YESTERDAY, we ran a story where government admitted that it owed quite a number of contractors large sums of money for projects they had undertaken.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion minister Mthuli Ncube told legislators in Parliament that government had engaged the contractors to come up with payment plans to avoid court action and penalties.
“We want to develop payment plans for each of our major contractors so as to settle those arrears in full but we continue to work and trudge along with them forward on our infrastructural development programme,” we quoted Ncube as saying.
“Indeed, delays could cause us to incur extra costs that come with delaying payment of course.
“We try to negotiate with the creditors not to levy too heavy penalties on these delayed payments and interest because after all, we have a relationship.”
We were made to understand that government had expunged some of its commitments, paying US$15 million to contractors undertaking the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway rehabilitation project, another US$15 million to the five contractors who rehabilitated the Greater Harare roads in the Mt Hampden area under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme.
“When it comes to other sectors such as the water sector, recently, we settled around US$35,2 million towards the dam construction project,” Ncube concluded.
Government attributes the failure to pay its contractors to a serious cash crunch.
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Unfortunately, the bureaucrats are afraid of facing the elephant in the room.
They are afraid of telling President Emmerson Mnangagwa to man up and institute correct measures if he really wants to see this economy prosper.
Mnangagwa must act against economic saboteurs in his government.
He must crack the whip against corrupt people in his backyard.
He must create a conducive environment for industry to prosper.
We cannot have an informal economy running the country.
We cannot have a government relying on French fries tax to run a whole health system.
Government cannot tax a whole citizenry to perpetuity so as to fund its expenses.
Where is mining in all this? Where is agriculture in all this?
What are we exporting as a country?
How are we taking advantage of our position as a gateway to the rest of southern Africa?
What has made us keep changing currencies over the past two decades and a half?
We carried out a land reform programme, but how much is it benefiting us as a nation?
Miners today are in a fix.
A few select individuals are being given licences to export gold on behalf of many other players, in the process sidelining the country’s official buyer, refiner and exporter of the yellow metal.
The truth of the matter is that government officials and their proxies are creaming off anything they can lay their hands on.
No sane investor will come to such a Wild West economy.
Government has to face its demons first if it is to right all wrongs in this country.
Unfortunately, very few men of honour are still standing today.
Many are now yes-men. They are doing it for their pockets, for self-aggrandisement.
Gone are the days when Cabinet ministers would tell their appointers that they have crossed the continuous white line.
Anyone who opposes them will not last long.
Government must know that the economy is cyclical and its failure also affects other sectors of the economy in the supply chain.
