By Prince Njagu- Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo, a ZANU PF top dog mumbled during an interview with a German public international broadcaster, DW Conflict Zone when the host, Sarah Kelly asked the minister if their political party’s priorities were misplaced.

Moyo who was appointed to the position of minister after having been the face of the military during the coup that saw an end to Robert Mugabe’s four-decade rule over Zimbabwe.

Moyo was a short-lived hero, during the military coup and has since turned into a villain as the minister and his other ZANU PF cadres continue to plunder through the resources in the country.

Civil servants earn an average of US$1,80 a day, but through minister Moyo’s approval, top of the range cars ranging between US$40 000 to US$50 000 per vehicle were acquired for diplomats.

The same civil servants are regards as the middle class in the Zimbabwean economy, and them being paid such a paltry figure whilst government officials are on a car shopping spree of posh cars is disheartening.

The Zimbabwe government is failing to pay civil servants a minimum living wage but is prioritizing the acquisition of luxurious vehicles for diplomats.

When asked by Kelly whether his administrations priorities were misplaced, the Minister stammered and blamed the current economic crisis on sanctions and poor management from the previous administration.

These shocking revelations raise a lot of questions from Zimbabweans and the international community, as the same ZANU PF which Moyo is part of is the same administration which has been running the country ever since 1980.

The same policies which the Robert Mugabe led ZANU PF regime used are the same policies which the second dispensation as alluded to by minister Moyo are using.

“The change in 2017 and the advent of this government, which is the second dispensation, was as a result of a lot of issues, but among those was the issue of the economy, and the second republic took over an economy which had been in distress for many years, for different reasons, some of the reasons could be sanctions, and then some of the reasons could be that of management,” the foreign minister said.

“We have got to take painful decisions to rectify the economy,” he went on to say.

When Kelly referred to the subject on the first instance, minister Moyo outright denied having acquired the fleet of the cars worth millions whilst the Zimbabwean populace were living in anguish.

“I’m not so sure Sarah which vehicles you are talking about,” said Moyo.

The minister only admitted to having authorised the acquisition of these vehicle after Kelly pointed out to the fact that the minister had presented this information before the parliamentary committee earlier on.

Such inhuman acts reflect on how out of tune the government is with the needs of the people; and denial of the truth even in the presence of evidence is the nature of ZANU PF. A new dispensation would not prioritise acquiring vehicles for diplomats when millions of Zimbabweans are starving during this lockdown.

When an economy is on a free fall and out of control, the government should be prioritising other critical economic issues.

A new dispensation would not have its priorities misplaced like this, and denial of how the party’s priorities are misplaced with such poor decision making is a clear indication of how ZANU PF is out of touch with reality.

An administration which serves the will of the people would priorities serving the public; reviving the health sector, paying doctors and nurses, who are always on strike over poor wages.

These promises of reforms are just shallow phrases which the ZANU PF administration uses every other election year.

Corruption and human rights issues are still of great concern within Zimbabwe. Oppositional political figures are being abducted and tortured.

When the minister was confronted about the violence within the country and the use of security forces, the minister only managed to state that there were provisions in the constitution for freedom of expression. Then he went on to justify the violent misconducts by the security forces by saying that violent demonstrations were not allowed in the country.

“But there is no freedom in the constitution of violence at demonstrations”, he said.

The minister justified the use of security forces to getting people into conformity to the will of the regime.

The Zimbabwean economy is at its worst level in a decade, the inflation levels are skyrocketing by the day, and people are living in anguish while the corrupt government purchases vehicles.

The minister’s utterances to tackle corruption head-on are just but sentiments. His words do not tally with what the government is doing.

There is no justification for the acquisition of top of the range fleet of cars and then blame the countries problems on sanctions.

DW Conflict Zone host Sarah Kelly challenged the foreign minister that blaming sanctions for Zimbabwe’s woes was ZANU PF’s way of denying their failings and they were using sanctions as a scapegoat.

“The whole gamut of sanctions to this country has caused serious and unintended consequences,” said minister Moyo.

Sarah concluded by saying that the countries problems were as a result of economic mismanagement from the government.