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(NEWZIMBABWE) Interview: Minister of State Gorden Moyo

Interview: Minister of State Gorden Moyo
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SW Radio Africa's Lance Guma speaks to Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office:
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Posted to the web: 16/04/2009 14: 23:33
Broadcast April 09, 2009

Lance Guma: Hello Zimbabwe, welcome to another edition of Behind the Headlines. My guest this week is Gorden Moyo the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office. He essentially is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s right hand man in the new coalition government and joins us on the programme to talk about progress so far. Minister Moyo thank you for joining us.

Gorden Moyo: Thank you

Lance: Now the new coalition government has created hope in some quarters but equally has generated criticism in others. Let me start with the workability of the new arrangement. Would you say you are working well with Zanu PF so far?

Moyo: No this is a transitional arrangement. It is a government by compromise. A lot of things have been compromised, therefore we wouldn’t expect a smooth flow but in general I would say we are working well. We are trying our best from all quarters, all parties involved to make this arrangement work. It is the intention of everybody and it is the hope of everybody that the norms and values enshrined in the GPA (Global Political Agreement) are achieved through this inclusive government.

Lance: Several issues from the Global Political Agreement remain outstanding. Can you give us an update on some of these issues particularly I’m talking here the political prisoners Gandhi Mudzingwa, Chris Dhlamini and the journalist Shadreck Manyere. Is there any movement there?

Moyo: A lot of work is being done but as you would agree with me there are obstacles, there are hurdles, there are challenges in any transitional process. So we have not achieved everything we would have wanted to achieve within the given time frame. Therefore we still have some outstanding issues.

For example the issues of the governors, the issues of the permanent secretaries and ambassadors. These are issues that are on the table and are to be discussed by the principals and you would recall that one of the principals has had tragedy after tragedy as a result the pace was sort of stopped or impeded. But we are hoping that within the next couple of weeks most of those issues will be dealt with at political level. Those that need political dialogue or political dialogue as part of the realization or full implementation of the GPA.

As regards the arrests we are expecting that everybody should be released but I’m fully briefed that a lot of work is being done and the courts are also doing their work and we are hoping that everything will be done in due course.

Lance: Well I suppose Minister Moyo what is frustrating a lot of people is that most of this is contained in an agreement so really there should be no hurdles in implementing what has already been agreed. For example we understand a formula had already been agreed for appointing Provincial Governors. So what would be there to discuss?

Moyo: We are all disappointed that this has not been done but there are some circumstances. Circumstances that have prevailed against the full realization of the implementation of the GPA. Like I said we have had one of the principals having to go through emotional trauma, you know his emotional bank account being over-drawn by circumstances beyond his control. So he couldn’t have been there and issues of governors, issues of permanent secretaries and ambassadors are issues of the principals, that is President Robert Mugabe, the Prime Minister Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara.

They are the ones in that trinity who should ….(inaudible)…then the issues cannot be addressed. This is not a way of saying ..eh…eh a way of trying to explain ourselves, this is the truth and we are hoping that he is now back and he is back and he is ready to ensure the issues are tabled and they are resolved. If there are other circumstances, those circumstances should be dealt with.

But I don’t think there is a reversal to the issues of the governors. There is no amount of delay, no amount of dialogue can change that because it is already agreed that the issues of governors, the permanent secretaries and ambassadors are issues that should be resolved.

Lance: And we have the other weird scenario where despite you (MDC) designating Roy Bennett Deputy Agriculture Minister, he still hasn’t been sworn in. How big a problem is this?

Moyo: This is a big problem because the Minister is supposed to be at work. The Minister is supposed to be helping in the recovery of the Agricultural sector. Right now we have the winter wheat cropping which is supposed to be in full swing and we needed those two hands, the Minister and his deputy and we are not happy at all. We are hoping that again as the principals meet this issue will be dealt with.

Lance: Do you have a time frame for this meeting of principals, is it next week, the other week, any dates?

Moyo: Had it not been for the Easter Holiday and had it not been for the retreat this week the principals were supposed to meet to deal with those issues. And I guess that next week or the week after they shall be that meeting.

Lance: The ongoing farm invasions have attracted a lot of negative publicity and obviously harmed the country’s ability to get international aid. In terms of real practical action what is being done to stop the disturbances?

Moyo: The JOMIC (Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee) has been tasked by the cabinet to look into the issues, to verify all the cases, to come up with the information, so that these issues are dealt with. It is not in the inclusive government’s interest to have the disruptions in the farms. We are all against the disruptions in the farms and we believe these have to be stopped and stopped immediately. But as a government we have tasked the JOMIC to do its work because you would recall that in the GPA it was resolved that there shall be a land audit and it was resolved that land distribution has to be stopped until that land audit is done.

So for only those people who have been legally given the offer letters to go into the farms, those are the only people who could be resettled now. All new, fresh farm invasions are illegal and they are not in the interest of this government. Therefore JOMIC has been tasked to deal with those issues and again the Minister of Lands and Resettlement was tasked to immediately come up with a framework for the land audit so that we deal with these issues of land distribution once and for all.

We need to bring this thing to a closure. But we are all saddened by the complaints and the concerns that we are receiving right across the country because we are receiving information and we are receiving these complaints right across the provinces of the country and people are being disrupted from doing their daily work in the farms. So it’s something that is disturbing and we are hoping that once we get the information from JOMIC, once we get the information from the Land and Resettlement Minister, we will then move forward and find a solution that will be amicable and bring closure to this issue.

Lance: But why was the issue taken to JOMIC. I mean why did we not have a situation where the police are just told to do their job and arrest anyone breaking the law?

Moyo: The police are supposed to arrest and I’m sure they are arresting those criminal elements. But at the moment we have got a problem because most of the people going to the farms are holding some offer letters and we need to verify whether those offer letters are legitimate, whether those offer letters are up to the standard, are those letters part of a government programme? We need to verify that and it is very difficult for the police to arrest people with offer letters. But those elements that go into the farms, disrupt and force people out, they are supposed to be arrested, if they are not arrested then the police are not doing their work.

Lance: Isn’t the other problem then that we have the 78 farmers who took their case to the SADC tribunal and won and got SADC protection from the tribunal. A lot of those offer letters involve those farms also, is that not a legally complicated scenario?

Moyo: It is complicated. You would recall that we are only 7 weeks or so in government. We are still trying to understand what was going on before the formation of the government. We want to understand why the farmers who got a ruling in their favour are also suffering. We need to understand all these issues. These are not issues we can resolve overnight. So as a new government, as an inclusive government, we are doing everything within our means and within our purview with these issues. Understand when we act, we act with information. When we act we will be decisive. We do not want to act out of emotion and out of expediency or out of adhoc or adhocracy. That will be detrimental to the image, the credibility of the inclusive government.

We are gathering facts. We are having meetings with the Commercial Farmers Union. We are having meetings with Ministers of Home Affairs. We are having meetings with the Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Minister of Agriculture…rather Lands and Resettlement and Minister of Agriculture. We are trying to gather information, bit by bit so we could come up with solutions before we come up with options. But at the moment we have an institution in the name of JOMIC which is part of the agreement between the political parties in government. That institution of JOMIC has to do its work and we are expecting them to do their work and we are yet to be briefed after the cabinet meeting that we had some other time which actually commits them to do a review of what is happening on the farms.

Lance: Moving on to another topic Minister Moyo, the Ministerial retreat in Victoria Falls, it has attracted some criticism with people like Tsholotsho Member of Parliament Professor Jonathan Moyo calling it a retreat into sleaze. Some say it cost over US$300 000 and that the money should have been used for other priority areas. Do you feel the criticism is justified?

Moyo: People are free to criticise and you cannot blame people for criticising you. Governments are there to be criticised. Governments are there to be analysed. So we appreciate any criticism and as a democratic government we are not immune to criticism, so we accept criticism. But on this particular matter, we believe and we believe with conviction that we needed to come together as government from cabinet ministers to deputy ministers, to permanent secretaries and to directors of ministries and together with the leadership, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minster, Vice President and the President because we are coming from various political ideologies, we have been fighting.

We needed to come up with a team, with a solid team that will tackle the challenges that this country is facing. Therefore in our view it was important and it was our objective to meet so that we look at those issues. Those teething problems that we are facing, the history and the baggage that we have, we needed to deal with those issues so that we could look forward together. We could enforce the challenges together. I know that we shall continue to have the differences but now we shall have the differences understanding each other’s perspective, each others views and that was important to us. And it is helping us from now onwards because we now understand each others point of view and when we are making decisions and when we are having meetings and we are making policies, we understand each other’s views.

We have been fighting and the retreat was there for us to start a new chapter. To…..(inaudible)….of conflict culture and we needed to move forward and the retreat in our view was that event. That process which is helping us to move forward. So we appreciate the comments and criticism, it’s alright, we learn from that, but democracy is expensive. Now those that are saying we used a lot of resources, fine, but democracy is expensive everywhere. In other countries you have, people die, a lot of people die. We needed to come together to avoid such things in future.

Lance: And on another side issue the allocation of Mercedes Benz vehicles to some of the ministers has also generated negative headlines. Do you think Mugabe is deliberately trying to tarnish the MDC and make them out to be similar in terms of extravagance with what we have always associated with Zanu PF?

Moyo: I don’t believe so. My humble view is that ministers need to have transport. Ministers need to be able to travel from one point to another. You can’t have ministers disabled by way of motion, they cannot travel. That to me is not acceptable. And it is a world standard, all countries across the world have ministers given a decent kind of treatment in terms of their mobility. So I don’t see any problem. What would be a problem is the accumulation of those vehicles, to have a number of vehicles, vehicles that are just parked. That to me is not acceptable.

Lance: Maybe they were not attacking just simply giving them cars but the type of car is considered rather expensive.

Moyo: But I know that there are other vehicles which are not Mercedes Benz which are more expensive than Mercedes Benz. So that does not necessarily mean that if you have a Mercedes Benz it is more expensive than other vehicles, that’s not true, that’s a mere perception. For example the vehicles that ministers are driving, most of them are driving E280 which is a very decent and humble Mercedes Benz. That’s what I have seen myself and I don’t think it a problem for ministers to be able to travel from one point to another.

Lance: Okay we are running out of time Minister Moyo, but we will just squeeze in one more question. What areas so far do you think the new government has been successful in?

Moyo: You know success is not what you get but what you continue to do with what you get. It is not a destination it is a way of traveling. The successes that we have scored are in my view... are simply humble. We do not go out and shout on top of the mountains and say we are making big progress we are making successes, that’s not important for us. What is important for us is to see the life of the people of Zimbabwe changing and we can see that. You can see some people are able to go to the shops, find goods in shops, find goods in shops, find basic commodities in the shops. They are able to buy them and go home and have some meals with their families. That is important for a start.

This country for 29 years has been going through serious problems and we have been there for 6-7 weeks and we have had these changes. And to us that is humble and we feel good about it. But it is not a basis for us to go out and shout on top of mountains and on top of roofs, no we are not doing that. But you can see indeed inflation coming down, you can see the hope amongst our people, you can see some industries begin to function.

You can see a lot of people around the world who would not come to Zimbabwe beginning to come to Zimbabwe and these are incremental gains and we believe that a country like Zimbabwe and the problems in a country like Zimbabwe cannot be solved over a month, over a year or over two years. It will take time and we are working towards that and after 100 days we will be able to say we set ourselves these goals and this is what we have achieved. So now we are only seeing signs and symptoms of change but we are not yet satisfied at all.

Lance: That was Gorden Moyo the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office. Mr. Moyo thank you for joining us Behind the Headlines.

Moyo: Thank you.

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Labels: GORDON MOYO, INTERVIEW, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT

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