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How a new government can ensure success
Arthur Gwagwa, The Zimbabwe Guardian
March 30, 2008

http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/130/ARTICLE/2008/2008-03-30.html

Ever since the last presidential elections, the major theme that has characterised the talk among Zimbabweans is the need for a new and progressive Zimbabwe. Now that a new government, or a recycled and modified one is in the offing, the reality of a new and progressive nation rests on that government making certain key decisions early because success in life comes to those who make key decisions early and determine to live their lives according to such key decisions the rest of their life.

Different political parties attempted to capture what they deem to be national issues that require key decisions. There seems to be consensus across the political divide that the new government-s priority is to address the issue of the economy. I do not quarrel with that consensus, but I wish to define what I deem to be the imperative big picture agenda from a leadership bias.

In life, failure or indeed success is not so much a matter of talent or resources, but it is a matter of perspective which is why very talented people can fail and resource-laden nations can also fail. More than anything, Zimbabwe needs to regain its perspective and get in touch with the founding values that contributed to its early success. Without the right perspective, we might either bark the wrong tree or build and then destroy our gains over night.

In Kenya, they lost sight of the big picture and their perspective in a moment of madness and almost destroyed the nation over night. When they regained their perspective, all the other issues are now falling in place. With the right perspective and the big picture in mind, politicians may disagree but that will not divide people. With this in mind, the Zimbabwe-s new government needs to:

Reconnect with its people
It should get in touch with its people both abroad and at home and acknowledge that it needs them to achieve its goals. It must make a clear, genuine and uncertain invitation and make people feel that they are welcome and they also have a stake in the future of their country.

Most of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have to count the opportunity cost of leaving their safe and secure bases to go for an uncertain future in Zimbabwe where they may be prosecuted even for having dual citizenship. To persuade talented people currently based abroad, the government needs to clearly demonstrate that everyone will be given a choice to succeed in a free society and give equal opportunities to all without discrimination based on the where one comes from, their political affiliation, race and other irrelevant factors. In short, the government must first find its people no matter how hard it is going to be because a government that doesn-t value its people will not last.

Provide hope and a vision for the future
The new government needs to cast or recast a compelling vision that is not only worth living for, but also dying for. As I stated in my previous article, a vision is a clear blueprint of where we are going and therefore becomes a distinct rallying point which serves to unify people to one cause for common good.

In principle, the vision for a sovereign and self-determining Zimbabwe is a very good one, but the new government needs to explain to its people what exactly this means and consult with them on the best way to achieve it. This will enable its people to identify with and also own it.

The vision is there to serve the people and it is the people who make it happen so such people must understand and buy into it first. The nation also needs to agree and begin to do something tangible about the vision .What differentiates visionary people and people with a vision is that visionary people talk so much and do less work whereas people with a vision do less talk and do more work. The new president and his inner team will determine whether people will buy into the vision or not because people buy into a leader first before they buy into his vision.

An audit of the current status
After defining a blueprint of where we want to go as a nation, the new government needs to make an assessment of where we are. We can only know exactly where we are by reflecting and taking stock of the things that are working and those that are not working in the nation and asking ourselves why things are the way they are. Leaders should always go beyond the "what" and ask themselves "why". They can then map an action plan that we will follow from where we are and to where we want to go. The action plan must have performance indicators which show us how far we have travelled and whether we are making progress. Life happens between where we are and where we want to go, therefore we must enjoy where we are on the way to where we are going.

People involvement in planning
The new government must invite its people at every turn to evaluate and revise its plans. In other words it must walk with its people as an acknowledgement that it needs them on the journey. Generally, people all over the world do not have faith in governments because politicians are perceived as arrogant in thinking — that they know it all.

To show how people distrust governments, a story is told of Patrick, an Irish citizen who had lived for years in America and was returning home to Ireland. At the airport he was told that there was now a new government. Patrick replied that, "I don-t care who they are, I hate them." Zimbabwe-s new government has to run an extra mile to persuade cynics like Patrick that a government can be good.

Realisation of existence in the global village
Fifthly, the new government must realise that a free and sovereign Zimbabwe operates in a modern global village and it can not survive in the club of its poor SADC cousins. The new government, therefore, needs a very strong and tactful foreign policy. It might have to make painful concessions in the process but that-s what international relations is all about. The business of protecting a nation-s sovereignty while remaining on the international radar is a delicate balancing act which requires maturity and a certain level of political level-headedness.

In conclusion, failure in life is not so much a lack of talent and resources in-as-much as it is a matter of perspective. Many people and indeed nations that fail are the ones that lost perspective and are reluctant to regain that perspective for one reason or the other. Zimbabwe lost perspective and that-s why we failed. To regain our perspective, the new government must find its people, map where we are coming from, where we want to go and where we are on the journey and make a key decision to set off early. However, life happens between where we are and where we want to go, therefore let's enjoy where we are today on the way to where we are going.

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