabwe constitute 54% yet their matters of importance are not taken seriously at national and local governance levels which is indeed worrisome. Men always argue that there aren't enough qualified women yet most public office positions are taken by mediocre men. 

Womens priorities are different from men's priorities that is why it is critically important to ensure that the constitution is adhered to so that women bring in their values and concepts into politics. Inclusion of women is key to ensure gender parity and diversity as the country is not made up entirely of men. It is only folly to expect men to make decisions on behalf of women who are more than half of the population. Womens issues are human rights issues and can only be dealt with by women or men who understand the quagmire women in Zimbabwe are facing.

Government has failed to influence change in social, religious and cultural attitudes. Women continue to suffer from discrimination yet we have a law in section 56 of the constitution which prohibits discrimination. It is imperative for the gender commission to put a recommendation to the Parliament to enact strict penalties on any individual, political party or institution that violates section 17, 56, 80 and 104 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. The legislators should ensure that election related legislation does not indirectly disadvantage women and to consider legislation for political parties to adopt democratic procedures in compliance with the constitutional provisions in regard to equality. Media should provide gender sensitive coverage of elections, avoiding negative stereotypes and it should also present positive images of women as leaders. Civic society organizations should support women willing to run for public office and provide capacity building and advocate for improved media coverage of Womens issues and women candidates. All political parties should ensure that women and young women are fully represented in all party structures and policy committees.

The academic curriculum

needs an extensive review to incorporate gender mainstreaming, the harmful effects of discrimination against women and to deal with issues of defined gender roles which continue to suppress women in our society. Charity begins at home, we can only change some of these gender perceptions if we start socializing our children in a gender balanced way. If we teach our children equality and to respect each other as equal human beings it will manifest into the next generation. No one is more Zimbabwean than the other. We can only build a better Zimbabwe by appreciating each other in our diversity and imparting knowledge to the grassroots.

In conclusion its time that women from all walks of life, political parties and churches converge and start addressing issues of gender equality, discrimination, abuse, sexual harassment and women empowerment. The ministry of women affairs should also consider allocating land to women so that they can generate their own income. Time and again we hear that Zimbabwe is not producing, how does it produce when women are being denied land and its still being allocated on partisan lines. Every Zimbabwean has a right to land and women in Zimbabwe are hard workers and can do wonders with the vast hectares of land lying idle. The state has an obligation to champion social policies that free women from any form of  injustice. I envision a just Zimbabwe where women as individuals and communities enjoy their freedoms anhd rights through a thriving constitutional democracy.

I am bold for change and am very committed to ensure that gender equality becomes a reality in Zimbabwe. It is time for women to unite in their diversity and emancipate themselves from the clutches of inequality, injustice and violence. Together we can attain a womens revolution. Happy womens day to all the lovely women in Zimbabwe. #Womandla

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

LEAD President

Happy International Women's Day 2020

To every woman who

🌟breaks barriers

🌟smashes stereotypes

🌟disrupts the system

🌟speaks up for equality

🌟demands justice

🌟fights for human rights,

You inspire us every day.

This day is for you.