Former Prime Minister, Professor Arthur Mutambara has described Zanu PF’s vision for a middle income country status for Zimbabwe by 2030 as bland and banal statement which requires qualification, quantification and supporting details for it to be meaningful.
Writing on the Medium, an online blogging platform, Mutambara said Zanu PF projected six percent growth per annum was not being sufficiently ambitious, blasting the manifesto’s failure to clarify on how they intend to achieve their envisioned middle income country status by 2030.
“Despite the critique we have offered in the past, Zanu PF in its recently launched manifesto, insist on claiming that its vision is for Zimbabwe to be a middle-income country (MIC) by 2030.
“This is bland and banal statement which requires qualification, quantification and supporting details for it to be meaningful,” said Mutambara.
The Robotics Professor added that the Zanu PF manifesto is vague, lacking clarity on which group of middle income countries they seek to achieve for Zimbabwe between lower MICs and Upper MICs.
“This is too broad a grouping. In any case our GDP per capita income is $977, hence jumping to $1005 (if we consider minimum qualification) over 12 years is not sufficiently ambitious. This is not visionary at all.
“It is instructive to note that the MICs are broken up into Lower-MIC and Upper-MICs.
“Does Zanu PF aim for Zimbabwe to be a lower-MIC or an upper-MIC?” quizzed Mutambara.
He expressed concern over the Zanu PF manifesto target of attaining a growth rate of at least 6% per annum over the period 2018 to 2023 without indicating their plans beyond the marked timeframe.
“What happens beyond 2023? They do not tell us,” added Mutambara.
Though he agreed that achieving a six percent growth rate over 12 years would be phenomenal, he questioned the lack of clarity on the source of growth- concluding that Zimbabwe needs a more rigorous economic planning effort.
Pro Zanu PF economic analysts have heaped praise on the Zanu PF manifesto which they described as a clear roadmap to deliver Zimbabwe from current hardships.
Goodwine Mureriwa quoted in The Herald said the Zanu-PF manifesto unlocks the country’s potential that was lying idle under the previous dispensation.
“It is a simple and people-centred manifesto,” he said.
