Misihairabwi-Mushonga disappointed

BULAWAYO — Former minister of regional integration and international cooperation, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga is disappointed her ministry was abolished following the assumption of power by ZANU-PF after the July 31 harmonised elections.
The Movement for Democratic Change secretary general believes that ZANU-PF should have retained the ministry as it continues engagements with the rest of the world.
“I am disappointed and perhaps much more at a personal level,” she told a joint Parliament sitting recently.

“The reason why I said I am disappointed Madam Speaker, at a personal level is that in this new government, we now have decided to do away with the ministry of regional integration.”
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said in the absence of the ministry, women who are actively involved in cross border trading might encounter frustrating challenges at the borders.

“You cannot do anything until you agree to the issues of intra trade and intra trade is buttressed by the work that our women do as they cross borders to facilitate inter-trade. The way women are treated at these border posts, is unacceptable,” she said.

But political observers this week said the government did the right thing by doing away with the former Misihairabwi-Mushonga-led ministry.
Michael Mdladla-Ndiweni, a political analyst, said the ministry of regional integration was a creation of the power-sharing arrangement, which means that its relevance ended with the dissolution of the unity government.

“People like Misihairabwi-Mushonga should be reminded that we have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that handles all diplomatic affairs, regional and international relations,” said Mdladla-Ndiweni.
He said the retention of the regional integration ministry would have been a duplication of effort, which could have unnecessarily burdened the fiscus.

Unless there are outstanding bilateral agreements that were still in the pipeline, Zimbabweans are unlikely to lose anything from its disbanding, argued Mdladla-Ndiweni.
The ministry was established to mobilise resources, facilitate trade and co-ordinate regional integration initiatives among other issues.

It received the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Transport and Infrastructure Project of Excellence Award in October 2010 in recognition of trade facilitation initiatives it was pursuing.
It was actively involved in the implementation of the Chirundu One Stop Border Post between Zimbabwe and Zambia, which saw the official launch of Chirundu as the first ever One Stop Border Post in Africa in December 2009.

The ministry also made efforts to integrate Zimbabwe into the regional and international community and undertook the function of providing market and commercial intelligence to local business people and companies.
It also worked towards restoring the country’s battered image in the world of the eyes of the region and the international community.

Sipho Nyoni, a political analyst, said Misihairabwi-Mushonga’s former ministry had already served its purpose.
“At the time it was introduced, it was very important,” he said. “This was at a time when Zimbabwe was coming out of deep isolation due to the political upheavals. There was a need therefore to engage the international community. Whether that was successful or not, that is another issue.”

He added that during her tenure, Misihairabwi-Mushonga never did anything remarkable in her ministry to continue being remembered for.
Another political analyst, Mgcini Nyoni said: “The ministry of regional integration and international cooperation is spread across all the ministries and does not need a separate ministry.”

He added: “If a ministry directly responsible for production had been scrapped we would be worried as Zimbabwe desperately needs productivity.”
Other ministries which were there in the inclusive government but were done away with in the new dispensation are the ministry of state enterprises and parastatals which was headed by Gorden Moyo of the MDC-T and the economic planning and investment promotion ministry led by Tapiwa Mashakada of the same political party.