The Chronicle
Comment
27 February 2009
THE Government should consider calling back professionals who are living in the Diaspora, as the availability of skilled human resources plays a pivotal role in the process of rebuilding the economy.
The Inclusive Government has put its main emphasis on reviving the economy, as the best way to improve the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans. As we write, the government is busy mobilising resources. Several meetings have been held with the donor community and this week, finance ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met to come up with a rescue package for Zimbabwe.
In our lead story, we reveal that SADC has pledged a US$2 billion rescue package for the retail sector, education, health, municipal services and some infrastructure.
Although the Prime Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, last week estimated that at least US$5 billion was required, the SADC finance ministers have agreed on a figure of US$2 billion for the next 10 months.
The achievements of the Inclusive Government so far have been impressive. The Government has convinced teachers to return to work leading to opening of schools next week. The financial assistance the country is receiving from SADC and other donors will go a long way in reviving the business sector.
However, we are worried that the development process might be impeded by shortages of skilled manpower. The brain drain has seen our highly qualified personnel, whose education and training have cost the country greatly in terms of both time and money, leave for better opportunities elsewhere.
We have lost a number of professionals in sectors such as health, education, finance and industry. These people are key in reviving the economy. Money on its own can not revive the economy. We need skilled personnel to implement Government programmes.
There are many Zimbabwean professionals in the Diaspora but most of them are skeptical about returning home to join their countrymen in rebuilding the economy. It is therefore, the responsibility of the Government to assure them that things are changing for the better.
We know for a fact that most of them are not happy where they are. Some have even abandoned their professions to take up menial jobs just to earn a living. Most of them are keen on returning home, as it is not the years one has lived in the Diaspora that count but it is the quality of life one is living.
Of course, not everybody can return home but for those who are tied by business or other concerns, they can still contribute to the growth of our economy by continuing to support private investments and helping to woo investors to Zimbabwe. They should be true ambassadors and help rebuild the image of the country.
We applaud the Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture, Mr David Coltart, for inviting teachers who left in the past two years to report at their work stations with no questions asked. We therefore urge other ministers to assess skilled manpower requirements in their sectors and extend an olive branch to our professionals in the Diaspora and locally.
As Martin Luther King once said: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.†Let us invite our professionals to come back home and help in the rebuilding of our economy.