Mlondolozi Ndlovu
Political parties in Zimbabwe have called upon President Mugabe’s Government to urgently amend the Indigenization and empowerment act.
The comments by the political parties follow recent statements by the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and economic empowerment Patrick Zhuwawo at a business meeting attended by captains of industry, policy makers and diplomats that the Mugabe led government will continue with the indigenisation policy in its original form.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Tendai Biti, blasted this initiative saying Zhuwawo was showing ‘arrogance and complete egotism’.
The arrogance and complete egotism shown while addressing delegates to this meeting where he maintained that the government was bent on implementing the indigenisation as it because Zanu was elected in the 2013 elections through its promise indigenisation shows how Zhuwawo has lost his marbles.
“It appears that Zhuwawo, a losing Zanu Pf primary elections candidate, is unaware of the wide spread electoral chicanery and open rigging which put his uncle’s party into government. The people of Zimbabwe never openly endorsed criminal Zanu PF rule hence their lack of confidence in the system characterized by over 2 billion capital flight within days of proclaiming a Zanu PF victory after July 31, 2013.
“The PDP reinstates its position that the proposed Zanu Pf Model of indigenisation does not work in a country where 75 percent of the population is surviving on less than a dollar a day. It is a haven for patronage, primitive accumulation and last feeding trough for corrupt elites in a dying economy”.
“Zanu PF ‘s proposed indigenisation policy will result in millions being siphoned out of the country to foreign investors if they are to be compensated for their shares based on stock market values” read the PDP statement.
The spokesperson of the MDC-T Obert Gutu noted that the indigenisation Act should be scrapped once and for all saying the government must adopt the STEP 1 and STEP 2 documents initiated during the Government of National Unity (GNU).
“The indigenisation is nothing but just a policy to loot resources both state and private. For as long as it is not holistic or does not encompass the socio-economic values that will not benefit the majority it will never succeed ” he said.
“We urge ZANU PF to get ZIMASSET document and throw it to the nearest pit latrin and go back to the government libraries for the STEP 1 and STEP 2 documents” he said
Pishai Muchauraya the spokesperson of Renewal Democratic party led by Elton Mangoma also agreed with MDC-T’s Gutu and PDP remarks saying Zimbabwe needs investment now more than ever.
“A struggling economy like ours needs friendly investment environment. The current legislation law that is bent on scaring away investment and those who want to do business with us as a nation. As RDZ we are very clear on that one. An RDZ government is going to scrap it and replace it with more investor friendly partnerships” he said.
He further layed into Zhuwawo describing his utterances as ‘very retrogressive and nonsensical”.
Mjobisa Noko of ZAPU led by Dumiso Dabengwa also stated that there is need to do away with indigenization culminated by the clash between the ‘Patricks’in its current form and adoption of a more sober approach to empowerment.
“ ZAPU grudgingly notes the ongoing ‘Patrick Clash’ debate on the indigenization policy, where two cabinet ministers are publicly clashing on the way forward. While the over-sized finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa fermenting from the ever plummeting national coffers against a comatose industrial and record low liquidity crisis is calling for long disputed revision of the indigenisation law, his counterpart Patrick Zhuwawo is adamant that despite this vivid failures of closing off foreign company operations, the indigenisation policy demanding 51-49 percent policy should simply stay….”
“As a people centred political party that fostered the liberation of Zimbabweans to fully enjoy their socio- economic and political rights, ZAPU notes that the current indigenisation policy has failed to live to its billing’” he reiterated.
He said ZAPU was against the ‘animal scaring away investors’.
“As a party we are never against indigenisation but in its current dispensation mode. Once in power ZAPU will therefore carry the vision by our late President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo. A ZAPU government will therefore create a platform where indigenisation doesn’t become an animal scarring away the much needed investors, but a tool for poverty reduction, employment creation, attracting foreign investment to compliment local investment” said the spokesperson of the former liberation movement.
Commenting on this policy Harare based political commentator Gift Siziba said it was unfortunate for Zhuwawo to say these statements and was akin to a ‘soft genocide’.
“It is counterproductive from somebody like him especially from a Minister. His responsibilities are to promote transformation and not to be archaic when it comes to issues of development” he said.
“Indigenisation policy is very key on development and instilling investor confidence and also very key in terms of employment creation in a country where there is 90% unemployment. In short that’s a soft genocide” said Siziba.
Meanwhile, Zhuwawo and the Zanu PF National spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo were not available for comment at the time of going to print.
