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Student Publications
Author: Gideon Gono
Title:
Consesus Building, Social Contracts And The Role Of Visionary Leadership And Strategic Management In Socio-Economic Turnarounds
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CHAPTER ONE
1.
INTRODUCTION THE UNIVERSE OF HUMANITY AND
CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL FORCES
A snapshot of the world economy at any given point in historic time
starkly reveals that
the disparities between rich nations and poor nations has not
narrowed and in most cases
has widened, with innumerable societies living under extreme
poverty. The United
Nations defines extreme poverty as that case where on average an
individual lives under
US$1 per day.
In trying to understand the root cause of this "sticky" nature of
poverty, several factors
emerge which sit at the foundation of socio-economic retrogression.
These factors are:
(a)
The extent to which the world order has under-estimated the
importance of
historical and initial conditions of given regions, given countries,
and of a given
people. The central thesis here is that initial conditions set up an
important
dimension that either springs nations to prosperity or dent a
peoples regenerative
capacity in growing and developing their economies. This point will
be developed
further in the Thesis;
(b)
The absence of or skewed nature of the dialogue and consensus
building
platforms at national regional and international levels. A look at
the history of
global flash points of civil unrest, wars, and social decay reveals
that one of the
critical missing links are episodes of communication break-downs
which fostered
civil strife and wars;
(c)
The worlds underestimation of the centrality of Visionary and
Principled
leadership in instilling the essential fabrics of cohesive
discipline, integrity,
loyalty and hardworking among the people;
4
(d)
The inert greed of richer nations, richer regions, richer villages
and richer
individuals that invisibly propels the phenomenon of "the curse of
natural
resources" where predominantly cases of abundance of natural
resources have
historically turned out to have been a paradoxical source of
economic deprivation
and civil strife for the weaker sections of society;
Extensive documented economic histories of both developing and
contemporary industrialized economies is fraught with cases where
availability of abundant natural resources can actually become the
seed for
chaotic disharmony among a countrys nationals, as well as with other
external countries and institutions. A case in point are the
multiplicities of
civil wars that erupted in many parts of the world on the back of
such minerals
as diamonds (Sierra Leone) and oil (The Middle East, Nigeria);
In the case of Zimbabwe, the prevalence of high-value minerals and
vast tracts
of arable land has been a defined source of both internal and
external
frictional tensions. The Land Reform program had to be implemented
as an
inevitable course, against the background where the majority of
Zimbabweans
had continued to squeeze a living from non-productive, rocky patches
of land
into which they had been driven by the former colonial masters;
(e)
The role of religion and societal notions of spirituality in
polarizing humanity also
remains a largely underestimated causal force in explaining the
global tensions
that characterize the world we live in today;
(f)
The amazing deficiency of the strategic "9 Cs" in societal
progression. In his
book "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?", Lee Iacocca identified the
strategic
Leadership 9Cs as:
5
That leaders at all levels in society have to
show CREATIVITY through
thinking outside the box;
That leaders have to show CURIOSITY through stepping outside
their
comfort zones and listening to good advice;
That leaders have to be effective COMMUNICATORS through
ability to
face reality and telling the truth;
That leaders have to have CHARACTER by knowing what is right
and what
is wrong;
That leaders have to have COURAGE through commitment to frank
dialogue;
That leaders have to have CONVICTION characterized by an
inner burning
passion for what they do to progress their societies;
That leaders ought to have CHARISMA through the ability to
inspire others;
That leaders have to he COMPETENT through knowing what they
are
doing; and
That leaders in society must show COMMON SENSE in all that
they do.
Corporate leaders, village leaders, church leaders and political
leaders must,
therefore, embrace the 9 Cs so as to directly make positive
installments in the
dismantling of the strains to humanity;
(g)
General inertia to implementing set programs at the household,
corporate,
governmental, regional or global levels. Often the reasons for this
inertia range
from sheer fear of making mistakes; deliberate avoidance of doing
what is right
for selfish political expediency, laziness; mere lack of competency;
or unbridled
pursuit of selfish options that lead to undue self enrichment;
(h)
The lack of or delayed global response to natural calamities such as
droughts,
diseases, floods, Tsunamis, earthquakes and global warming;
6
(i)
Limited global consensus on the ideal formula and strategies to form
an effective
response to the hazards of money laundering and terrorism; and
(j)
Poverty, as a social ailment that strengthens the magnetic fields of
geopolitical
tensions and exploitative tendencies within humanity.
Confronting these centrifugal global forces at the local micro,
national macro and
international level occupies the minds and hearts of contemporary
societies, giving
character to what distinguishes one village from the other; one
province from the other;
one country from the other and one continent from the other. In the
case of Zimbabwe,
the countrys 27 years of political independence have largely been
marked by a slow and
protracted struggle for economic empowerment of the majority of
Zimbabweans,
culminating in the countrys Land Reform Program that swung into full
gear in year
2000, albeit there had been earlier attempts in this regard. What
followed this tipping
point in the history of the country will take generations of
literary thinking and writing to
fully capture, as all sorts of vilifications and conspiracies seem
to have been triggered
from this attempt by Zimbabweans to rectify injustices from their
painful colonial past.
For one to fully appreciate the manner and texture of why interests
may clash in societies
thereby warranting the interventions of THE ART OF CONSENSUS
BUILDING,
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT, an often effective
starting point is the appreciation of the basic intersection of the
resource availability
space and the boundless horizon of human wants. By their nature,
resources are typically
scarce, meaning that they are available in amounts and forms that
are insufficient to meet
the unlimited human wants. This dichotomy of boundless human wants
competing for
space on limited resources is the root cause of all human strife.
Reconciling the two, thus,
requires a minimum level of optimal consensus building, under a well
defined scale of
preferences that attaches greater priority to most needy areas.
A further complication arises in coming up with that scale of
preferences that lists
societal priorities towards which the scarce resources are to be
channeled. Others would
7
rather that role be assigned to the bare
knuckles of market forces; whilst others have faith
in the collective thinking of centralized planning, under which
Government decides the
broad profile of resource allocation in the economy, with minimum
allowance for free
play of market forces of demand and supply. More predominantly,
however, most
economies have tended to rely on a preferred mix of the two poles;
that is, allowing
market forces to apply where it is deemed most appropriate but at
the same time,
implementing some structured command allocations where the need to
protect vulnerable
groups of society is an overriding objective.
Historical and contemporary socio-economic thinkers have often made
the mistake of
wanting to prescribe one version of resource management and
allocation as the most
ideal, one size fits all prescription under which all economies,
regardless of their local
conditions, must adopt in managing their economies systems. Just as
there are cultural
diversities; just as there are diverse initial conditions for
nations; just as religious values
differ; and just as the endowments of natural resources differ;
different economies and
different societies necessarily respond differently to different
stimuli. Ignoring this fact
renders any attempt to thrust the one size fits all approach largely
ineffective in achieving
the primary objectives of macroeconomic stability, economic growth,
tranquil co-
existence of humanity and general prosperity of societies. The one
size fits all approach,
thus, is one of the modern tragedies of contemporary thinking in the
management of the
affairs of humanity.
From the classical postulates on the political economy of nations
rooted in the works of
Adam Smith (1723-1790) and Carl Marx (born 1818), and later expanded
by successive
economists, the following core factors of production have been
identified as central in the
prosperity of nations:
(a)
Land, capturing all the gifts of nature that are at the disposal of
a people;
(b)
Labor (human mental and physical effort in the production process);
8
(c)
Capital (all man-made factors of production); and
(d)
Entrepreneurship (the risk-taking phenomenon by investors who set
aside current
income for future production).
Defined from first principles, land captures all the
God-given natural resources at the
disposal of a country in its socio-economic endeavors. This includes
mineral deposits,
waterways, forests, arable tracts of land, gas reserves, sands that
go into construction and
quarries, among many other variants.
Gylfason et al (2001) argued that: "Natural resources are an
important source of national
wealth around the world; yet experience shows that natural riches
are neither necessary
nor sufficient for economic prosperity and progress". This view
clearly reflects the
tragedy which characterizes most developing nations where the
abundance of natural
resources does not translate into buoyant economic growth, with the
economies instead
registering subdued development.
The converse to this observation implies that on the success arena,
it is conceivable and
empirically proven that some countries which do not have abundant
natural resources can
and have done phenomenally well in graduating their economies into
super-powers of
wealth and societal wellbeing. Examples of such countries that have
developed
mountains of economic fortune with minimal natural resource
endowments that
immediately come to mind are:
(a)
Hong Kong;
(b)
Japan;
(c)
South Korea;
(d)
Luxemburg;
(e)
Singapore; and
(f)
Switzerland.
9
These countries fit well within the cohort of
the worlds richest countries and yet they
clearly do not owe much of their national wealth to natural resource
endowments.
Converse to this spectrum are many countries, particularly in Africa
that are vastly
endowed with natural resources and yet their growth and development
record has
remained largely impaired and sluggish over the past century.
Without doubt,
fundamental historical factors, such as the corrosive effects of
years of grueling colonial
occupation and plunder to a large measure, explain this slow pace of
socio-economic
advancement.
In the case of Zimbabwe, the country was under the yoke of colonial
occupation for close
to a century and during this period, virtually all forms of wealth
emanating from the
countrys natural endowments was a preserve for the few minority.
This brings into the
fore the strong view that the pace of socio-economic progression in
a country cannot be
analyzed in isolation from the primary initial historical conditions
forming the roots of
that country. Initial conditions, thus, define and characterize the
extent and depth of the
"catch-up deficit" which a country has to plug off before giving
meaningful fruits of
prosperity to the majority of its people through macroeconomic
policy interventions.
For a people to better organize their core factors of production;
that is land, labor, capital
and entrepreneurship, there must be a supportive regional and global
context that acts as
reinforcing glue, rather than a source of hemorrhage to internal
efforts. Where either the
region or the global context in which a country exists is exerting
conspiracies and
pressure, through for instance the whip of declared and undeclared
sanctions, for
whatever reason, the tendency is that well meaning internal policies
may be rendered
ineffective, leading to adverse unintended consequences on the
majority of the people.
The debate on the efficacy of sanctions in dealing with
extra-national or intercontinental
disputes has grabbed the attention of the world for many decades
now, with others
arguing that such sanctions are meant to punish those that are
deemed to be in default in
so far as the ideals of governance or conformity with international
law is concerned.
Increasingly, however, the same world is awakening to the observed
reality that by and
10
large, such sanctions and the resort to brute
force are generally blunt instruments that
have unimaginable collateral damage on multitudes of innocent
children, the old aged,
the disabled and well meaning members of society.
Increasingly, the world is awakening to the shrill calls for a
re-look at the intervention by
the USA in Iraq; calls for a re-look at the attitude of the world on
the Sudanese
Humanitarian crisis; calls for a new formula on the Middle East
crisis; calls for global
centers to take bold steps to halt the fast paced dragon of global
warming; calls for the
total restructuring and reforms of the multilateral institutions
such as the United Nations,
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank; calls for
an agreed
framework on how to deal with the global threats of terrorism,
without leaving too much
discretion to singular powerful nations; and calls for sanctions on
Zimbabwe to be lifted.
Predominantly, these calls, noble as they are, are remain largely
unanswered due to the
multiplicity of conflicts of interests among global players, most of
which have their
origins rooted in the exploitation of natural resources.
THEORETICAL DEBATE ON THE LINK BETWEEN NATURAL
RESOURCES AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROWTH AND
PROSPERITY
In a startling piece of empirical research, Gylfason and Gylfi
(2001) contented, rather
counter-intuitively, that "natural resources are an essential
exogenous factor that can
hamper economic growth through macroeconomic channels as well as
through
institutions." (p.2)
On the flip side of this counter-intuitive spectrum of thought lies
the hypothesis proffered
by Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2001) who argued that living
conditions during
colonial epochs dictated whether Europeans decided to settle down in
the colonies and
build European institutions there. Under this postulation, a
countrys economic
11
performance depends on current institutions,
which depend on past institutions, which in
turn depend on living conditions in colonial times.
In their formulation, Acemoglu et al (2001) argue that once
institutions are accounted for,
there is no room left for other explanations of economic growth
having to do with
economic policy or geography. In reality, however, there is a
simultaneous feed between
a countrys institutional orientation and the breed of natural
resources it has. For instance,
in countries that have ports and access to fishing in the open seas,
the structure of their
economies will tilt more towards fishing and ship cargo handling
institutions, which
would not be found in land-locked countries. This way, natural
resource endowments
dictate the institutional framework.
In their well publicized study, Sachs and Warner (1995) sought to
unravel the link
between natural resources and economic growth, using time series
data across a number
of countries. Their findings, which at first sight is puzzling was
that good growth
performance appears incompatible with a share of natural resources
in excess of 15% of
national wealth. In Sachs and Warner (1995) the following two
clusters of countries
emerged.
The Growth Natural Resources Nexus
Economic Growth
Low
High
Low
Cluster B: Botswana,
China, Indonesia, Japan,
Dominance
Korea, Malaysia,
of natural
Mauritius, South Korea
resources
High
Cluster A: Chad, Madagascar, Mali,
in national (more
Niger, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and
wealth
than
Central African Republic, Zimbabwe,
25%)
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Source:
Adapted from Sachs and Warner (1995)
12
Under Cluster A, the countries have high natural resources
prevalence, yet they
experienced low economic growth over the sample period. Cluster B
countries on the
other hand have a narrow natural resources spectrum and yet they
registered phenomenal
economic growth. The above results, which emerged from data analysis
over the period
1965 to 1998 prompt the searching question: what factors lie behind
the different growth
performances between the two clusters?
Need for savings and investment
In trying to answer this question, Zoega and Gylfason (2001) argued
that the key factors
distinguishing the two clusters are savings and investment ratios.
The empirical data
showed that in the high endowments low growth cluster, their
savings and investment
ratios were very low, at under 5%; whilst the natural resource-free,
high-growth group
had savings and investment rates of 32%. This result is intuitive
given that on their own,
natural resources can not propel a countrys growth performance if
not transformed into
productive wealth through extraction.
But to extract, a country needs investment. To have investment from
own sources, a
country needs to have a strict saving culture. Thus, the policy
prognosis is that a country
must vigorously promote investments that would work to transform
natural endowments
into real wealth. Where internal savings are relatively low, when
compared to the needed
investment, the internal savings gap has to be closed by the
attraction of foreign
investment inflows.
Technological progress push
Nordhaus (1992) carried out a rigorous research study which showed
that the steady-state
growth rate of output per capita in an economy with natural
resources is proportional to
the rate of technological progress adjusted for a "population growth
drag" due to
13
diminishing returns as well as a "natural
resource depletion drag" due to declining levels
of exhaustible natural resources. The role of science and
technology, research and
development, therefore needs no over-emphasis in the quest to steer
economic growth
and development to high thresholds.
The "curse" from natural resources
In another sterling piece of contemporary natural resource
accounting, Auty (2001) and
Gelb (1998) contented that one reason why economies with high
natural resources may
actually face subdued economic growth prospects is that huge natural
resource potentials
may create opportunities for large-scale corruption in the economy
which diverts
resources away from more socially fruitful economic activity. This
view finds support in
the work of Tornell and Lane (1998) who constructed a theoretical
model that showed
that terms of trade windfalls and natural resource booms may trigger
political interaction
among powerful interest groups, which if not resolved may lead to
civil wars. Also
Collier and Hoeffler (1998) show empirically how natural resources
increase the
probability of civil war.
Knight, Loayza and Villaneuva (1996) also present a vivid adverse
dimension caused by
natural resources and that is the high prospects of foreign
governments imposing
sanctions or invading the endowed country with destructive
consequences, aggravated by
high outlays into non-productive defence by the victim nations.
The wars in Sudan, Iraq and the heartless sanctions currently
imposed on Zimbabwe,
following the countrys implementation of the Land Reform Program,
can not be
convincingly separated from these countries rich endowments with
valuable natural
resources. A new approach to the resolution of differences must,
therefore be designed;
one that recognizes and distills away the implicit interests by
super-powers to plunder
natural resources from the victim countries in the midst of
"laboratory-generated"
conflicts, they themselves will be steering.
14
The Dutch Disease
Another logical explanation of why natural resources can
counter-intuitively invite slow
economic growth is the Dutch disease phenomenon. A natural resource
boom and the
attendant surge in raw material exports, if not carefully managed,
can drive up real
exchange rate appreciation which in itself can kill manufacturing
and services exports in
the home country.
The name Dutch disease emanates from the experience that occurred in
Holland in the
1960s when they discovered vast gas reserves. The export revenues
from the gas enclave
saw the exchange rate of that country strengthening, which weakened
the generality of
Hollands manufactured export base.
The effects of this Dutch disease are well illustrated in Corden
(1984); Gylfason;
Herbertsson and Zoega (1999); Sachs and Warner (1999), with the most
debilitating ones
being the creation of medium to long-term unemployment, as well as
systematic de-
industrialization. Countries that have high rates of natural
resources occurrences must,
therefore, be careful that erratic booms and busts in these sectors
do not inject poison on
the rest of the economy through the real exchange rate feed.
False sense of security
Rodreguez and Sachs (1999) also bring up an interesting dimension
that is often caused
by the abundance in a countrys natural resources. These luminary
authors argue that
abundant natural resources may imbue people with a false sense of
security and this can
impair policy-makers need for good and growth-friendly economic
management
programs, including free trade, bureaucratic efficiency,
institutional quality and
sustainable development.
15
In the case of Zimbabwe, the vast resources of
platinum, coal-bed methane gas, coal,
nickel, chromites, and diamonds, among many other minerals must be
carefully managed
so that they do not become unexploited sources of a false sense of
security. Minerals, like
any other natural resource are only useful to the extent they have
been dug out and
converted into absolute exchangeable wealth.
The Research Thesis
The foregoing landscape of contemporary forces in the global
environment paints a
platform where societies require new thinking and new approaches to
the resolution of
strategic questions of how to stabilize economies; how to reconcile
regional and
international differences and on how to achieve set goals, be it at
the household, factory,
governmental or international level. Such new thinking has to infuse
the core tenets of
how consensus can be built; core tenets of how to get people to
saying "yes" in coming to
mutually beneficial outcomes from initial points of divergence.
The central thesis of this research work is, therefore, to unravel
the central factors and
tactics that can be deployed in dissolving the underlying causes of
humanitys socio-
economic and political ailments that account for limited consensus
in policy formulation
and implementation. In articulating the core of the "the strains
to the universe of
humanity," it is the objective of this research to clearly
characterize the core tenets of
consensus-building, dialogue and the formation of social
contracts, as well as the
role that visionary leadership at every level of human existence
lead to stability and
sound socio-economic and political progression.
It is my contention that every mode of social, economic, political
or religious imbalance
can be nudged back on the rails of stability through some
"steady-state" level of
consensus-building process. Ultimately, therefore, equilibrium
broadly defined as the
"ideal state of affairs", whether social, religious, economic or
political, has to be
anchored on one form of a "social contract" or another. This applies
even in the homes!
16
The scope of this Thesis is, therefore, to walk through the
socio-economic and political
histories of a pool of nations, delineating the modes and roles that
were played by the
phenomena of consensus-building and social contracts.
The Thesis also seeks to draw lessons from biographies of luminary
leaders across the
world, underscoring the significance of clear visions, strategy and
effective management
and implementation of economic programs for the establishment of
macroeconomic
stability, growth and development.
It is my fervent aspiration that through this Thesis, the reader
will be presented with a
concise, simple and practical nucleus of empirical evidence on how
the principles of
consensus-building, social contracts, and visionary leadership do
make all the difference
in shaping nations, regions and the global village towards greatness
in so far as the
quality of life for humanity is concerned.
METHODOLOGY
As is fitting in the realm of social sciences, the methodology
followed in this Thesis is
one where firstly a review of illuminating literatures in done to
expose the various
schools of thought on the subject of Social Contracts and consensus
building. This is the
followed by the deployment of my own personal experiences in the
fields of negotiation,
dispute resolution, strategic management, leaderships, turnaround
planning, as well the
economic history of Zimbabwe.
In order to gather empirical evidence on the general publics and
policy makers views on
salient episodes in Zimbabwes economic history, the survey method
will be used. Under
this framework, random samples of at least 500 respondents will be
drawn, and
questionnaires administered before the data is analyzed.
Econometrically, a sampling
17
strata is regarded as significantly large if
the sample population is equal to or greater than
30. In this case, therefore, the target sample size of 500 is
statistically logical.
Empirical evidence will be sought through this method on the
following pertinent areas:
What the public and policy makers think explains the limited success
in
Zimbabwes structural adjustment programs and other successive
economic
policy programs.
The publics and policy makers views on where greater priority needs
to be
placed in economic reforms, so as to promote cohesion in the context
of the
Social Contract.
The publics and policy makers views on why Zimbabwes Social Contract
framework has been sticky in terms of its finalization and
implementation; and
The publics and policy makers projections of the Zimbabwean economy
over a
5-year future horizon.
The threads and nodal points arising from the above discourse would
then be pieced
together to distill relevant policy recommendations applicable to
those in the realm of
socio-economic decision-making, as well as those in the academia.
RELEVANCE OF THESIS
A detailed appreciation of the fundamental factors that shape the
establishment of
successful Social Contracts is an indispensable asset in the realms
of macroeconomic
policy formulation, international negotiation, as well as strategic
management in the
contemporary corporate world. Against this background therefore,
this Thesis will be an
invaluable tool in adding on to the knowledge base that would be at
the disposal of
todays policy-makers.
18
As has been highlighted in the foregoing, this
Thesis will deploy the survey technique to
probe the publics perceptions on pertinent policy areas, as well as
the general projections
of where the Zimbabwean economy would be in 5 years time from 2007.
The survey
results will not only illuminate future policy decision-making
processes, but will also
serve as a barometer of how Zimbabwes general public interact with
and comprehend
key issues on their economy.
My purpose is also to present a compact reference point for the
academia who are
interested in economic turnarounds, negotiation, consensus-building,
as well as the
development of innovative solutions to real life challenges through
the act of "thinking
outside the box."
ORGANIZATION OF WORK
The rest of the Thesis is organized as follows; first I present a
brief economic history of
Zimbabwe, identifying the major policies and programs that were
implemented since
political independence in 1980. This outline will be followed by an
empirical review on
Social Contracts, where they have worked well, as well as historical
epochs when the
breakdown of dialogue led to bloody wars and general retrogression
of humanity.
The above exposition will be followed by a discussion of
International Trade as another
area where intense consensus has to be built among nations. The
treatment here will also
focus on the major arguments for trade restrictions among nations,
itself a rather counter-
intuitive phenomenon given the virtues of free trade in contemporary
thinking.
Drawing from the key points in the Thesis, I will wind up the study
by pooling together
the major policy issues and recommendations in the Conclusions and
General
Discussions Chapter at the end.
19
CHAPTER 2
2.
AN ECONOMIC HISTORY ZIMBABWE
Indeed, the core of macroeconomic and other social programs is the
ultimate objectives
of promoting vibrant productive sectors; creation of employment
opportunities through
active investment horizons; creation of equitable distribution of
national wealth;
generation of foreign exchange inflows in amounts sufficient to
cover current and future
import requirements; balanced national development, marked by the
general increase in
living standards for the majority of the population; and general
peace and stability,
among other aspirations.
In gravitating towards these ideals, typically, every country,
region, or continents socio-
political, or economic landscape will be in a constant state of
flux, with new inter-
temporal states of the environment manifesting in ways that call
upon policy makers to
rethink, re-design and question the validity of past knowledge, past
assumptions and pre-
set objectives. By its nature, human behavior is both complex and to
a large measure,
unpredictable, and this arising out of the intrinsic diversity of
social cohorts, within the
same country, within the same city, or village, more so at different
points in time.
The developing worlds attempts at "playing catch-up" with the first
world in terms of
modernization of production, institutional, infrastructural and
other social ideals have
often floundered due to the lack of coherent pivots of strategy upon
which policies and
programs are formulated and implemented. The graveyards of failed
turnaround
economic programs are fraught with half-baked strategies, which for
lack of pertinent
depth have either omitted key components or have fired
implementation cylinders that
seriously lacked on proper sequencing.
The present Zimbabwean economy is a result of historical legacies
which date back to the
period British settlers arrived into the country. When the settlers
arrived in 1890, there
20
were traditional agriculturalists dating back
some 2000 years. The farmers who grew a
wide variety of crops practiced shifting cultivation.
The British South Africa Company (BSAC) established rule over the
then Southern
Rhodesia in 1890 and its rule lasted for about 25 years. This is the
period when land
appropriation by whites started and it also marked the birth of the
dual agrarian structure
that exists today. Reserves, which in essence were concentration
camps for the native
locals, were located in the remote and drier parts of the country
and by 1913; a total of
104 Native Reserves varying from 2,024 hectares to 607,287 hectares
had been
established. From then onwards, several acts of Parliament were
passed in order to
consolidate the colonial government's objectives on agriculture.
These included:
1891 Lippert Concession
1898 Native Reserves Order in Council
1931 Land Apportionment Act
1951 Native Land Husbandry
1965 Tribal Trust Lands Act
1969 Land Tenure Act.
Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing colony in 1924 and this
period of self-rule
(1924 - 1965) was characterized by huge investments in physical
social infrastructure for
the white areas. These included the establishment of state
agricultural marketing and
control boards. Such developments which took place in the 1930s and
1940s were the
prime movers of the agricultural production revolution on the
large-scale commercial
farms, starting in the 1950s with tobacco as a major export crop.
Smallholder agriculture
was, however, ignored. In addition, further support to the white
agricultural sector came
through the 1933 Danzing Commission.
This Commission was appointed to examine the economic position of
the agricultural
industry amid the world depression of the 1930s. This Commission
recommended that
government subsidies and support for white agriculture as a matter
of survival of the
21
white community. The global depression set the
stage for an all-embracing state
intervention.
For example, from 1935 to 1956, a 50% subsidy plus free technical
support program was
launched to allow white farmers to build soil and water conservation
works. From 1936
to 1944, agriculture was declared a controlled industry. Government
controlled the prices,
international trade as well as the area and sale of tobacco, and
extended subsidies to white
farmers.
In 1953 came the Federation of Nyasaland and Rhodesia. The Federal
government, acting
on recommendations of a 1958 Select Committee, actually started to
amend the Land
Apportionment Act in order to increase the amount of land for blacks
by extending the
special native reserves and by creating a category of non-racial
(unreserved) land. White
conservatives did not like the idea and, in an all white election,
fought on the land issue,
and the Rhodesian Front won, thus restoring the Land Apportionment
Act and freezing
the unreserved category of land. In 1965, the Rhodesian Front Party
declared an illegal
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom
(UK).
The UK and the United Nations (UN) imposed sanctions on Rhodesia.
The then
government immediately instituted measures to reduce dependency on
tobacco through
crop diversification schemes. Agriculture continued to be the most
prominent foreign
exchange earner.
Principally, the agricultural sector survived UDI largely through
government support,
although in the 1970s large-scale agriculture became less and less
profitable.
At Independence: 1980...
When Zimbabwe gained her political independence in 1980, a new era
of opportunities
for the majority of Zimbabweans opened up as the shackles of near
one century of
deprivation had finally been broken. At the early stages, the
post-independence
22
Zimbabwe saw Government taking a leading
interventionist role in various facets of the
economy, including education, health, dam construction, roads and
other infrastructural
development, rural electrification, as well as production of goods
and services under an
intricate web of public enterprises.
Having sailed through a series of sanctions during the Unilateral
Declaration of
Independence (UDI) era, dating back to 1965, the post-independence
Zimbabwe had
developed a robust internal manufacturing base, with growing
potential on exports.
On the policy front, the first decade of independent Zimbabwe was
marked by socio-
economic policies that were more inclined towards a centralized
command system, with
Government taking an active role in the economic affairs of the
country. This ideological
orientation was to change beginning the early 90s, when Zimbabwe
acceded to the
prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under what
was then coined the
"economic structural adjustment program" (ESAP), which sought to
build the countrys
productive system through market-based systems.
At the heart of the ESAP model were the following generic policy
prescriptions:
Liberalization of goods and factor markets;
Deregulation of the financial services industry;
Privatization of public enterprises;
Freeing up of the exchange rate system;
Liberalization of the countrys trade system, specifically, all
current account
transactions in the balance of payments;
Civil service reforms, marked by the streamlining of line
ministries;
Removal of price controls and subsidies in the market; and
Introduction of social safety nets to minimize the adverse effects
of liberalization
on vulnerable segments of society.
23
For a while, the Zimbabwean economy seemed to
have blended well with the
structural adjustment program, with real gross domestic product
(GDP) growing by
an impressive 8.5% in 1996, and foreign exchange gross reserves
reaching around
US$1 billion during the second half of 1996. Agriculture, Tourism
and
Manufacturing grew by 19.4%, 6.8% and 4.8% respectively during the
same year.
However, as from 1997, the economy started showing signs of
distress. Savings
declined from 18.2% of GDP in 1996 to 11% in 1999, before sliding
further to under
5% by end of 2006. Overall investment also followed suite, declining
from 18.7% of
GDP in 1996, to the 2007 levels of under 8% of GDP.
The first decade of economic reforms (1991-2000) presented several
key lessons
which must form the basis for future economic programs. These
lessons were:
That for macroeconomic policies to deliver their set objectives,
they need to be
backed by cohesive cooperation among social partners: Government,
Labor,
Business and Civil Society.
That there is need for close coordination and collaboration between
the fiscal and
monetary policy sides of the country.
That fiscal balance requires first, implementation of structural
policies that take
away distortions in the market.
That financial sector stability is indispensable.
That liberalization of thin financial markets does not guarantee
effective
competition.
That economic adjustment programs can only succeed if they have a
human face
under which the adversities of the costs of adjustment are minimized
through
robust social safety nets.
That economic reforms can not succeed without a strong institutional
framework
that effectively implements, coordinates and monitors the various
economic
policies.
24
That excessive reliance on domestic borrowing
to fund fiscal deficits is
unsustainable.
That the "one-size-fits-all" approach to policy formulation as
recommended by
the International Monetary Fund requires a serious re-look, taking
into account
individual countries peculiar circumstances and realities on the
ground.
LAND REFORM IN ZIMBABWE
A typical policy dilemma that has confronted the Zimbabwean economy
is on how to
balance the virtues of equitable distribution of land and that of
effective utilization of
land as a primary means of production. In 1980, when Zimbabwe
attained its political
independence, former colonial nationals, who constituted around 5%
of the population
owned 70% of the countrys fertile land, whilst the majority 95%
owned around 30% of
arable land. This scenario presented serious challenges on how the
country could proceed
to bring about equity in the distribution of land as a national
resource.
Over the 1980s, through to the 1990s, not much of this disparity in
the distribution of
land was changed due to governments inability to fund the needed
purchase and re-
distribution of the resources. This protracted plane of inequality
bottled up pressure and
tensions across the entire social fabric in Zimbabwe, with things
coming to a head in
2000, when the poor landless peasants pressed the government to take
the land from the
minority and re-distribute.
This build-up in social tensions presented government with a huge
dilemma; as forcibly
taking the land meant that over the short-to medium term, investor
perceptions and
productivity in agriculture were going to suffer; whilst non-action
could have
degenerated into a full-blown civil strife.
25
To the Central Bank, this dilemma meant that
much of the countrys sources of foreign
exchange being tobacco, cotton, paprika, tea, coffee, cut flowers,
citrus and vegetables, as
well as tourism were at risk. Also at the same time, beginning 1999,
gold prices on world
markets significantly declined, further worsening Zimbabwes balance
of payments
position.
In years 2000 and 2001 social tensions mounted, which culminated in
the government
launching a fast-track land acquisition and re-distribution exercise
under which targeted
minority held farms were acquired under the Act of Parliament and
re-distributed to the
landless majority.
Because of the transitional difficulties that ensued, Zimbabwe fell
into a deep economic
crisis, beginning 2001, characterized by a sharp decline in foreign
exchange earnings, and
rising inflation. International perceptions on Zimbabwe took a deep
slump, leading to
very minimal foreign direct and portfolio investment inflows. The
deterioration in the
balance of payments saw Zimbabwe fail to service its foreign debts,
culminating in the
rise in total foreign payments areas of around US$2 billion as of
September 2006.
This experience thus, highlights the intricacy of macroeconomic
policy formulation and
implementation. The theoretical norms of efficiency do not always
sum up to tie in neatly
with frameworks that seek to optimize social welfare functions. From
an efficiency,
market-driven point of view, one could argue that Zimbabwe should
have opted for the
willing-buyer, willing seller policy on the land reform program. The
limitation of this
route is that the Government of Zimbabwe was facing swelling demands
from landless
peasants. Also the route of the willing-buyer, willing seller would
have faced the
formidable snag of funds unavailability in the governments coffers,
after the United
Kingdom reneged on its promise that it was going to provide funding
to support the
willing buyer willing seller version of the land reform process.
My personal involvement in this process is now largely on the
formulation of workable
alternatives to ensure that the country gets back on its feet, and,
thus, help revive the
26
living conditions of the majority of vulnerable
Zimbabweans. The policy package now
being looked at involves a three pronged approach, encompassing the
stabilization of
agriculture productivity through rehabilitation of infrastructure
and implements; the
revival of financial sector lending into agriculture through
enhancement of security of
tenure; as well as re-engaging the international community to
consider Zimbabwe as part
of the global village.
As the situation stands, however, Zimbabwe is now winding down the
land re-
distribution process, with greater focus now being placed on
reviving productivity in
agriculture. Key success factors for this effort to accomplish the
mission include:
(a)
Ability of the country to calm down the negative international
publicity it is
receiving, so as to attract investment inflows;
(b)
The extent to which the country cushions itself from recurrent
droughts through a
significant rehabilitation of irrigation capacity, supported by dam
construction;
(c)
Stabilization of inflation through stringent monetary policy
tightening and fiscal
austerity;
(d)
Maintenance of financial sector stability, through astute bank
supervision and
surveillance.
(e)
Comprehensive structural reforms in the public enterprises sector,
as well as in
the local government levels;
(f)
Increased investment in the social sectors of health and education,
so as to uplift
the countrys human capital base; and
(g)
Cohesion at the National level through greater tolerance and
acceptance of
diversity.
At the heart of a solution to Zimbabwes macroeconomic instabilities
that crept in
since early 2000, accentuated by adversities and apprehensions
around the Land
Reform Program, is the establishment of National Consensus so as to
secure
purposeful implementation of the right mix of domestic policies, as
well as the re-
27
building of the countrys brand name as the
bread basket of the Eastern and Southern
African sub-region.
Equally too, the economic setbacks in Zimbabwe, reflected in foreign
exchange
shortages, high inflation levels, rising unemployment, capacity
underutilization in the
productive sectors and generally subdued business confidence and,
hence shrinking
inbound investment inflows are socio-economic "trouble spots" that
have to be
resolutely addressed through dexterous policy design and
implementation.
In order to break the successive decline in productivity levels in
the economy, as well
as near run-away inflation levels, and revive business confidence,
it is imperative that
Zimbabwe follows the route of the Tripartite Social Contract,
principally as the
launch-pad for stabilizing expectations. In this purview, the role
of Government,
Labor and Business, as social partners has to be underscored from
each
constituencys core interests.
28
CHAPTER 3
3.
CONSENSUS BUILDING AND SOCIAL CONTRACTS
From first principles, a Social Contract is an agreement by the
countrys key
stakeholders - Government, Business, Labor and Civic Society - to
subordinate their
individual and sectoral interests, for the achievement of common
national goals and
objectives, within an agreed framework. This stance implies a shared
vision, mutually
agreed objectives and shared principles underpinning win-win
negotiations. It is
based upon a national consensus model, as opposed to unilateralism
or unbridled
pursuit of narrow, sectoral interests.
Under the Social Contract model, stakeholders come together to agree
on mutually
beneficial national objectives, programs and action plans for
achieving those
objectives, as well as common principles of engagement and
mechanisms to share
equitably the cost of adjustment. The consensus model is also
critical for creating
stakeholder trust, thus, dissipating inflation expectations, which
normally trigger the
need for social pacts. Under the auspices of the Social
Contract, the partners must
commit to discharging their specific obligations, as agreed to in
the Social Contract,
within the agreed time-frames.
In the case of Zimbabwe, a two step approach was adopted,
encompassing the
following phases:
Phase 1 focused on getting the Social Partners to agree and
voluntarily commit to a
Social Contract which, among other things, set specific and timed
deliverables for
each Social Partner.
29
Phase 2 then focused on the accelerated
disinflation and sustainable stabilization of
the economy.
The basics of social dialogue were neither a new phenomenon to
Zimbabwe nor an
invention of the Central Bank. Instead, the countrys history was
abound with
episodes of constructive social dialogue involving the Government,
Labour and
Business under the auspices of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum
(TNF), which was a
collective body embracing all the representations of tripartism.
However, constructive
and mutually sacrificial social dialogue had been held back by
impediments, which
included the following:
Lack of common national vision;
Mistrust among negotiating partners;
An unwieldy negotiating format;
Propensity to break off negotiations; and
Lack of willpower to implement agreed positions.
Role of the Church: The Social Contract and the Bible...
When one looks at the world of Christianity, the idea and power of
Social Contracts is
not new. Indeed, as old as the beginning of the Holy Word
itself, we find the
centrality of pacts and covenants in the Ten Commandments
which God Himself
gave down to Moses on the heels of Mount Sinai (Exodus 20: 1- 26).
In promulgating
the Ten Commandments, God had realized the importance of codes of
conduct for
orderly human existence. Today, as we read the Holy Word, we
are filled with the
true meaning and universally binding effects of the Ten
Commandments, as the pillar
for entry and unity with the All Mighty in Heaven.
The Social Country can be likened not only to the Ten Commandments,
but also to
many other facets of the Bible, prominent of which is the Lords
Prayer, with its
cross-cutting meaning, throughout the universe. In different
languages and in
30
different countries, it is known what the Lords
Prayer says, and the righteous
teachings it encapsulates, all this defining the power of Social
Contracts.
The Church, through its diverse membership in society, is key to
dissipating the
impediments to social dialogue, through the cultivation of public
tolerance and
shunning of counter productive activities. Also the Church, through
its natural
interaction with the diverse cross section of society, has the
ability to harness the
diverse views of all the various constituencies and regions under
its reach. The Vision
of a cohesive society must encompass fundamental pillars of
spirituality, economic
well being, social justice, tolerance, equity and fairness which are
critical for Nation
building.
Any mistrust among the social partners provides an opportunity for
the Church to
play a pivotal role in the Social Contract discussions as part of
the National healing
process, aimed at stabilizing the economy. In this global village,
no country can go it
alone there is need to be part and parcel of the international
community of nations
through continuous engagement with international partners.
Public awareness of the Social Contract is also critical for buy-in
and active
participation by the general public. The Church, through its
presence in both rural and
urban areas, provides a platform for undertaking extensive publicity
campaigns to
cultivate awareness across the board.
Other Features of the Social Contract ...
For effective acceptability, it is imperative that the Social
Contract closely builds in a
strong human face. A human face that realizes the plight of workers;
a human face
that balances profitability requirements of Business against the
survival needs of all
men and women who leave their households willingly each morning,
each night,
every working day to give their best towards the economic
transformation of the
31
economy. Through fair and humanely rewards to
workers, the Social Contract will be
better able to sustain National cohesion, increased production and
prosperity.
Equally too, the Social Contract has to emphasize productivity
enhancement through
commitment of Labour; productivity enhancement through adoption of
sound,
reinforcing policies that uplift Business viability; and
productivity enhancement
through deployment of cost-saving technologies across factories,
mines, agro-fields
and others sectors of the economy.
The Pyramid of Core Values in Social Dialogue
Perpetual divergence of views between and among social partners, if
not kept in check by
a set of core values of social contract negotiations, can degenerate
into uncontrollable
polarizations. It is for this reason that social partners in a
negotiated settlement ought to
abide by the following Pyramid of Core Values in Social Dialogue:
32
PYRAMID OF VALUES IN SOCIAL CONTRACT
NEGOTIATIONS
.
Confidentiality
Flexibility in
negotiations
Mutual benefits to all
(Win-win)
Being transparent and accountable to
other social partners, with confidentiality
Negotiating in good faith and being open without
offence
Cultivating a culture of tolerance & acceptance of diversity
Sharing a common Vision on the future of the country
HISTORICALLY WARS ERUPTED FROM LACK OF
CONSENSUS...
Documented histories of nations clearly demonstrate that most
conflicts within humanity
were a direct result of communication break-downs and adversaries
failure to nurture
and build consensus. To illustrate this point, I have taken a look
at a few examples of
grueling conflicts the world has seen, and tried to drill down to
the tipping points that
ultimately sparked those conflicts.
33
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (1861-1865)
Between April 12, 1861 and April 9, 1865, Northern America witnessed
the most
devastating civil war history had ever seen at that time. This war,
which was between the
United States (the "Union") and some eleven southern states which
were pushing for
secession and had formed the Confederate State of America, best
illustrates how things
can go terribly wrong when a people have sub-Visions among
themselves.
The Union, which was under the leadership of President Abraham
Lincoln was more for
unity of purpose, promotion of individual liberties and the
abolition of slavery. This
noble vision was however grossly opposed by the Confederacy, under
the command of
Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. Determined to advance their
sub-Vision, the
Confederacy on April 12, 1861 launched an on-slaughter attack on the
Union at Fort
Sumter, making South Carolina the first state to secede, followed by
Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
As the conflict deepened, heavy bloodshed befell brothers and
sisters, with the Union
losing 110 000 in combat whilst the confederacy lost 93 000 also in
action.
(http:/en.wikipedia.org/wki/American_CivilWar)
Through focused strategy, supported by advantages of geography,
manpower, a strong
industrial base, adequate finance, political organization and
effective transportation, the
Union eventually subdued the Confederacy in 1865. A look back at
this bloody conflict
demonstrates that the pursuit of selfish, often sectoral interests
has the potential to
disintegrate whole communities through needless conflict.
34
COMPARISON OF UNION AND CONFEDERACY RESOURCE BEASE
Union
Confederacy
Total population
22 000 000
9 000 000
Free population
22 000 000
5 500 000
Slave population
Negligible
3 500 000
Soldiers
2 200 000
1 064 000
Railroad miles
21 788 (71%)
8 838 (29%)
Manufactured items
90%
10%
Firearm production
97%
3%
Source: 1860 US Census and Carter, Susan B. ed. The Historical
Statistics of the United
States: Millennial Edition (5 vols), 2006
In this American civil was, slavery was at the root of economic,
moral and political
differences which degenerated into control issues and the right by
individual states to
secede. In his speech at New Haven, Conn, March 6, 1860, Abraham
Lincoln said "this
question of slavery was more important than any other indeed so much
more important
has it become that no other national question can even get a hearing
just at present".
In sharp contrast to this moral, higher ground position, the
Southern States pursued their
sectoral interests of cheap slavery labour for their plantations,
effectively setting on the
fires for the civil war. Unity of purpose is, therefore an
imperative in the building of
nation and avoidance of needless conflicts among a people.
WORLD WAR I
A retrace of the events leading to the start and spread of World War
I also graphically
illustrates the tragedies that can befall humanity when there is no
consensus building.
Whilst for many, the cause of World War I was the cold-blood
assassination of Archduke
35
Franz Ferdinard of Austria-Hungary on 8 June,
1914, a deeper assessment illustrates that
this blood bath arose due to lack of consensus on ideologies.
Under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany had grown into the mood
of military
supremacy building its navy to rival that of the then worlds most
powerful maritime
nation, Britain. This aggressive stance by Berlin jolted France and
Russia into a formal
alliance in 1894 united by fear and resentment of Berlin.
The coalition of Britain, France and the USA was at that time seen
to be representing
democratic reforms, whilst the stance by Germany was seen as the
ideology of militarist
autocracy. It should be noted, however, that the coalition was in
essence imperfectly
democratic, since both Britain and France had large colonial empires
residual effects of
which still haunt countries like Zimbabwe. This notwithstanding, the
popular view held
by many historians is that the allied victory over Germany led to
the maintenance and
extension of liberal democracy in Europe.
It is important to note that at the core of what fuelled World War I
were also intrinsic
economic interests and fears of domination. France wanted a quick
return of its territories
that had been annexed by Germany after the war of 1870-71 (the
provinces of Alsace-
Lorraine). Britain went to war because it saw a German victory as a
threat to its security,
more so given Britains fear that Germany would have taken advantage
of the Belgian
ports as launch-pads for dismantling the British naval supremacy.
All said and reviewed, the event of World War I clearly demonstrate
that where national,
regional or international agendas embrace ideologies that are worlds
apart, the end-
games are usually costly conflicts. Forestalling such costly
conflicts requires the power of
consensus-building and the brokering of effective social contracts
that focus efforts
around common objectives.
36
WORLD WAR II
From the time Adolf Hitler invaded Poland on 1 September 1939,
marking the tipping
point of World War II, to the moments of the dropping of the deadly
atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, the footprints of this conflict
vividly illustrate the
retrogression that comes with the pursuit of selfish objectives,
aggravated by limited
scope for consensus-building.
When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September, 1939, Britain and France
declared war
on Hitler two days later. While the USA proclaimed neutrality, it
was actively supplying
Britain with essentials on the battle-front.
On 10 May, 1940 when Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain
as Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom, Germany invaded France, Belgium and
Holland, under
Hitlers Blitzkrieg or "lightning war", marked by force, speed and
surprise.
By 1941, Hitler had put much of continental Europe under Nazi
control, and continued to
launch Operation Barbarossa on 22 June of that year, a military
offensive that aimed at
overrunning Russia. This was, however, to be stalled by the chilly
and harsh Russian
winter which a century and half ago from that time had equally
crippled Napoleon.
Demonstrating how isolated developments can be engulfed an
snow-balled into a global
crisis, in the same year of 1941, Japan felt it was tired of
American trade embargoes and
mounted a surprise attach on the US Navy base of Pearl Harber, in
Hawaii, on 7
December, 1941.
This act made the full setting for a grueling global armed conflict,
with Germany
declaring war on the US a few days later. Within 7 days of Pearl
Harber, Japan had
invaded Burma, Hong Kong and the Philippines, sparking what the
contemporary world
37
has come to call the Pacific war. The rest of
the events that followed the 1941-1945 era
are well documented in history.
Having taken over the Presidential seat of the US, following
President Roosevelts death
in April 1945, President Harry Truman authorized use of atomic bombs
against Japan.
This saw one of the bombs being dropped on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima on 6 August,
1945, followed by another one at Nagasaki three days later, leading
to the surrender by
the Japanese on 14 August, 1945.
Sketchy as this brief account is, it brings home the point that
through failure to coordinate
and synchronize geopolitical forces, the world was thrown yet again
into a global conflict
under World War II which consigned millions of people to violent
deaths. It is estimated
that at the peak of the war, some 100 million people had been
militarized whilst in total
an estimated 50 million were killed in the war.
THE ANGLO-IRISH TRADE WAR
The centrality of constructive dialogue and the need for
consensus-building can also be
discernible from an analysis of the Anglo-Irish Trade war also known
as "The Economic
War" which lasted from 1933 until 1938. In its basic format, this
was marked by
retrogressive retaliatory trade restrictions between the Irish Free
State and the United
Kingdom. Having seen what they perceived were unfair trade practices
by the UK then,
the Irish refused to pay "land annuities" as was stipulated in the
provisions of the 1921
Anglo-Irish Treaty, which obliged such payments to be made to
Britain. This act of
defiance led to retaliatory imposition by the UK of 20% duty on
Irish agricultural
products entering the UK.
In response to this act by the UK, Ireland imposed a tax on coal
imports from the UK,
under the slogan "burn everything English except its coal".
38
This back-and-forth trade war crippled Ireland
through capital flight, reducing much of
the economys trade to barter. These constrained became much ore
acute, as the
devastating effects of the Great Depression of 1933 had not fully
dissipated.
Through the return to negotiating table, Ireland and the UK,
however, eventually resolved
their differences. In 1934, the "coal-cattle-pact" was sealed,
followed by the Anglo-Irish
Trade Agreement of 1938 under which Ireland settled its land
annuities by making a one-
off payment of 10 million pounds to the UK, among other settlement
clauses.
THE KOREAN WAR
After defeating China in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95, Japanese
troops remained in
Korea, finally annexing it as a colony in August, 1910. Korea
remained a Japanese
colony until the end of World War II in 1945.
On August 6, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese, in
close cooperation
with the US which had interests in the southern parts of Korea. At
that time, the Japanese
were under heavy US attach at the battlefronts of World War II and
in December, 1945,
the US and the Soviet Union agreed to administer Korea under what
became know as the
US-Soviet Joint Commission, dividing Korea into North Korea and
South Korea.
After 4 years under the delicate Joint Commission, the Korean civil
war began on 25
June, 1950, when North Korea attacked South Korea. This war was to
take a deeper
dimension when the North was joined by China whilst the Sough was
supported by the
United Nations, led by the United States. The conflict ended when a
cease-fire was
reached on July 27, 1953.
Whilst in the books of history, the Korean War is overly
underplayed, hence its reference
sometimes as "the forgotten war", it left the following key
legacies:
39
(a)
Rules of play on such international for a as the UN have, to some
extent, been
long manipulated to suite the requirements of super powers;
This is mainly so given that technically; President Truman of the
USs UN
Resolution 82 which sanctioned the US to lead the UN coalition
against North
Korea was passed when one of the permanent members of the UN
Security
Council (the Soviet Union) was not in session. Attempts by the
Soviet Union
to have this changed were fruitless;
The same day the Korea civil war broke out (25 June, 1950), the UN
passed
the Resolution 82 which focused on 3 areas:
For all hostilities to end and North Korea to withdraw to the 38th
parallel in the Korean peninsula;
For a UN Commission on Korea to be formed to monitor the situation
and report to the Security Council; and
For all UN members to support the United Nations in achieving this,
and refrain from providing assistance to the North Korean
authorities.
Resolution 82 led to direct action by the US, whose forces were
joined by
troops from 15 other UN members: Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Britain,
France, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, the Netherlands,
Ethiopia,
Colombia, the Philippines, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
(b)
Another legacy of the Korean War is that it was the first post World
War II, Cold
War era where super-powers clashed on the battlefield, and on third
country soil,
leading to devastation to the locals way of living. As they say in
strategy, where
two or more elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers the most;
and
(c)
The Korean War was yet again an epitome of what happens when two or
more
ideologies collide. In North Korea, the ideology at play was
communism,
40
supported by China and the Soviet Union, whilst
in South Korea the dominant
ideology was liberal capitalism. Again, this civil war amply
demonstrates how the
existence of ideological gaps and limited scope for
consensus-building can lead to
catastrophic conflicts. The Korean War led to million of deaths,
including
innocent civilians, all arising from diminished chance that was
given to amicable
dialogue and consensus-building.
THE WARS OF RELIGION
The tragic fall-outs of environments marked by mistrust and lack of
mutual dialogue and
consensus-building are also well documented in the histories of
religion. From the tragic
time Jesus Christ was himself condemned onto the cross as a result
of failed dialogue to
convince His killers that He was indeed The Son of God the history
of churches is fraught
with innumerable bloody wars by men and women of the cloth.
In France, for instance, the 1500s saw repeated wars between the
mainstream Catholics
and Protestants. Examples of such wars of religion were many were
ruthlessly
slaughtered under the war-cry "one faith, one law, one king" are:
The First War (1562-1563), sparked by the Massacre at a place called
Vass in
1562, on a fine Sunday afternoon;
The Second War (1567-1568), which was triggered by a strong rumor
that
Catherine De Medici, wife of Frances King Henry II was conniving
with
Spain to launch an onslaught on Protestant churches;
The Third War (1568-1570), under which the Protestants suffered
heavy
losses on the battlefield;
The St Bartholomews Day Massacre (1572) which was sparked by
mounting
tensions between Catholics and Protestants, leading to the killing
of many
church-goers;
41
The Fourth War (1572-1573), which was set-off
when the city of La Rochelle,
the de facto capital of the Protestants had refused to pay taxes to
the King
because of the St Bartholomews Day Massacre;
The Fifth War (1576), which again was a result of deep mistrust and
disunity
between the Catholics and the Protestants;
The Sixth War (1577), when Protestant strongholds were dismantled
under
Henri III;
The Seventh War (1580);
The War of the Three Henries (1584-1589); and
The Wars of the League (1589-1598).
The salient point underlying these "holy" wars was that suspicions
were allowed to grow
into real threats, which in turn reached explosive tipping points
before calm and collected
dialogue could be initiated as a way to resolve differences within
communities.
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON SOCIAL DIALOGUE/SOCIAL
CONTRACTS
In many countries, Social Dialogue has been successfully used as an
integral part of
strategies to foster economic growth and development. In these
countries, the benefits of
the social dialogue process have included the democractisation of
economic and social
policy making and the promotion of policy legitimacy and ownership.
The realm of Social Dialogue, as defined by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO)
includes all types of negotiation, consultation or simply an active
exchange of
information between, or among representatives of government,
employers, and workers
on the issues of common interest relative to economic and social
policy. This social
dialogue can take different forms (negotiation, consultation or
confirmation).
42
For successful social dialogue, it is imperative that the actors,
institutions and the agenda
be clearly articulated.
Actors, Institutions and Agenda
Actors
Institutions
Agenda
Bipartite (workers
Formal, legally
Need for shared
and employers
based.
analysis of key
organizations)
Informal, voluntary.
problems.
Tripartite
Ad-hoc
Need to develop a
(government,
arrangements.
common vision.
workers and
Need to adopt a
employers
problem-solving
organizations)
approach that is not
Tripartite plus
confrontational.
(+voluntary and
community groups,
NGOs and civil
society).
BARBADOS
During the period 1989-90, Barbados slid into economic turmoil
characterized by
massive declines in foreign exchange inflows from the countrys
traditional cash cow,
tourism, fiscal deficits, rising inflation and unemployment and
continued depreciation of
the local currency. In light of the above, the then Government
reacted to the economic
decline by embracing IMF prescriptions characterized by tight
monetary policy, public
service reform and wage and employment cuts, among other neo-liberal
policies.
43
It however emerged that the absence of
consensus in the adoption of the IMF
prescriptions resulted in the above policies being countered by a
protest reaction from
labour, employers and the general civil society. In view of the
above, the Social partners
came to table and in 1992 set up the Committee on Social
Partnership, leading to the
signing of three successive protocols between 1993 and 2001
(Fashoyin, 2001a). The
signed protocols were:
a. The protocol for the implementation of an incomes and pricing
policy (1993-
95); This sought to get the economy out of crisis through various
measures to
minimize layoffs and social hardships through avoidance of the IMF
prescription of devaluation, focusing on productivity and
competitiveness as
well as accepting wage freezes until corresponding productivity
gains were
achieved.
b. Through the second protocol (1995-97), the Social Partners
drifted from wage
freezes and instead adopted wage restraints and focused on
increasing
international competitiveness through higher productivity.
c. The third protocol 1998-2001 sought to consolidate the perceived
gains from
social cooperation through maintenance of a peaceful industrial
climate,
reduction of income disparities and promotion of general social
inclusion.
INDONESIA
The Asian crisis of 1997 inflicted severe economic hardships on
Indonesia. GDP growth
collapsed from 7.8% in 1996 to almost 0% by the end of 1997.
Reflecting this
development, poverty rates doubled from 11% in 1996 to over 20% by
the end of 1997.
The crisis was accompanied by the collapse of several companies and
severe job losses.
44
At the time of the crisis, social dialogue was
at its infancy in Indonesia. The National
Tripartite Council, in existence since 1983, was generally
ineffective. However,
following the demise of the Suharto dictarship in 1997 and the
emergence of democracy,
pressure for social dialogue mounted as workers pushed for social
dialogue to stem the
negative impact of the crisis on employment. (Fashoyin, 2004).
The move towards effective and sustainable social dialogue began in
1999 with the
formation of a tripartite task force which discussed the
ratification of the ILOs core
Conventions and labour law reforms. Subsequently, during the period
1999-2001, 12 ad
hoc national tripartite committees, including five sectoral
tripartite committees were
established with ILO technical assistance.
In 2000, a social dialogue summit was held to sensitize the
tripartite partners to the
positive role of consensus-building in the resolution of conflicting
positions on social and
economic issues (ILO, 2000). The tripartite efforts in Indonesia
have helped to stabilize
labour relations, thus allowing economic and political
transformation to take root.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Confronted with the severe consequences of the Asian Financial
Crisis in 1997, and the
stringent requirements of the IMF program that was underway, the
Korean Social
Partners had to engage in long and difficult social dialogue to deal
with a myriad of
challenges including colossal unemployment and the near collapse of
the financial sector.
(Choi 2000)
The outcome of the aforementioned consultation was a middle of the
road compromise
on the IMF program followed by a social pact in 1998 which dealt
broadly with issues of
socio-economic management. The 1998 Pact provided for the acceptance
of wage
45
reductions and relaxation of the rules
regarding the employment relationship by
organized Labour.
It was this tripartite compromise in the midst of economic crisis
that became the turning
point towards economic recovery through the adoption of a set of
economic and social
measures to deal with the Asian crisis as well as maintaining social
stability in an
environment of socio-economic meltdown.
KENYA
Kenya is among the earliest countries in Africa to adopt tripartite
cooperation. In 1962,
Kenya introduced an Industrial Relations Charter which encompassed
tripartite
institutions such as the National Tripartite Consultative Committee
(NTCC), Labour
Advisory Board and the National Minimum Wages Board. However, these
institutions
contributed indirectly to macroeconomic policy. (Fashoyin 2001b).
A deepening economic crisis in the 1990s culminated in the
introduction of structural
adjustment programs. To deal with the complex economic problems and
associated
labour market challenges, tripartite cooperation was rekindled in
the 1990s. Employer
organisations were organised under the Federation of Kenya Employers
(FKE). On the
workers side, 37 unions in the country fall under the Central
Organisation of Trade
Unions (COTU). On the government side, the Ministry of Labour was
the main
government authority and is assisted by other government agencies
with an important
role in economic and social development.
In 1997, Kenya created the Joint Industrial and Commercial
Consultative Committee
(JICC), through which several stakeholders address economic and
social issues affecting
development. The JICC membership is made up of 50 top-level
institutions, including
the tripartite members, and local and community authorities. The
JICC proposes
solutions, and where appropriate, directs the relevant government
agency to implement
46
them within a definite time-frame. As a result,
the JICC has helped formulate socially
responsible policy while at the same time enhancing Kenyas evolving
democracy.
CZECH REPUBLIC
In the Czech Republic, the establishment in 1990 of the National
Tripartite Council for
Economic and Social Cooperation (RHSD) emerged as the critical
pillar to support
economic reforms without social unrest (Casale, Kubinkova and
Rychly, 2001). During
the period 1990-93, a general agreement would be reached by the
Social Partners every
year on socio-economic issues such as labour relations, wage trends,
health care,
education, occupational safety and environmental issues.
THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Irish economy was in crisis in the late 1980s: the unemployment rate
was 17% and
inflation was running at an average of about 12% in the decade until
1987. Public
finances also were problematic with budget deficits of more than 8%
of GDP and a
national debt/GDP ratio mounting to 125% in 1987. Tax rates soared
in an attempt to pay
off the large public debt, depressing the economy further. With the
lack of employment
opportunities and decreasing real wages, emigration was at its
highest level since the
1950s.
The sense of national crisis brought about a concerted search for
tackling the problem of
stagnation, soaring debt and taxes. The social partners and
government gathered and
discussed some practical steps to deal with this serious challenge
to the Irish economy
and society. The National Economic and Social Council (NESC)
produced a report on
Strategy for Development, which set out the key principles to
be applied in regenerating
47
the economy and society. With the leadership of
trade unions, employers and the
government, negotiations commenced in October 1987 resulting in the
first social pact,
the Program for National Recovery . (Fajertag and Philippe
2000)
Successive Social Pacts
i.
Program for National Recovery (PNR) (1987 to 1990)
ii.
Program for Economic and Social Progress (PESP) (1990 to 1993)
iii.
Program for Competitiveness and Work (PCW) (1994 to 1996)
iv.
Partnership 2000(1997 to 2000)
v.
Program for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) (2000 to 2003)
vi.
Sustaining Progress (2003 to 2005)
Successive social pacts have managed to broaden stakeholders
involved in the
negotiation as well as the focus of agreements: from initial crisis
management to a more
comprehensive approach coping with challenges related to economic
and social progress
as well as social exclusion. It is widely acknowledged that the
Irish social pacts have
been successful and are the key vehicle for its economic and social
success since the
1990s.
Successive Social Contracts
Incomes Policy Agreement on Employment (1990-91)
Incomes policy Agreement on Stabilization (1992-93)
Incomes Policy Agreement (1996-97)
Incomes Policy Agreement (2001-02)
Incomes Policy Agreement (2003-04)
PORTUGAL
Portuguese social dialogue in the current form did not start until
the mid 1980s, a decade
after the revolution in 1974. Prior to 1984, social dialogue
attempts failed to take off due
48
to the adversatorail relations relations
between employers and workers organizations.
(Da Paz Ventura Campos Lima and Naumann 1997). However, with the
establishment of
the Standing Committee for Social Dialogue (CPCS) as the
institutional basis of
tripartism in 1984, national social dialogue in Portugal gained
momentum.
In the mid 1980s, Portugal suffered from macroeconomic imbalances
and unemployment.
Although inflation had fallen since the 1970s, the problem of
balance of payment deficits
and public debt persisted. Social dialogue has become an important
means of governance
in preparation for Portugals integration into the European Community
(1985), and in
facilitating structural changes in society and economy. After 1990,
the commitment to
eventual adoption of the EURO led to consensus on an
anti-inflationary and lower public
debt strategy.
In the 1980s, the agreements through social dialogue were limited to
recommendations
on incomes and pricing policy. In the 1990s, they moved on to a
higher level with social
partners engaging in dialogue on a wide range of policy issues.
Comprehensive economic
and social agreements were reached in 1990, 1996 and in 1997. These
pacts covered a
wide range of topics from incomes policy, employment policy,
education and vocational
training, working time and conditions and social security reform to
the regulation of
industrial relations. However, their implementation has been very
problematic, partly
because the largest workers organisation, CGTP (Confederação
Geral dos
Travalhadores Portugueses - General Confederation of
Portuguese Workers) was not a
signatory party.
The CGTP was often heavily involved in the negotiation of
comprehensive social pacts,
but did not become a signatory member. This led to problems in the
implementation of
the pacts because it left the CGTPs membership, encompassing the
large majority of
unionised workers, in effect outside the agreement. Industrial
relations remained
antagonistic which impeded the implementation of the pacts. Despite
the far-reaching
content of the social pacts agreed in the 1990s, they have not been
effectively
implemented.
49
In 2001 three separate issue specific pacts were agreed to, namely
agreements on: (i)
employment policy, the labour market and education and training;
(ii) on working
conditions, work hygiene and safety and work accident prevention,
and (iii) the
modernisation of social protection. Except for the latter, which was
not signed by the
employers organisation, these agreements were concluded by the
government and
employers and workers organisations including the CGTP.
POLAND
During the early years of economic transition, the Government was
completely
overwhelmed by a massive and chaotic wave of strikes. In 1992, the
social partners and
the Government launched discussions about the possibility of
introducing a social
contract which was eventually signed in February 1993 by the
Government, Solidarity,
OPZZ and seven other national branch trade unions. (Casale 2001).
The new Pact on state-owned enterprises in transition included the
creation of a tripartite
body called the Tripartite Commission for Social and Economic
Affairs. This was
established by a Resolution of the Council of Ministers. By the end
of 2000, the Tripartite
Commission had met 75 times in plenary sittings. In addition, the
Commission
established a number of problem-solving committees, of which the
committee for social
security reform has proved to be the most productive. The Commission
succeeded in
establishing common positions on the following issues:
the growth rate of average monthly wages in enterprises during the
third and
fourth quarters of 1994;
the level of resources to be allocated to wages in budget sector
institutions in 1995
(central and local government institutions);
50
the maximum annual growth rate of average
monthly wages in enterprises for
1995, 1996 and 1997;
the expected level of average pay in budget sector institutions and
the difference
in pay among subsectors for 1996 and 1997;
changes to the program of social security reform;
the draft budget for 1996 and 1997;
draft legislation on employment and unemployment; and
Mediators salaries.
The Tripartite Commission became the main institution of social
dialogue in Poland. Its
position was strong and its public recognition was especially high
during the 1995-97
period when it was headed by the late Andrzej Baczkowski, first as
Under-Secretary of
State at the Ministry of labour and Social Policy, and in subsequent
years, as Minister. At
the time, the Commission was the main forum for wage negotiations,
especially wages in
the publicly financed sector (central and local government
institutions), but also wages in
the private sector. This was related to the two major pieces of wage
legislation which
came into force in late 1994: the Negotiation-based System for
Setting Average Wage
Increases in Enterprises Act, December 1994 and the Determining
Resources for Budget
Sector Wages Act, December 1994.
FINLAND
Finland has a long tradition of social democracy. Social partners
are a highly integrative
part of the national economic and social policy making. Together
with the government,
the central confederations of workers and employers organisations
negotiate incomes
policy agreements, covering not only wages but also employment and
labour market
policies and other social policy issues such as balanced work and
family life, promotion
of gender equality, social welfare and pension schemes, as well as
taxation policies.
(Hyman 2000).
51
Since 1968, the social partners and the
government have concluded several incomes
policy agreements. The general content has changed over time. The
agreements of the
1960s and 1970s concentrated on the improvement of pay and working
conditions, and
the social security system. In addition to these issues, the recent
agreements focused on
macroeconomic issues such as measures to reduce unemployment or the
maintenance of a
low level of inflation.
In the beginning of the 1990s the economy suffered from the
recession. It experienced a
record current account deficit and soaring inflation rates. The
unemployment rate rose
drastically from 3.3% in 1990 to 17.2 % in 1993. Consequently,
policy measures to
improve productivity, competitiveness and employment became some of
the most
important issues of discussion in incomes policy agreements in the
first half of the 1990s.
The long-standing tradition of incomes policy agreements/social
pacts has helped to
maintain a positive economic and political climate through social
dialogue.
THE LESSONS...
The foregoing examples have revealed that Social Contracts, if
appropriately
implemented, can be used as an effective vehicle for the attainment
of macroeconomic
stability and prosperity. Throughout these empirics, the following
common threads are
discernible:
Social contracts are best effective when they are designed from a
needs base,
where key concerns of social partners: Government, Business and
Labour are
addressed through practical compromises.
On their own, social contracts can not produce the needed
macroeconomic
stability. The pacts in the social contracts must, therefore, be
supported by
dedicated implementation of coherent macroeconomic policies that
directly
52
impact on economic production, as well as
shaping positive stakeholder
expectations.
For maximum effect, social contracts must also spell out explicit
obligations of
the social partners, supported by simple, well articulated
monitoring and review
systems.
The covenants in social contracts must set out phased and achievable
targets that
generate "modest victories" upon which more substantive successes
can be built.
The main logic here is that through repeated small victories,
stakeholder buy-in
will be enlisted, which in turn propels the turnaround programs more
towards
success.
Rough patches are a reality that hardly no country has escaped in
its history and,
therefore, contemporary nations must not give up in their pursuit
for lasting socio-
economic stability, growth and prosperity.
53
CHAPTER 4
4.
SUSTAINABILITY OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES
The subject matter of global warming is fast dominating the debate
space in both
domestic, regional and international fora. At the core of this
critical policy area is the
tragedy of the commons, itself a phenomenon where is resource that
is deemed to be a
common-pool gift of nature is plundered by the micro-actions of
individual economic
units, all to the detriment of whole communities. In order to move
the global economy
smoothly into the future, in a manner that does not pose the danger
of extinction of future
generations, an area that requires urgent international consensus
through dialogue is that
of sustainable environmental management.
Robert Stavins (1994) in his ground breaking research work op | | | | | | |
