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The new ministers and deputy ministers who were sworn in last Friday should hit the ground running because the people want results yesterday. The ministers and deputy ministers were appointed at a time when the government is accelerating efforts to woo direct foreign investment. The nation through the President, Cde Robert Mugabe, has entrusted these men and women with the task of ensuring that the Zanu-PF government delivers on its promises. The task at hand is to turn around the economy and most new ministers and deputy ministers have confirmed that President Mugabe has challenged them to deliver through their respective ministries.

The government has come up with a cocktail of measures meant to attract Foreign Direct Investment and these include amending the Companies Act and other relevant investment regulations in order to align them with the best business practices. The government has realised that some investors are being frustrated by long and protracted procedures that they are subjected to in order to invest in the country.

The government intends to reduce the “starting of a business period” in line with the 10-Point Plan for Economic Growth outlined by President Mugabe in his recent State of the Nation Address. An Inter-Agency Platform co-ordinated by the Office of the President and Cabinet will now handle issues of investors intending to invest in the country. Last Friday five technical working groups held a workshop on Creating a Conducive Investment Climate.

The workshop’s thrust was, among other things, to come up with ways of reducing the waiting period for investors. Addressing participants to the workshop, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, said the measures being implemented were meant to improve the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe.

He said it was imperative for permanent secretaries and heads of State enterprises and parastatals to have a buy in and support the government’s Rapid Results Initiative meant to attract investors. The newly appointed ministers and deputies, we want to believe, are enthused to be part of the winning team.

These men and women should have the energies and zeal to take Zimbabwe forward and this is only possible if they commit themselves. The President cannot continue to whip government ministers to perform. It is therefore incumbent upon each and every government minister to deliver and justify his or her appointment to that post. President Mugabe challenged the newly appointed ministers to clean up and stop corruption in their respective ministries and this is a very serious challenge that could be used to measure the ministers’ performance.

Government ministers and all those in senior positions in government should be men and women of high integrity whose conduct is beyond reproach. The President’s Office should not hesitate to remove individuals who fail to measure up to expectations. There have been corruption allegations levelled against cabinet ministers in the past and there is a need to guard against this as this tarnishes the image of the government and the country.

We want to once again implore government ministers and deputies to remove their jackets and get down to business because Zimbabwe’s industry should be back on its rails and start producing not just for the nation’s consumption but export as well. Cities like Bulawayo should retain their status of being the country’s industrial hub and there is no reason to fail because the country is endowed with both natural resources wanted by industries and the required skilled manpower.

Each year our universities churn out thousands of graduates who have the requisite skills and the challenge is to create jobs for them while others should direct their energies at creating their own jobs.