Coalition of Confusion

We have heard a lot about the coalition of the Zimbabwean opposition parties. It seems it's all about talking and more talking. The opposition as a whole is in disarray. It is a coalition of confusion.

Deadline for Coalition

Morgan Tsvangirayi had set up a deadline for a coalition. The deadline was the 31st of July. It has come to pass. The self-declared head of coalition had the cheeky ( no pun intended ) to threaten the other parties that if they fail to meet the deadline, he would go it alone. A coalition of one party l believe!!

The other parties, which are not real parties but for individual hiding behind names, just put up their middle fingers at Morgan Tsvangirayi and his deadline.

Our question to Morgan Tsvangirayi the self-declared leader of the yet to be formed a coalition is: What next?

The Price for Coalition

The little parties led by individuals, including the likes of Hosea Chipanga,  Egypt Dzinemunhenzva and of late Nkosana Moyo are aware of the price they have to pay just to associate with MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirayi. It will cost them their clean names just to sit down on the same table.

MDC-T has had a history of being a project of the former Rhodesian white supremacists settlers. It has been seen as the sponsor of economic sanctions against Zimbabwe. It is also viewed as an opponent of the land reform program. Not one sane person would associate with the MDC-T and still have his or her hands clean.

The price is too high to pay for most parties.

Coalition Before or After Elections

I have an interesting observation on the coalition. Why can't MDC-T go it alone and contest the elections? Why is it that the MDC-T wants the coalition so desperately?

The MDC-T has lost support over the years due to dictatorial tendencies of its leadership. The likes of Ncube, Biti and Mangoma have jumped ship and formed their own parties. This has drained, confused and split the party's constituency.

It is my belief that we will have a coalition of some sort after the elections.

The coalition will according to the facts on the ground, be to make up one-third of the parliamentary seats. ZANU Pf is assured of two-thirds or more of the parliamentary seats.

The July lessons for all Zimbabweans

Lesson 1 The Office and The person

One lesson all Zimbabweans learned in July was that you have the person in the office and the office. It is acceptable to insult the President of Zimbabwe as a person but it is unacceptable to insult the Office of the President and Cabinet.
The politician in Robert Mugabe can be bar talk or food and fuel for a political rally. It is his office that we need to respect as Zimbabweans. This rule applies to all civil servants and their offices. We can insult and fire our politicians at rallies but We cannot do the same to our civil servants.
This l believe every village fool (including those fools with doctorates) have learned.

Lesson 2 The Laws of Gravity

I had to remind myself of my primary school teacher, sometime long ago and in some forgotten school in Bocha. He could throw a stone into the sky and ask the class if the where the stone had gone. We, in our childhood ignorance we came out with some very wild answers. The teacher repeated that exercise for three days and that is how we learned about the Law of Gravity.

The guys at The Sunday Mail and the Herald should look for my Grade 5 teacher and have a crash course on the Laws of Gravity. I think that they have seen gravity at work though, especially on the Saviour Kasukuwere and Professor Jonathan Moyo stories they have been feeding the public with.

Lesson 3 Politics is not a beauty contest

I am not going to be very hard on Advocate Fadzayi Mahere. She got a beautiful yellow manifesto and she cut a beautiful figure. Has she ever contested in a beauty contest?

I will like to congratulate her for offering herself as an independent candidate for  Mt. Pleasant.

I am still in the beauty contest. Who is the fairest of our  Cabinet ministers?
Is command agriculture ugly or beautiful? Was command agriculture ever discussed in Cabinet?  Were all Cabinet minister present?  Is command agriculture a beauty contest?

As a layman and a citizen, I leave those questions to the politicians and the guys at The Herald and The Sunday Mail.

I have learned some really good lessons on Zimbabwean politics!!!

Zimbabwe's Bond Notes And Archaic Banking Systems

Success or Failure

My recent experiences with my bank have shown me that our banking system needs a complete overhaul. I have seen queues growing and being told that there is no cash available. I have had my money transferred and getting lost in our banking systems. 

The fin-tech overhauls are necessary if we have to make our banking systems work. The cash shortages and bank queues are symptoms of archaic traditional systems and technology which is still being used by most of the banks. 
I suggest we get rid of the RTGS , the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe force bank to adapt to new technologies and give the Bond notes the respect they deserve. I will discuss how and why below.

REAL TIME GROSS SETTLEMENT SYSTEM 
Our economy and the world is going digital at a fast pace than the banks can match. Our banks still talk of  RTGS as if it is real time. It is not!! Real Time must be real time, not four weeks or four days it must be real time. It must be immediate.

REGULATED OR FORCED ADAPTION
The general banking public and I in particular needs improved customer service and products. I want my bank to have effective and efficient data. I need to bank with a bank that meets all regulatory requirements.  All my banks have archaic legacy core software systems, implemented decades ago, are letting me down. The Reserve bank must put in place regulations that force banks to replace old systems and adopt new financial technologies.
 
INCENTIVES ON NEW TECHNOLOGIES 

Cash or plastic money

It's a fact that adopting new technologies is costly in terms of retraining and retooling. Government via the Reserve Bank must offer incentives and tax rebates on training and waiver customs and exercise duty. These costs are deterring most banks from even trying to overhaul their systems. 

THE BANKING PUBLIC ATTITUDES
We have blamed banks and the Reserve of Zimbabwe for the queues and cash shortages.However, this is a mistake, the banking public has to familiarize themselves with the new technologies use this knowledge to reduce the queues and avert cash shortages in our economy.
I believe the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and banks are doing very little to familiarize the banking public on new technologies and persuading them to use the new technologies such as mobile banking.
 
BOND NOTES FUNGIBILITY 
The bond notes are now being used as a currency. They can cross the borders of Zimbabwe and can be moved from bank to mobile wallets. The fungibility of the bond notes is the cause of its shortage in our banking system.

Bond notes are crossing our borders 

The bond notes fungibility is higher that of neighboring countries notes. This is a positive development but our banks, including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, still treat the bond note as a surrogate currency. It is time for the research on the movement, value, and quantity of the physical bond notes. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe can use this information to carry out market operations by printing the deficit in the physical bond notes in order to wipe out the bank queues and cash shortages. 

The reduction of bank queues and cash shortages is the responsibility of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the banks.The banking public expects action and results from them.

History and His Story

Tell me your story 

Tell me your future

 History is yesterday's story, 

 Today is yesterday's dream 

This future we built it yesterday,

 We shall live it to day,

 And make it our story

This day Is made up of yesterday,

 And today.

 We can not have today 

Without yesterday.