Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe calls for
effective national development agenda in Africa
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
The flippant shifting of focus by African governments must
cease if the continent is to see any significant
development, the Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Arthur
Mutambara has observed.
The practice where new governments changed the direction of
the country only helped to retard the countries’
development, he added.
Citing Ghana, he said, former President Jerry Rawlings, upon
coming into office changed the direction of the country, and
his successor, J.A. Kufuor did the same, only for President
Mills to do same.
That kind of attitude and behavior, he observed robbed the
nation of the much needed continuity and a common vision
that everybody must be working towards.
Mr Mutambara said Ghana, and all other African countries for
that matter, must have a vision that is shared by all
political parties, businesses and civil society
organizations.
That, according to him, is the only way there can be a
concerted effort at promoting development on the continent.
He said the unbridled criminalization and vilification of
politics in the continent must abate to attract the best
brains into the sector.
“We must make politics attractive to the best minds in
Africa. The quality and calibre of politicians must
improve,” he charged.
Mr Mutambara also emphasized the need for a holistic
rebranding of the continent as precursor for national
branding efforts by respective countries.
“You will never be respected as a Ghanaian so long as
Zimbabwe hasn’t done well as country. We are talking about
21st Century Pan-Africanism where… the prosperity of Ghana
is meaningless without the prosperity of Zimbabwe, the
prosperity of South Africa is meaningless without the
prosperity of Nigeria,” he added.
He said African governments must work proactively towards
value addition in order to break the cycle of exporting
primary products.
Touching on efforts being made by the Global Political
Agreement to put that country back on its feet, Mr Mutambara
said inflation of half a trillion has gone down to three per
cent.
“Our shops now have goods, the only challenge is that people
don’t have the money to buy, but at least we now have the
supply side in terms of goods,…we are making sure that our
schools, our universities are open, the infrastructure is in
place, the fees are affordable, our schools are now
functioning, so we are making progress. On land, we are
making sure that we move from land acquisition to land use,
to make sure that we move on productivity, food security,
and self-sufficiency,” he explained to Joy FM, a local radio
station in Accra.
Mr Mutambara said while power sharing government was not the
best, in the interim; it united the people of Zimbabawe in
pursuit of what is good for the country and the continent at
large.
Power sharing, for him, is not a solution but it is
necessary to create the conditions for free, fair elections.
The Ghanadot correspondent says Mr. Mutambara is in Ghana to
attend the ongoing Africa re-branding meeting in Accra.
Ghanadot
