By Nick Mangwana
A few decades ago in my Kutama days we
were always told that to pass an exam you had to state the obvious. This is not
an exam, neither am I trying to triumph in anything. I am just a simple man
stating the obvious. Nothing sophisticated. Nothing you haven't heard before.
And definitely nothing ground breaking. Just
a few home truths.
President Putin says that sanctions
imposed by the West against Russia are illegal because they were not imposed
through the United Nations. Sounds
familiar? Since these sanctions, the Russian currency called the rouble has
tumbled. Russian economy is stuttering. Consequently Russia is now reaching out
to cultivate tighter economic relationships with China; déjà vu. We have
absolutely have witnessed this elsewhere.
The sanctions regime against Russia is packaged
as travel bans against certain members of the Russian government, Duma, State
allied companies and businessmen. In its
usual grandiloquent parlance, the West uses terms like "Smart
sanctions" , "targeted sanctions" or "travel embargo".
Again familiar words calculated to mislead.
Russia is a powerful country, in any
man's language. It has oil and gas whose revenues account for half of its budget. It is the world's
second largest oil exporter. It is a very large country with a population of
about 144 million. It is technologically and industrially developed with a diversified
base. Some still consider it a super
power. In August 2014 Russia had a stockpile of $472 billion in hard currency
and $1.5 trillion of assets. Seemingly enough to withstand the effect of the
Western sanctions against it.
However this has not been the case. Its economy
is now struggling. Russian banks have been cut off from accessing international
finances. In response they have tightened their own lending to local
banks. State companies like the oil
giant Rosneft have already started showing signs of financial distress. Rosneft
has already asked the State to bail it out with $25 billion from the reserves
for it to be able to refinance its debt. The growth rate is flat-lining with
most objective analysts settling on 0.2%. If these things happen to a tree that
is green (Russia), how much more would have happened to a dry one (Zimbabwe).
Add 15 years of the same and you stop wondering why the obvious happened; the
economy burned. It's a either a miracle or dextrous statecraft why we are still
standing.
I can hear my nephew Courage sighing, "Here
we go again. The sanctions rhetoric starts". You see, when the EU
announced with a lot of bedlam that they had lifted sanctions against Zimbabwe,
he sent me a text saying that now I should never write about sanctions or Zim
Asset. He said he would stop reading my pieces the moment he sees those words.
He said that people were tired of those words and the sanctions excuse (as he
calls) was a fagged out argument. He said that Zanu PF should just raise its
hands and admit to its failures. Well,
muzukuru Courage, firstly this is not a sanctions rhetoric, secondly and more
importantly Zimbabwe is still under sanctions.
I would like to first concede a few points; Zanu PF government has made some mistakes. It
therefore is responsible for some failures. Of course, it is a government run
by mortals and there cannot be infallible. But to deny that ZIDERA 2001 and the EU
Special Measures (sanctions) did not play a major role in the economic decline
of our country is disingenuous muzukuru. This is quite obvious, isn't it?
In the same spirit of stating the obvious, here
is another admission of guilt; The current
goings in my Party Zanu PF's as an exordium to the Congress is damaging the
economy. Oh yes. I have said it. Now let's also talk about those sanctions
packaged as travel bans against the First Family. It always starts in a
village.
I grew up in a village. In a neighbouring one, there
was patriarch known as Mr Magodoza. Mr
Magodoza was maliciously accused of some
heinous crimes against his daughters. The stigma of the accusations against the
old chap caused so much suffering to the rest his clan. Mothers discouraged
their daughters from marrying into that clan. Fathers and uncles kept away
their sons and nephews. Those daughters who persisted had a king's ransom
tagged for lobola. Even some of those who had already married suffered
premature matrimonial dissolutions. It was not only nuptial issues that were
affected.
Community relations were that. it was normal for people borrow salt, sugar or fire. For those not familiar with the
latter let me explain what might seems obvious to the rest. In the village when
one wanted to ignite a fire, they would use a match. In many cases there would
be none. One would then have to send a child to the next homestead to borrow
some burning coal from their hearth to use as a kindle to fire up their own
hearth (kugoka moto). This was very
important otherwise you would not have a cooked meal. Magodoza's clan suffered such social
isolation that this very simple transaction became anathema to the rest of the
village.
In the
village we had a cattle exchange system
or loaning system known as kuronza mombe (of
the mombe yekuronzerwa kama wakaringa
nzira fame). One who needed a cow
for milk would swap with one who needed an ox for tilling the furrow. This is just
day to day village life. With the Magodozas these transactions were not only rescinded, but when
they did happen they were so lop-sided and unfair.
The stigma from the accusations against Magodoza affected all inter-clan and kinsmen
transactions. Even though it later
emerged that the accusations were malevolent the clan had already suffered from
structural cleavage. Decades later they are still recovering from it. A
patriarch is the nexus of all clan kinship, transactions and social
organisation. By the same token a head of state is the sovereign embodiment of
a nation's being.
I am sure the reader has heard enough of my
village story and folklore. I apologise
for going on and on. It would be helpful if the reader would now connect
Magodoza's story with the sanctions against the First Family. Alternatively,
let me state the obvious again at the risk of sounding mundane and banal.
No Cdes, if I were a rich president would I waste
my time moving between racks of clothes checking sizes and trying out? Most of
us hate the dressing and undressing in changing rooms that comes with buying
off-the-rack clothes. Those with money and power normally call in an exclusive
designer to come and take their measurements and outfit them. Bespoke fashion
would be the obvious choice. I wouldn't need to go shopping in Europe. My European tastes would come to me. History
is replete with examples of such( Mobutu's extravagance for starters). They
import extravagant luxuries from all over the world. They don't have to be physically
there to do it. Doh.
These
sanctions are not about that. It's not
about travelling, it's not about shopping, it is neither about filthy lucre
stashed away somewhere. it is about
stigmatising a country and demonising it. The religious Cdes will know that if
you strike the shepherd, the sheep will scatter. You put a sanctions stain on a
head of state, you blight the whole country and its economic system.
The country struggles to service its debts. A country under sanctions has a very low credit
rating as it is considered very risky. It cannot access lines of credit or
attract foreign direct investment. Joint ventures with foreign companies are
near impossible. Most of us saw the exchange between young Takunda Chingonzo
and President Obama. We also know that his company Saisai and him personally
were never on the sanctions list. Despite this he articulated how substantially
affected he was by the so-called targeted sanctions. Here was an example of how
effective the stigma and resultant stealthy sanctions have had on Zimbabwe and
its employment capacity.
Let us remember the patriarch Magodoza. Let us
remember the great bear, Russia. If Russian economy is tottering on the brink
in spite of its G8 status, how much more for our little Zimbabwe, which is just a harmless flame lily? So yes, Courage
wehazvanzi, before I stop writing about sanctions and Zim Asset I will always
need to once in a while state the obvious. One such obvious is that, if the
President is under sanctions, Zimbabwe is under sanctions.
Visit: ZANU PF UK Official Website
-----------------------------------------
Nick Mangwana: Chairman; ZANU PF UK
No comments:
Post a Comment