OPEN LETTER TO CABINET

Sir,

I am sure Cabinet is aware that the country’s problems can be resolved by addressing some key and pertinent issues that government conveniently ignores and these include:

Reducing the bloated civil service which is inflated by an army that will most likely never go to war, instead government has continued to recruit even more personnel into this glorified boy scouts institution which is nothing but a fattening ranch.

Reviewing our minerals policy in order to attract FDI; again we have not moved an inch in this regard; with so much coal deposits in the lowveld I would not be surprised that we will only act when the rest of the world is moving away from coal and the coal will lye idle underground until the Lord returns.

If Cabinet doubts this it should look at how the world is shunning any new investments or penalising countries that embark on coal power stations as a means to mitigate gas emissions, as a country we waited for half a century before making a decision.
Our land tenure system is also a huge factor in discouraging any meaningful investments particularly in rural areas, who in his right mind would risk his capital by investing in land that can be expropriated without compensation?

Our rule of law and adherence to constitutionalism is a big damper in as far as our ability to attract serious FDI is concerned.
I know we are in denial but the rest of the world and the owners of capital see us as a risk and will not invest in our country, evidence of that is the fact that we have, for years now, the lowest FDI in sub-Saharan Africa.

 
As Cabinet has embarked on its annual retreat, it should ask itself, is government bold enough to make decisions that may not sit well with some influential people? If it is not bold enough then the whole exercise is a mere window dressing exercise. Cabinet has to take bold and likely unpopular decisions for the benefit of the country.

The taxpayers of this country want government to address the serious impediments to our ability to attract FDI and grow our economy. Cut the expenditure for the army and instead use that money to improve infrastructure, health and education, these are the ingredients that will move us forward. Government should cut wasteful expenditure and downsize the numerous State committees that are a burden to government’s purse.

What value is the country getting from the Border Adjustment Committee, what timelines is this committee working on and is their goal realistic and achievable, if not this committee should be disbanded. Stop investing in vanity projects that will remain a financial burden to future generations.

The consequences of continuing with this irresponsible or downright reckless expenditure patterns are too dire for the country and Cabinet has the mandate to steer this ship away from imminent disaster. We will be eagerly awaiting feedback from your retreat and it will hopefully tell us where we stand in respect of the 2022 First World status vision, we need to know if government is still on board or if they have given up. If government is still on board we need to know how this goal will be achieved in just under five years.

Hanger
MHLUME

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