Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Lieutenant-General Sibusiso Moyo (Retired) has explained the context in which President Mnangagwa set priority quick-win 100-day targets for ministers to kick-start the country’s economic recovery process.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Trade and Investment Conference Expo, which ran under the theme “Strengthen business relations between Zimbabwe and the rest of the world” in Harare yesterday, Lt-Gen Moyo (Rtd) said the 100-day target was a management tool by the President aimed at keeping ministers’ shoulders on the wheel.
President Mnangagwa, who was inaugurated on November 24, set 100-day targets for his ministers, with the 100 days falling due on April 10.
At his maiden Cabinet meeting on December 5, the President challenged his team to think outside the box and come up with priority projects whose impact should be felt in the shortest possible time.
“I am aware that earlier on, during the deliberations, there has been an aspect about the 100-days having come to an end,” said Lt-Gen Moyo (Rtd).
“In fact, to elucidate that particular point, according to His Excellency, the 100 days is a management tool to ensure that ministers are accountable to their performances and that ministers can always account for what they have achieved and for what they have not achieved.
“I am not being off the mark if, in fact, tomorrow or on Monday the next 100 days is going to be starting, which is going to be giving us a further cycle which ensures that the time period within which the ease of doing business, which he has clearly expressed, is going to be articulated and implemented.”
President Mnangagwa’s thrust, Minister Moyo said, was on promoting Zimbabwe’s competitive edge on the ease of doing business.
The days of inaccessible public officers, he also added, were now a thing of the past.
“His (President Mnangagwa) priority has been very clear: we must exhaust commerce within ourselves and we must further unlock trade within our regional countries, and we should cascade further into the rest of the continent and into the rest of the world, but as he said, we must hit the ground running,” said Lt-Gen Moyo (Rtd).
“And I can assure you that when you start at minus five, it takes time to get to one, a positive one, so I thought that I should just articulate the issue and thank, in particular, the clarity of the matter which His Excellency has articulated. In fact, many have said, many have been commentators and critics alike, who have interpreted modern-day Zimbabwe in various ways, but the issue is not how to interpret modern-day Zimbabwe, but the point is, however, how to change the situation economically in Zimbabwe.
“And I want to add and say that the change in Zimbabwe should be towards economic growth as His Excellency has put it and prosperity for the attainment of a high standard of living and quality of life.”
Lt-Gen Moyo (Rtd) said Government’s reform programme was an ongoing process.
Speaking at the same occasion, the acting Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Cde Simon Khaya Moyo said the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) would soon release a progress report on ministers’ targets.
“It is my conviction and in terms of my consultation that now that the 100 days are getting to an end, certainly the Office of the President and Cabinet will issue a statement covering each ministry in terms of what we have achieved,” said Minister Khaya Moyo.
“But if we do it disjointedly and have one saying we have achieved this, the other one we have achieved that, by the end of the day I can assure you people will be more confused as to what has happened.
“So, it has to be methodical, it has to be thorough and it has to be clear to people and I can assure, as I have said also, in my capacity as Minister of Information, we are going to be working on this very much in liaison with the Office of the President and Cabinet.” – Herald
