Zimbabwe MP says Finance Minister must be fired for incompetence

Marondera Central Member of Parliament Caston Matewu yesterday literally asked the government to either reshuffle or fire Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube for incompetence.

He asked Vice-President Kembo Mohadi in Parliament yesterday what the government policy is in terms of reshuffling and firing incompetent ministers “who have brought the country to its knees”.

He, however, gave only two examples, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi.

He did not explain their incompetence as Speaker Jacob Mudenda ruled that according to the Zimbabwe constitution the Vice-President had no appointing powers unless he was acting President.

Mthuli Ncube has been Finance Minister since September 2018 and has introduced austerity measures which have seen inflation rising from 5.4 percent in September 2018 to over 500 percent now.

Zimbabwe stopped publishing annual inflation figures in July last year and is expected to resume next month.

The Zimbabwe dollar, which was officially at par with the United States dollar but was around 2:1 on the parallel market is now at 18:1 officially and 28:1 on the black market.

Ncube has, however, said there is no going back on the mono-currency although h government is now licensing some businesses to trade in United States dollars.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya says de-dollarisation will take five years.

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday Ncube’s reform programme is now off the track.

Mutodi has been more of a rabble-rouser and has at times reportedly clashed with his boss Monica Mutsvangwa but is better known for blasting opposition leaders on his twitter handle.

Only last week he described the late MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai who died on 14 February 2018 as a sell-out who fought to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle.

“For inviting sanctions we view him as really a sell-our &coward who believed whites are a better ace than blacks,” he tweeted.

When MDC vice-chairman Job Sikhala said President Emmerson Mnangagwa is not the government and must go, Mutodi tweeted that Sikhala might have an aggrieved spirit tormenting him.

On MDC lawyers plans to reopen the Constitutional case in which MDC leader Nelson Chamisa lost his presidential election challenge because they now have new evidence, Mutodi tweeted:  “MDC lawyers in their shallow minds think they have discovered new evidence of electoral manipulation  to present to Concourt through ‘Excelgate’. One wonders if they have tested the credibility, reliability & admissibility of such hearsay evidence.”

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