THE Minister of
Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Walter
Mzembi (WM), was recently in London Zimbabwe
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| Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Walter Mzembi |
CS: In terms of
governmental focus on delivering on your manifesto pledges, your party has gone
into election mode after the general elections, and there has been criticism
that this has taken your eye off the ball. Do you feel that this was a priority
to engage with at this moment, and assure the people that the government really
does mean business?
WM: We are a very
constitutionally compliant nation; elections are held when they are due and we
have done that consistently, inspired by the party’s own intra-party democracy
where we are also very constitutionally compliant. However, having said that,
obviously intra-party contestations take a lot of energy away from the
government thrust on resuscitating the economy. And one hopes that we quickly
realise that and just readjust our timings to reflect our priorities at this
juncture and also begin to induce a culture in the country which does not take
all the energy in one direction but distributes that energy equitably through
all the national priority areas.
CS: Your elective
congress is due next year and that is possibly another major electoral period
that your party, and indeed the country, will be going into. Does this
permanent election mode not thwart the momentum of efforts to revive and
strengthen the national economy?
WM: But that
happens in any democracy. When you have Democratic conventions and Republican
conventions in the United States ,
or Conservative, Labour and Lib Dems conferences here in the UK , those are
precursors to any governmental or national general election and must be held when
they are due. But if you look at ours, what I can concede to you is that
perhaps we could have looked at collapsing the intra-party provincial elections
with the elective congress to next year so that we focus our attention now on
government business and to alleviating the suffering of our people. That I
concede to you and in terms of planning I think it should have been done.
CS: Is there not
a concern in Zanu PF that the question of a perpetual election mode, especially
with the undercurrents of succession politics, may overshadow the government’s
main agenda, which is the economy, as we enter into 2014?
WM: Of course,
the question of a perpetual election mode is making our people very weary and
tired. Whilst they may not have avenues of complaining directly to the powers
that be, they do tell us their representatives, that why don’t you give us a
break so that we focus on the bread and butter issues at least for one full
year before we move on to another election. So clearly for the provincial
elections, the timing was not people friendly. They have just come out of an
election, they didn’t really need one; that saps their energy and takes their focus
away from preparing for an agricultural season and reasserting themselves in
business and other economic priorities. So I would hope that it’s something
that we take into consideration even as we prepare for the elective congress
next year.
CS: On
international re-engagement, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi is
reported to have said that since government efforts to engage the West have
been unrequited as sanctions remain in place, we will not expend further energy
engaging them. Was this a statement merely to goad the other party to be more
responsive, or is this the government’s substantive position that you will not
attempt rapprochement any further? And would that not be at variance with the
reality of your presence here in London
as minister of tourism, engaging as you’re doing?
WM: No, what I’m
doing here is commercial diplomacy. What he refers to is his brief, which is
political diplomacy, the knocking at each other’s doors at the political level
that he has to do himself. I’m dealing with a bridge that has always been open
since the time of the inclusive government. And that is the people to people
diplomatic bridge; nobody can stop that. In this global village, no one has the
capacity to stop the people of Zimbabwe
from travelling wherever they may want, or the people of the world from
visiting Zimbabwe
if and when they want to.
This whole issue has a philosophical and spiritual
foundation, found in [the book of the prophet] Isaiah chapter 60:11, which says
“Therefore your gates shall be open continually; They shall not be shut day or
night, That men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, And their kings in
procession…” So it’s a Biblical foundation that if you want to enjoy the wealth
of the world, you keep your gates open, obviously with your eyes open for
intrusion which may not necessarily be bringing wealth and goodwill.
One wants to say that once we have dealt with this
commercial side of diplomacy it should certainly be a precursor to facilitate
political reconnection. So I’m very clear about what I’m doing here, and I’m
sure Minister Mumbengegwi is also very clear about what he’s talking about and
hopefully we’ll take him there though commercial diplomacy.
CS: So you’ve not
met with any political figures from the British establishment?
WM: I haven’t,
except for just handshakes.
CS: Lastly, media
perceptions are critical in your sector especially in promoting brand Zimbabwe ; from the favourable coverage you’ve
had in the British media, can you say that you’re seeing a shift in perceptions
of Zimbabwe
and also in the reception which you’re receiving as officials of that
government?
WM: I think the
media is assisting the British government to climb down, because the media is
out there and are able to pick political sentiment in other establishments
about how this relationship between Zimbabwe
and the UK
should go. They’re simply trying to assist their own government to climb down
from its high horse and understand that we’re both equals in the world of
sovereign nations. And by receiving us in the manner that they’ve done – I’ve
been the most sought after product here, going by the media reviews - I think
they seek to get me to assist them to communicate that message to their own
government, that we are not bad for business, that we are a credible partner to
deal with going forward. I think they’ve done that job very well in the space
that they’ve created for us to communicate our message.
CS: In your own
backyard as well, your government as felt itself to be under siege from these
powerful international forces and the state media likewise adopted a defensive
mode where they are quick to suss out where hostility against the government is
coming from. Now, in this new phase of media diplomacy where we notice this climbing
down by the British media, do you feel that this is also happening with the
state media in Zimbabwe ?
WM: I think the
new Minister [of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Jonathan Moyo]
has certainly taken a very mature and reconciliatory approach with not just
what was referred to as independent media, but also with our own state media.
He has exercised a lot of restraint and patience with some of the
idiosyncrasies that have been taking place there. I get the impression that he
wants to take a very mature and collected role to fully assess what it’s beset
with and direct our media to play its role of assisting in the packaging of
brand Zimbabwe .