By Dr Tafataona Mahoso

IN the last instalment I asked what the reason for existence of the national economic organisation was.
Part of this question can be answered by referring to the Constitution.
The poverty of economic and business reporting can also be demonstrated by counting the number of print and broadcast stories handling serious economic and business challenges, policies and questions without ever referring to what and how the National Constitution provides for such matters.
The Constitution is supposed to represent the common aspirations of all Zimbabweans.
At present, the people are subjected to a great deal of policy confusion and noise similar to what they suffered during the so-called ‘inclusive government’ of ZANU PF and the two MDC formations and yet the National Constitution provides an entire Chapter Two on National Objectives.
Why do economic reporters fail to refer to such objectives when assessing economic policies?
On national development, Section 13 of the Constitution provides as follows:
l The state and all institutions and agencies of government at every level must endeavour to facilitate rapid and equitable development, and in particular must take measures to:
l Promote private initiative and self-reliance;
l Foster agricultural, commercial, industrial, technological and scientific development;
l Foster development of industrial and commercial enterprises in order to empower Zimbabwean citizens; and
l Bring about balanced development of the different areas of Zimbabwe, in particular a proper balance in the rural and urban areas.
l Measures referred to in this section must involve the people in the formulation of development plans and programmes that affect them.
Chapter Two, Section 9 requires the state at every level to “adopt policies and legislation to develop efficiency, competence, accountability and transparency, personal integrity and financial probity in all institutions and agencies of Government at every level and in every public institution in particular.”
Section 13 Subsection 4 requires the state to “ensure that (local) communities benefit from the resources in their areas.”
This elevates the needs of local communities for water, for instance, to a constitutional level.
Section 68 elevates to a constitutional level the right of every person to administrative justice when dealing with bodies, organisations and authorities who make administrative decisions.
This provision of the supreme law of the land implies that all decisions on the delivery and quality water going to famers, for instance:
l must be explained and understood l must be notified in good time to those they are likely to affect
l must, before being carried out, wait for responses from the affected stakeholders until the notice time passes.
Section 194 (1) of the Constitution requires public officials to adhere to the following principles:
l A high standard of professional ethics;
l Efficient and economical use of resources;
l Impartial, fair and equitable provision of water without bias;
l Responsiveness to the needs of the people in reasonable time; and
l The promotion of active participation by stakeholders in decisions, for example, concerning the abstraction, protection and delivery of water.
Section 196, Subsections (1), (2) and (3) elevates requirements for the public behaviour of officers working for any public agency serving the community.
The conduct of such officers must:
l Be consistent with the purposes and objectives of the Constitution of Zimbabwe;
l Demonstrate respect for the people and readiness to serve them;
l Inspire and promote confidence in the office and responsibilities of the officer concerned;
l Stay clear of any actual or perceived conflict between the personal interests of the officer and the interests of the public to be served; and
l Demonstrate and inspire the following qualities in carrying out their duties: objectivity, impartiality, honesty, accountability, discipline and commitment.
These selected provisions help to underline a paradox which the previous (July 22 2016) instalment hinted at: The Constitution makes the people and the local economy the main reasons for existence of national economic organisation, but policy practice is driven by poorly thought-out considerations of external factors and potential foreign investors who are mostly outside our control and over whom we can exercise very limited influence.
The national economy and the people are unfairly over-shadowed by questionable dealings with foreigners and foreign interests.
The question from last week is therefore worth repeating:
What is the purpose of our national economic organisation?
What does the Constitution of Zimbabwe say?
This is a critical question to ask all the time because every economic or financial policy formulation, promotion and implementation is based on certain assumptions being made about the sole or main purpose of national economic organisation.