President Robert Mugabe says the 51 percent ownership that his government is advocating is about day-to-day running of the companies and not just stretching hands because if people are not involved in operations the previous owners will hide a huge chunk of the proceeds from them.
“This is not what has been happening, we say 51 percent and stay aloof. We want 51 percent of active participation and not just of stretching hands. We mean 51 percent of what we worked together. If you are not there in the operations they hide a huge chunk of proceeds from you and that, we do not want,” he told a meeting of his party’s central committee last week.
Mugabe urged his lieutenants to work to fulfil the pledges that the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front made during the elections because people would start demanding that the party meet its election pledges.
“Zim Asset must start unfolding and work must start. Travel less, meet less and more action. That is ZANU-PF, otherwise people will start asking you where are the pledges you said you would fulfil. What is happening in agriculture and industry? There is no change, the roads and railways are still the same,” he said.
Zim Asset –the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation- is ZANU-PF’s economic recovery programme from now to the end of 2018.
Mugabe said he could not accept that the country had no money for the economic recovery programme.
“Don’t tell us we do not have money to steer Zim Asset. We have gold everywhere and it is going to South Africa through makorokoza. Kune tumagroups, ndege dzinomhara musango and there are people ready to receive those boxes of raw gold. That must stop.”
He also warned the platinum mining companies that Zimbabwe might stop exports of raw platinum because they were given two years to set up a refinery and those two years have elapsed.
“Let us close our doors immediately and say no raw platinum will go to South Africa. The former minister gave them two years and we must see them now arranging to build a refinery. If they have not started, after that warning, building a refinery then when the time comes for us to demand that all refining has to be done here they should not blame us,” he said.
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