By Owen Dhliwayo
The 2017 military assisted transition put Emmerson Mnangagwa at the helm of Zimbabwe, and subsequently inherited a nation whose relations with the international community were less than cordial. The international community had grown weary of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule. The Second Republic policy was configured around the “Zimbabwe is open for Business” mantra, an indication of a new foreign policy direction of openness, dialogue, engagement, and a call towards business and capital to invest in Zimbabwe
Robert Mugabe’s regime was relatively a closed and nationalist society resulting in socio-economic and political crisis. However, the crisis did not manifest itself due to the First Republic’s failure to solve economic problems using rational and realistic economic principles but due to the continued political preference over socio-economic fundamentals.
Fours later, Zimbabwe is now being bombarded with the “Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo” mantra, a radical shift from the Zimbabwe is Open for Business Mantra. This can be loosely translated into “A Country is Built by its Owners.” With the “Open for Business Mantra”, Emmerson Mnangagwa wanted to project an image of a nation that has evolved and a new polity has been born and is completely operating on a clean slate. However, the traditions, customs, and social relations that defined the First Republic were very much active.
The Mnangagwa government through the “Open for Business” mantra wanted the international community to focus on their policy narrative and ignore factors related to the capture and use of state power. Nevertheless, the international community was aware of the fact that a government that refuses to countenance real institutional reforms thrive on deception and cannot be trusted. Endemic corruption, mismanagement, disruptive electoral practices, and dependence on state patronage system became the order of the day. Dependence on state patronage system has a devastating corresponding tendency to misallocate resources and subsidize inefficiency.
With the “Open for Business” mantra, Emmerson Mnangagwa promised to compensate nearly 4500 white commercial farmers who lost vast track of farmland during the fast track land reform programme. The compensation to white farmers was in the region of USD 3.5billion dollars. There was no tangible and traceable fiscal framework for funding the compensation. A year after the pronouncement of the “Open for Business” mantra, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe released gloomy figures on foreign direct investment. The RBZ report stated that Zimbabwe’s FDI declined sharply from US$717.1 million in 2018 to US$259 million in 2019.
Similarly, net portfolio investment inflows fell significantly from US$54 million in 2018 to just US$3.7 million in 2019.
Zanu PF is still driven by a strong belief that it had earned the right to rule by virtue of its prominence in the struggle against white minority rule. The ruling Zanu PF endeavors to consolidate its control over civil society through the PVO amendment bill, thus reducing the scope for civic participation of the general populace. At the same time, a constant regulation of opposition political activity has been enforced to ensure dissatisfaction with the opposition by the general populace.
Zimbabweans continued to face political persecution as in the case with Madzibaba veShanduko.
Institutions like the public broadcaster, election management body, the judiciary, and the military are yet to embrace the principles of multi-party democracy as enshrined in the 2013 Constitution. They behave as if Zimbabwe is a single-party regime and they are instruments of mobilization, control, and incorporation. In the end, these institutions drew coercive methods favored by Zanu PF with its features of the control of pluralism, thus leading to strengthening and extension of centralized administrative structures.
In a multiparty democracy, higher levels of freedom of speech and information are associated with a higher rating of government performance and trust. Zimbabwe fared badly in freedom of speech and access to information.
With the “Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo” policy shift, Mnangagwa is now placing emphasis on self–reliance and inward-looking policy thrust as opposed to the “Open for Business” engagement with the West policy thrust.
