Recent developments in the country where high-ranking officials in government and parastatals have chosen to go to the press to blast each other as if channels of negotiation have been closed, are a cause for concern.
Sunday Views by Mukachana Hanyani
If this goes unchecked, it might destabilise the functions of government at a time when every progressive individual in the country is expected to help with ideas on how to revive the economy.
Top officials and juniors alike, holding important positions in government and parastatals, should be conscious of what they say in public as the generality of the populace tend to construe such utterances by government officials as policy enunciations.
It is incumbent upon those holding positions in government and parastatals to scrutinise and evaluate what they want to say to the public before making pronouncements. Evaluating one’s position before it is put to the public makes it possible to correct some grey areas that may result in inadvertent injuries.
As such, lines of communication among government entities should always be kept open to avoid a situation where some may conclude that there is acrimony between and among officials in government and parastatals.
Issues of policy matters need to be put in the public domain when there has been consensus from the concerned parties. It is not proper to get a situation where today you hear a top government official saying something in public and the following day another one comes out guns blazing, blasting issues raised by the previous speaker as if to pull him down.
We are judged by what we say and do in public. Any perceptions of inconsistencies in policy pronouncements only serve to scare away foreign direct investment, a central ingredient to efforts aimed at reviving the ailing economy. If ever there are any differences of opinion among government officials and employees, the press is the worst medium at which to voice these since it thrives on conflict and scandal.
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The recent war of words between the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) Commissioner-General, Gershem Pasi, and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Senior Spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, has created confusion in the country to the extent that some are failing to understand why such top officials in government should regale in demeaning themselves by castigating each other in public.
If the Zimra boss had consulted the police over what he told the parliament, the police could have given him the real facts on the ground, thus avert a war of words.
All the same, if the police had consulted him before rushing to the press, they could have managed to issue an edited joint statement correcting claims by Pasi. The police’s statement has now failed to educate the public on the truth surrounding the amount of money they collect monthly.
In another related issue, Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries (WMMI) recently criticised the E15 fuel blend, arguing that it would not give warranty to cars assembled there, using E15 fuel, should they develop engine or emission system challenges.
E15, which is a mix of 85% petrol and 15% ethanol, was introduced by government recently as a compulsory measure for all petrol cars.
Before the introduction of the E15 fuel blend, cars were using E10 blend and government argues that E15 would be cheaper and also reduce the government’s fuel import bill.
On the other hand, if the government had consulted the WMMI and other motoring industries before raising the fuel blending from E10 to E15, there could have been no confusion among that sector. All the same, the WMMI, instead of rushing to the press to denounce the E15 fuel blending, could have consulted the government so that they reach a common ground on the way forward. To avoid a recurrence in future, consultation and unity of purpose are the way to go.
By Mukachana Hanyani, a Harare-based political and social commentator who can be reached at: [email protected]
