The African Executive caught up with Sera Njenga who briefly visited Zimbabwe recently and asked her to share the Zimbabwe experience.

Sunset in Zimbabwe                   Photo courtesy

The rate of unemployment is too high and the Zimbabwe dollar has been faced out. The country is and now using US dollars to carry out transactions. Most places in the country experience shortage of electricity and water most of the time. Most people cannot afford lunch, I was informed, most people normally have one meal a day.

Did you admire anything in Zimbabwe?

The people of Zimbabwe are strong and resilient in spite of the demotivating political and economic turmoil that has been unleashed on them. Some of the roads I used, mainly to the airport and in the city centre were really beautiful. Trees line those roads. Drivers don’t flout traffic rules. For example, they obey traffic lights. Some Zimbabweans create  very attractive works of art such as stone carvings.

What shocked you?

The discrepancy in income earnings. There are very rich people and very poor people. This is evident in the kind of vehicles people drive. On one hand, you see people in very sleek vehicles while on the other hand, you see people who can’t afford public means. Then, Zimbabweans believe that Kenyans athletes employ black magic to win international games. Looking at banking, most organizations bank in Botswana and yet they operate in Zimbabwe. Most individuals don’t save their cash in the banks. They withdraw all the money the minute they receive their salary. Prices of commodities in Zimbabwe are very high, for example, to browse for one hour, I had to part with 760 Kenya shillings and even the internet itself is not readily available and steady. When shopping, you get a credit note from the supermarket because they dint have enough small denominations for USD and yet they quote the prices of the goods even with cents, for example, 2.11 USD, 1.86 USD, etc. Zimbabwe’s income tax rate is very high, as high as 47.5%.

What can Kenya and Zimbabwe learn from each other?

I wasn’t in Zimbabwe for long. I was just there for three days and I can’t make a prescription from this short experience. However like in Kenya, one could sense that the people of Zimbabwe want a government that is accountable to them and provides a conducive environment for them to exploit their potential. Bad governance ruins a country’s socio-political and economic wellbeing.