The Interview with the Future President of Zimbabwe

PART 1

Typical of politicians who want to portray an image of a hands-on civil servant, Tafadzwa Musekiwa had his shirt sleeves rolled up and the knot of his tie loosened so that he can ventilate his athletic torso of 42 years. A respectful distance away from him sat Sibongile Sibanda from the African Broadcasting Services. Sibongile Sibanda quickly got to her business of the day after their formal greetings and pleasantries.

ABS: After registering your fledgling party, the Progressive People’s Party, you indicated that your party was neither going to contest the forthcoming 2018 presidential elections nor join a plethora of these sprouting political alliances. You did not articulate the rationale behind your strange stance at your press briefing at Progress Towers Hotel. What’s your grand strategy?

PPP: The truth is most leaders in the ruling party and opposition parties are old and tired. This country needs young, progressive-minded individuals to extricate itself from its current mess. We have Macron at of France at 39, Groysman of Ukrain at 39, Ratas of Estonia at 38, Sheikh Al Thani of Qatar at 36, and Kurz of Austria at 31. Not to mention those in their forties and fifties. Mugabe is 93 years. Tsvangirai is 65 years. Mujuru is 62 years. Mnangagwa is 75 years. Sekeramayi 73 years. They are all past their retirement age and out of tune with the current trends of global leaders’ ages in the digital era. Frankly speaking the BVR exercise is good for us to have a credible voters’ roll but is no panacea to our problems. The country needs a National Transitional Authority as a point of departure to prosperity as envisaged by Dr Ibbo Mandaza.

ABS: But sir, the reality on the ground runs counter to your perspectives and aspirations. How do you intend to bring these apparently hostile political elements to buy in to your ideas? There are campaigns, alliances, factionalism and jostling for positions.

PPP: During the GNU there was stability and prosperity. Elections without reforms are doomed to be a replica of previous sham elections. An NTA will replicate the GNU environment, cool political tensions, save resources on campaigns and provide an opportunity to revamp all aspects of our social, economic and political life. It’s a necessary breather.

ABS: In the unlikely event that a NTA legally implemented, what do you propose to be done first to move the country forward?

PPP: There are simple changes which can transform this country for the good of every citizen of this once great country. Given the opportunity I will speedily remove all dubious police roadblocks.

(Sibongile bursts into uncontrollable laughter)

ABS: Is that really a priority?

PPP: Oh yes it is. The security establishment needs to professionalized. Partisan politics must be rooted out. The entire CIO, and the CID and VID to some extent,  need to be disbanded. All uniformed forces will have to undergo retraining – they need rebranding with new uniforms and new names. All top brass of the security apparatus above 60 years will be retired as well as their counterparts in the civil service – those in the PSC and in the JSC.

ABS: Won’t that create a dangerous power vacuum?

PPP:  I hope not. The economic reforms, political reforms and electoral reforms can only be possible in the absence of a partisan security apparatus. That’s why the NTA is needed to ensure that the laws of the country align with the new Constitution.

ABS: What will be your source of finance to bankroll your reforms?
PPP: Forensic audits, lifestyle audits, land audits will reveal illicit financial outflows, tender irregularities and corruption. Believe me, some of the missing diamond billions are right within our borders. All ill-gotten wealth will be forfeited to the state. Repealing indigenisation laws will definitely attract FDI. All evicted commercial farmers will be given some of their land back or given new lands for starting new farms. Re-engagement with the IFC, IMF, ADB, WB, USA, EU etc etc will definitely guarantee us loans with favourable repayment conditions. It’s not rocket science. It’s pure logic. Our economy doesn’t need a magic wand. It requires common sense from common people.

ABS: You will invite white farmers back?

(Sibongile seems bewildered)

PPP: Of course. Are they not citizens of this country? If ever the NTA can materialise then all is well for the road to Canaan. Whoever imagined that war veterans will rebel against the Old Man? All those who fled their factories and mines due to hyperinflation or political intimidation will be welcomed back home with open arms. We can’t fail to run a population of 16 million people with the right modalities in place.

ABS: How do you intend to revamp the education sector, the health sector, public infrastructure, manufacturing industries, agricultural sector and the service industry?

PPP: All ghost workers will have to do community service of cleaning up our villages, towns and cities.

(Sibongile beams a happy smile)

Ideally, all sectors you identified need to be developed simultaneously. But education and health certainly deserves urgent attention. Generators, solar panels and powerful lithium batteries need to be installed in all schools and clinics without electricity. Computer centres need to be built in all schools. We need to partner with NGOs and the private sector to make this a success.

(Tafadzwa is agitated)

For instance, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation can help with computers, tablets and smartboards in such schools. Dangote can help with the cement and bricks. Strive Masiiwa’s Econet Wireless can help with internet connectivity. Elon Musk  of Solar City and Giga Factory can help with solar panels and lithium batteries. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and  Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google can help with the e-classroom software. Other billionaires like Warren Buffet, Patrice Motsepe, Nicky Oppenheimer, Mike Adenuga, Johann Rupert etc etc can help finance such noble projects.
The Progressive People’s Party wishes to establish an e-government. This will streamline government performance, optimise efficiency, save costs and create new IT jobs. An e-government is a win-win situation. E-learning and e-commerce are definitely new ways of doing things in the digital age. A relevant curriculum for the electronic age needs to be formulated. This implies doing away with our rote-learning paper-education legacy system. We need to copy best practice from countries doing well in education like Finland, Switzerland, Belgium and Singapore.
We also need to introduce mother tongue as a medium of instruction for all subjects. If Afrikaans is being used as a medium of instruction in South Africa, if Bibles are translated in almost every local language under the Sun, if Google can translate the contents of its webpages, if most countries outside Africa are teaching their children in mother tongue in their learning institutions, why can’t Africans instruct their children in vernacular? Why? The products of our education systems are not for British or American export. As such there is no valid reason as to why we continue to use English as the medium of instruction.

(Sibongile nods her head in agreement)

No learner must walk more than 5 km to school. I have seen NGOs who donate bicycles to learners who walk long distances to school. We thank them dearly from the bottom of our hearts. The initiative must be continued, especially in rural areas. Feeding schemes must also be continued in all schools. Every learner must learn on a full stomach, every learner must learn in mother tongue, every learner must have access to a computer and the internet at school, every learner in a government school must learn for free! Poor students must be supplied with amenities like shoes, jerseys/jackets/blazers. Sanitary pads must be freely supplied to girls who cannot afford them.

(Tafadzwa loosens his neck tie further down his heaving chest)

The same principles must apply to tertiary education. It must be free. It must be in vernacular. Meals and accommodation must be provided for free! After graduation former students need only to work in the public sector for a specific duration and pay back loans given to them as stipends. The loan amount due must not include the tuition fees or costs of accommodation and meals.

(Tafadzwa’s voice is a few decibels up)

Practical subjects, extra-curricular activities, the good work ethic of teachers, the dedication of our learners to excel in their learning areas need to be commended and maintained. However, life skills, computer literacy and mathematical literacy must be taught to everyone in high school and tertiary education. All those studying sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology must also study programming as a second major compulsory subject.
The government must identify talented learners in primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities. The ultimate goal will be to channel them towards post-graduate studies or specialise in research. For the later, the government need to build research, innovation and development institutions, something akin to the so-called think-tanks.

(Sibongile nods her head)

The NTA needs to be given a chance to initiate some of those changes. That is why the People’s Progressive Party is not going to join the fray of sloganeering, singing, bootlicking, mudslinging, skulduggery, chicanery or fighting for positions on the feeding trough or the gravy train. We want correct modalities and mechanisms to be put in place to enable free and fair elections to be conducted, and the winner to take the country on a trajectory of prosperity and not regression.

ABS: Thank you very much for your insightful discourse but unfortunately we have ran out of time. If circumstances permit we will continue this discussion next time, same time, same venue. Thank you very much once more for your time.