Zimbabwe Inclusive Government Labour and Social Welfare Minister Designate Paurina Mpariwa Gwanyanya faces a daunting task.
Right Honourable Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister (PM) Designate of Zimbabwe announced his maiden contingent of 14 Ministers to the Inclusive Government Cabinet a day before he was due to be sworn in as the substantive PM.
Headed by MDC Secretary General Hon Tendai Biti (MP) Minister of Finance Designate the other 13 are;
Home Affairs – Giles Mutsekwa
Information Communications Technology – Nelson Chamisa
Science and Technology – Heneri Dzinotyiwei
Public Service – Elphas Mukonoweshuro
Energy and Power Development – Elias Mudzuri
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs – Eric Matinenga
Labour and Social Welfare – Paurina Mpariwa-Gwanyanya
Water Resources – Abednico Bhebhe
Health and Child Welfare – Henry Madzorera
State Enterprises – Eddie Cross
National Housing – Fidelis Mhashu
Economic Planning and Development – Elton Mangoma
Public Works – Theresa Makone
In addition to that His Right Honourable also appointed the Deputy Ministers that will be assigned to key Ministries allotted to Zanu PF as below;
Deputy Justice Minister – Jessie Majome
Deputy Agriculture Minister – Roy Bennett
Deputy Defence Minister – Innocent Mudzingwa
He is yet to appoint a further three Deputy Ministers and 5 Resident Minsters or Provincial Governors in consultation with the President of the Unity Government.
Prior to his announcement there was wild speculation on who would be included in the initial line up of Functional Heads in the Inclusive Government mainly focussed on the Finance, Home Affairs, Labour and Social Welfare and Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs.
That has now been put to rest and those who were rooting for names that have been excluded in the guise of pre-emptive speculation will now live with the reputation of preposterous analysts that they are.
The Prime Minister has entrusted the one of the limited portfolios allotted to his party Water Resources to Hon Abednico Bhebhe (MP).
Many Zimbabweans fondly remember him for orchestrating the scuttling the cynical challenge for the position of Speaker of Parliament by Paul Themba Nyathi from Professor Mutambara’s MDC breakaway faction under whose ticket Bhebhe was elected to Parliament underwritten Zanu PF.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs has been entrusted to the capable hands of Hon Advocate Eric Matinenga (MP).
And the Ministry previous Zanu PF regimes failed to tame and politicise resulting in the party’s demise –Labour and Social Welfare- has been entrusted to competent Mufakose Constituency legislator Hon Paurina Mpariwa-Gwanyanya (MP).
There was wide speculation that it would be entrusted to Hon Lucia Matibenga (MP) - a farfetched guess given intra- party controversies surrounding her leadership of the party’s Women Assembly which was exploited by the party’s deposed UK& I provincial leadership of Ephraim Tapa and Julius Sai Mutyambizi Dewa.
For those privileged to know her it did not come as a surprise that she landed the key position. Hon Mpariwa is a loyal and trusted MDC leader and current Deputy Chief Whip of the Party where she deputises Hon Innocent Gonese (MP).
Her Labour political activism dates back to the 1980 when employed by Delta in the flagship retail OK 1st Floor, First Street Branch Ladies Showroom Saleslady she and Mrs Winnie Marira were integral members of the robust Workers Committee chaired by the late Ghandrivha (Ghandi) Mubairenyi.
So effective was the Workers Committee that then HR Executives led by Sanders Masoha (HR Manager), Mrs Chizengeni (Personnel Executive), Abgail Mgugu (Salaries Officer) and Branch HR Officer Agnes Gurupira were ever on their toes to keep pace with it .
And they became an integral part of the Commercial Workers Union led by the late iconic Charles Matumba.
Ever polite and humble yet uncompromising and witty Paurina was to be promoted to the challenging and yet very rewarding position of Furniture Sales Representative where she excelled.
In 1992, she was elected Chairperson of the Women’s Council of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and served up to 1999.She belongs to the Poverty Reduction Forum Network under the Canadian Parliamentary Centre.
She joined the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in 1999. She was elected the Chairperson of the MDC party Women’s Wing and rose through the ranks to Secretary for Labour and Shadow Minister of Labour in 2000. In June 2000 she was elected Member of Parliament for Mufakose Constituency in Harare.
She served as a member of the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Committee in the Fifth Parliament. In October 2003, she was elected to the Pan African Parliament a body she still is a member to date.
She served in the Portfolio Committees of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and also Public Accounts. In the March 2005 elections he was re-elected as a Member of Parliament of the same constituency. She continued to serve in the Committee of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare as well as she was a member of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Industry and International Trade.
Now she has been elevated to lead one of the most critical functional divisions of the Inclusive Government and congratulations are in order for deserved recognition.
There is no doubt at all she will exceed expectations and will leave an indelible mark on management of critical resources in the country.
It was the failed agenda of this ministry that scripted the political gloom that engulfs Zanu PF today and it will be on her shoulders to ensure the government pays attention to unemployment and social challenges bedevilling the country and eradicate the decadence Zanu PF allowed to take root.
Her job will not be made any easier as she inherits a disenchanted formal workforce, undocumented and deregulated informal workforce that thrives on illicit deals that contribute little if anything to state coffers, underfunded social services and generally a polarised and politicised Trade Union environment.
But that is exactly the challenge she must rise up to and tame.
She has to reignite the organised labour concept and restore a work ethic that rewards effort ahead of criminality in economically ravaged Zimbabwe.
Her Ministry complimented with the Public Services Ministry is charged with managing the work environment whose core component is the delicate human resources that has been displaced and impoverished beyond imagination and needs reassurances that it is more rewarding to work and earn a living than engage in Black-racketeering.
On the Social services front she somehow must find ways to eradicate the dependency syndrome nurtured by successive Zanu PF regimes over 20 years of unbridled misrule.
Virtually 90% of the population survives on donations.
If they are not from displaced Zimbabwean workers in the Diaspora then from NGO’s and politicised quasi-fiscal Government indulgences.
Fortunately or rather unfortunately for her, the Finance Ministry under Hon Tendai Biti is unlikely to entertain government Charity in the name of political expediency and those that were living in the comfort of the corrupt systems will be hit hard and bay for her head.
Pensions of whatever nature have long been rendered of no value by hyper inflation and beneficiaries of donations from the state will throng her ministry as access to corrupt political party controlled donations dry up.
The bankrupted and mismanaged National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and its variously abused poverty eradication and mitigation departments will be one area she must pay attention to.
Not only must she strengthen its revenue collection capabilities but she must ensure accountability of its managers many of whom are political appointees.
Another critical area waiting for her undivided attention is how to create conditions that would attract the skilled manpower resources displaced by Zanu PF misrule.
In this she will need to set up a multi faceted inter-ministerial working group that will be tasked with putting in place an attractive package for returning residents.
Such a committee must of necessity encourage displaced residents to return with minimal duty demands imposed on them and grace periods for taxes and duties for employment creating ventures they may wish to establish in the country.
The fastest likely employment creation sectors will be in commercial agriculture and the public service which she must ruthlessly exploit.
The fiscal policies will negatively impact on Workers and the militancy of ZFTU will find fertile ground in which to cause industrial mayhem through wildcat collective job actions triggered by political discontent in Zanu PF.
We have no doubt the MDC Minister will legalise Collective Job Actions that are taken within the confines of the restrictive Labour Relations Act in the Inclusive Government to restrict these illegal strikes to the minimum while she works on the more liberal Labour that is aligned to the Worker philosophy behind the MDC.
To ensure cohesion in industrial sectors we implore her to urgently bring Industrialists and Worker Representative in forum and encourage them to set the ground rules that would govern their conduct in workplace management.
The last thing we expect to see is the Minister relying on heavy handed Police interference to quell legal or illegal job actions for that matter.
The Labour Relations Department must be reinforced with fresh thinking Labour Officers who will ensure faster and just resolution of the many cases of unfair labour practices that are being corruptly stalled.
Workplace Hygiene and Safety as well as compensation for work related infirmities have long been abandoned and will need extra energy to resuscitate.
Antiquated and obsolete lifts, conveyors, plant and machinery is in daily use in many high rise city buildings, mines and every aspect of industrial life in the country.
Factories and mines have long ceased to be inspected for compliance with worker health and safety standards and these must be resuscitated as a matter of urgency.
Employers will put up stiff resistance and threaten closures but Hon Mpariwa must never capitulate and allow them to put workers’ lives at risk.
There is nothing that can replace the human element in production. Any caring enterprise let alone government will tell you that its most crucial resource is the human resource and that importance must reflect in efforts to maintain it.
Training and development levies like MANDATA levies must be utilised for the purposes for which they are levied and that is to train and develop worker skills.
We do not envy the daunting task she has been entrusted but we are sure she will exceed our expectations through crafty usage of networks she has with Labour and Employer representative bodies.
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