PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) does not proffer solutions to the country’s multi-faceted crises, with critics saying the statement is uninspiring.
Mnangagwa presented Sona in Parliament on Wednesday where he spoke about the country’s socio-economic crisis, hunger and other ills confronting the generality of Zimbabweans.
On the currency crisis, Mnangagwa said corrective measures were being instituted by authorities to save the free-falling Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency from further collapse.
The ZiG was devalued last Friday, triggering widespread price hikes of basic goods and services, with some service providers rejecting the local currency to avoid losses.
Mbizo MP Corban Madzivanyika (Citizens Coalition for Change) said Sona did not inspire confidence that Mnangagwa has solutions to the country’s problems.
“I expect the President to deal with issues that are facing Zimbabweans,” he said.
“Zimbabweans are affected by the high cost of living, prices are going up and some shops are not accepting the ZiG.
“Zimbabweans are seized with higher unemployment; around 90% of people are unemployed. We are on high levels of load-shedding . . . I thought the President was supposed to come and highlight to us that they have robust plans for the electricity crisis . . .”
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He added: “The Sona is bleak and it has no impact at all in terms of its direct relationship with the desire to problems facing fellow countrymen.”
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition chairperson Peter Mutasa described Sona as “a damp squib”.
“Many workers were expecting the President to address the most pressing issues they are facing,” Mutasa said.
“Workers have lost value of their meagre salaries many times since the introduction of ZiG,” he said.
“With the free-floating exchange it means our salaries will be losing value everyday. From Sona, there is nothing to hedge against this.”
Mutasa also said Mnangagwa ignored the human rights violations which allegedly dented his government’s image.
“We have many cases of political persecution that have caused investors to think twice about investing in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“In fact, the insistence on going ahead with the PVOs [Private Voluntary Organisations] Bill, even if amended, is one of the main own goals that the government is scoring.”
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe leader Obert Masaraure said Mnangagwa avoided tackling the challenges affecting Zimbabweans.
“Where he attempted to engage in detail, he either completely misled the nation or focused on detail of peripheral importance,” he said.
“For example, in education he mentions some illusionary momentum including ICT penetration. No strategy on education financing to curb the massive number of dropouts we are witnessing. Nothing on teachers’ welfare and morale. Nothing on bridging the glaring infrastructure gaps.”
MDC leader Douglas Mwonzora’s spokesperson Lloyd Damba said the speech was much ado about nothing.
“As long as he did not go to Parliament to report about the creation of the 2,3 million jobs he promised in 2018, as long as the country still experiences power cuts, as long as the country has no running water in taps and as long as people can only afford one meal per day, it’s much ado about nothing and there is no confidence at all in that hollow speech,” Damba said.
Labour, Economists and African Democrats leader Linda Masarira said: “While the address aimed to paint a picture of progress and growth, it fell short of addressing critical issues affecting the people of Zimbabwe,” she said.
“He provided no concrete timeline or solutions for resolving the chronic power shortages that have crippled industries, households and the overall economy.”
Economist Prosper Chitambara said: “What is needed is just to focus our energy on any tensions on key imperatives necessary to unlock the full potential of the economy.”
Analysts said the President appeared in denial with regards to the failing local currency.
“Making accusations against the parallel market is denialism. The economy is dollarised, informal and unbanked,” said economist Chenaiyimoyo Mutambasere.
She said the parallel market was a critical part of the economy, and not an enemy.
But economic analyst Kudzai Mutisi said Mnangagwa was spot on when he said the central bank should let the market discover the true exchange rate, the free market would encourage people to sell their forex.
Writing on microblogging site X, Mutisi said Mnangagwa was spot on that ZiG had enough backing.
“This should be the right way forward…. RBZ should never be the sole seller of forex on the formal market… that will be an indicator that the market is inefficient,” Mutisi said.
