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LAST week a friend of mine asked why most of my opinion pieces about Zimbabwe on this platform are to a large extent negative.
Although I did not agree with his observation, my first response was that as a writer I operate like a computer that produces garbage if it is fed with garbage, on the principle “Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO)”.
I said that in reference to Wikipedia, which says: "Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) in the field of computer science or information and communications technology refers to the fact that computers, since they operate by logical processes, will unquestioningly process unintended, even nonsensical, input data ('garbage in') and produce undesired, often nonsensical, output ('garbage out')."
He was, however, not done with me and said there are many good things about Zimbabwe to report on. I responded by saying that most things happening in this country are negative.
I told him that if we were to randomly Google what our ministers have been saying in the last few months or weeks, we would find out that things are not okay in Zimbabwe.
He challenged me to do a random Google and we agreed that we would leave out the ministries of agriculture, finance, mining and indigenisation as chances are that there are many more negative than positive stories about those ministries.
Potholes the only thing to triple
So we Googled Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Obert Mpofu first. The first story that appeared had the headline “Council, residents slam tollgate move”.
It reported that Harare City Council and residents had said that the government's proposals to erect 30 tollgates in the city centre were ill advised, warning that ratepayers would be further impoverished by such a move.
We both agreed that the move would leave residents impoverished. We also agreed that since the ministry doubled the tollgate fees a year or so ago, the only other thing to have doubled - if not tripled - was the number of potholes in our roads.
The second politician we Googled was Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha and the first reported story was headlined “Government domestic debt crippling industry”. In the article, Bimha was quoted as saying that debts the Zimbabwean government owes some local companies for goods and services are seriously impacting their viability.
This again, we agreed, was a negative development as the government is crippling the operations of the private sector with its failure to service debts.
Sensing defeat, my friend changed goalposts and said it was not about what others are doing for the country, but what I was doing for Zimbabwe.
I had a ready answer for him. I told him that as Fin24’s Zimbabwe correspondent, I have done a lot for my country. Since 2012 earnings from Fin24 have made some kind of contribution to the liquidity crisis in the country.
What have you done for your country?
I reminded him that Zimbabwe does not have a currency of its own and that it is people like me and others in the diaspora who are making Zimbabwe tick over through remittances and remuneration for services rendered to foreign businesses.
READ: Zimbabweans in SA keep their country ticking over
Since 2009, Zimbabwe has received more than US$4bn through remittances as well as exports of goods and services - services such as my writing for Fin24.
I also told him that I consider all my stories about Zimbabwe positive.
By highlighting areas in which the government or the private sector are struggling, I am actually inviting those with solutions to come and help out.
If I report that a company like Olivine Industries is still using old and dilapidated equipment, I am in a way saying to potential investors: “Here is an opportunity to come and inject fresh capital into the ailing company.”
In our local Shona language we say: “Mwana asingacheme anofira mumbereko,” loosely translated as “a baby who doesn’t cry will die of hunger, strapped on her mother’s back”.
If we were to hide our weaknesses and challenges, those with the potential to help would not know about our situation.
If we do not highlight the flaws of the way we do business or the blemishes on our laws, they will never be corrected and those with the mandate to change them will think they are okay.
* Malcom Sharara is Fin24’s correspondent in Zimbabwe. Views expressed are his own.
