Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Is the PM's newsletter a priority?

Is the PM's newsletter a priority?
Tapera Musaigwa - Opinion
Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:31:00 +0000

EDITOR — As Zimbabweans search for reasons they think the "problems" facing the inclusive Government could be attributed to, I am of the opinion that it is wrong to look at the prevailing conditions while ignoring the symptoms.

There is a glaring issue that has not been answered by the Office of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, despite the fact that it has been raised in the media. This is an issue that is of fundamental importance to the survival of the Global Political Agreement.

When PM Tsvangirai made his maiden address in Parliament, he advised the nation about the launch of a website by his office.

Nothing wrong with that, but what members of the public want to know are the goals and objectives of that website.

Despite the technological advances, it is important to put things into proper perspective. When we consider electronic penetration, how many people have Internet access, when the few who have use dial-up services?

And from what we all know, most of the TelOne facilities have been vandalised.

So, who is the PM interacting with? How about the urban poor and the rural folk?

How about the Zesa Holdings problems?

These questions are pertinent because we have noticed a very worrying trend whereby the PM’s Office can afford to print a weekly, glossy and colourful newsletter when the line ministries he oversees do not have money, and when schools do not have basic textbooks, and the ones being printed are printed on newsprint and are still very expensive (for example, US$12 for a Grade 6 English textbook).

Is the newsletter distributed from his Munhumutapa Offices, how and by whom?

Is it, in fact, a priority?

Is the PM making a political statement through these publications?

We have also noted that the newsletter is not just distributed to all and sundry.

Put bluntly, is the Prime Minister already on a campaign trail?

We ask all this because he has claimed that he is a champion of transparency.

We cannot ask the same of Zanu-PF because their "sins" have been laid bare over and over again.

Who is funding all this at the expense of the people’s interests?

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Tapera Musaigwa.
Marondera

Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

posted by MrK @ 2:59 PM