Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has compared the Cabinets of Zimbabwe and China, highlighting the differences in qualifications and numbers. He noted that despite China’s larger population and higher GDP, it has only 21 ministries, while Zimbabwe, with a smaller population and GDP, has over 26 ministries.
Chin’ono criticised the lack of expertise in Zimbabwe’s Cabinet and its negative impact on the country’s economy. He contrasted this with China’s Cabinet, where many members hold advanced degrees and have a track record of professional success. Chin’ono emphasised the need for political discipline and national interest, as demonstrated by China, to drive progress and combat corruption.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Hopewell Chin’ono said:
China is a nation of 1.5 billion people with a GDP of US$20 trillion, it has 21 ministries, yet it is the second biggest economy in the world.
Zimbabwe is a nation of only 15 million people with a paltry GDP of only US$20 billion, yet it has more than 26 government ministries with deputy ministers, yet it is one of the worst economies in the world with the highest global inflation. It even has an Orwellian Ministry of Truth dubbed the Ministry of Information and Publicity.
Do you now understand why we are a joke and laughing stock to the world?
Whilst President Mnangagwa has appointed a cabinet of family, friends and actresses, four out of the seven members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee hold degrees in Social Science and Humanities.
The majority of the Chinese Central Committee members are trained in Law, Economics, and Social Science. Within the Chinese Central Committee, 45 members have a PhD degrees. Out of these 45, three members of the Chinese Politburo, and two members of the Politburo Standing Committee have a doctoral degree. Chinese President Xi Jinping is one of the Politburo Standing Committee members who holds a PhD, the other one is premier Li Keqiang. China’s top two leaders have doctoral degrees and have a professional track record.
Then Africans wonder why the continent is a joke to the outside world and why we don’t progress whilst others outdoor us on every development index? Imagine that the people who were appointed today by President Mnangagwa are essentially the best foot forward for him. For China it is not just about education, it is also about political discipline and national interest. That is why they execute corrupt political elites, in Zimbabwe we would be left with No Government at all if we applied the same Chinese standard on corruption.
I had dinner with 2 Chinese diplomats in 2012 after Dr Ibbo Mandaza asked me to drive him to the dinner meeting at Great Wall Chinese restaurant in Belgravia in Harare. These diplomats asked us why Zimbabwe sends useless people for trade negotiations and why our government officials don’t take notes. They asked if we can’t see that there is a difference between national interest and personal interest. I felt so humiliated when they started talking about the number of poor citizens that China lifted out of poverty every year.
In Zimbabwe we can only talk about the number of citizens that ZANUPF has impoverished annually. We don’t even have a working radiotherapy cancer treatment machine in the whole country. The biggest hospital only has ONE working maternity theatre. We have a ministerial cabinet that can’t think beyond its nose, and that has no gravitas or world view at all, and you still wonder why Zimbabwe is the sick man of the Southern African region? We used to be the second most sophisticated economy in Africa after independence.
Chin’ono added that he is a member of the Tutu Fellowship/African Leadership Institute where they have ministers and ambassadors from various African countries who are highly competent individuals. He highlighted the example of an ICT minister in Nigeria who had a background as an entrepreneur and associated with influential figures like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. In contrast, he criticised the appointment of Tatenda Mavetera (MP) a former actress, as Zimbabwe’s ICT minister, questioning her ability to engage with figures like Gates and Zuckerberg.
Chin’ono argued against exaggerating the level of education in the country, emphasising that having educated individuals does not necessarily translate into an educated nation. He expressed concern about the lack of vision among leaders, focusing on corruption, repression, and the misuse of resources. He concluded that Zimbabwe is “doomed.”