ZANU PF youth league has come out guns blazing against
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, accusing him of being used by external forces in
an effort to destabilise and discredit government programmes.
Ncube was fished from Europe, where he was running a
consultancy firm and hoisted as a technocrat with solutions to fix the burning
economy.
But since coming on board as a Cabinet minister, he has
been tripping on political landmines, with the latest being the appointment of
chairperson of communication taskforce, William Gerald Mutumanje, also known as
Acie Lumumba
Politburo member and youth league deputy secretary Lewis
Matutu called Ncube to order, telling him to be sober and avoid advancing the
agenda of pro-former President Robert Mugabe’s remnants in government.
“Corruption should never be tolerated at all levels of
government and society in general and it is every Zimbabwean’s responsibility
to fight the cancer. However, the Finance minister Ncube, through his
‘spokesman’ Mutumanje, has decided to directly criticise government,” he said.
Matutu, who is currently out of the country, said he had
noticed an attempt to scandalise Sakunda Holdings when the company was the
backbone of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s command agriculture programme.
“The attempt to attack government programmes, particularly
command agriculture, under the guise of exposing corruption at the RBZ [Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe], is unacceptable,” he said.
“We are very much aware that there are a lot of people who
believed in the old dispensation, but are still in government, while others are
not in government or outside the country influencing what is happening in
government.
We call upon Minister Ncube to be sober and responsible in
difficult economic circumstances like these, to be mature and to remain focused
on the revival of the economy.”
In a show that real power resides with Zanu PF and not
government, Matutu said it was foolish to think that government needed a
Facebook live video to act on corruption at RBZ.
He said, instead, both Ncube and RBZ chief John Mangudya
should take responsibility and not attempt mudslinging tactics. Ncube yesterday refused to take questions on Mutumanje
during a media briefing held after the Cabinet meeting.
But government has already sought to distance Ncube from
Mutumanje, saying he was yet to fully assume his role as the spokesperson of
the ministry.
“Minister of Finance Hon Ncube would like to inform the
public that he doesn’t have a spokesperson outside institutions of government.
Regarding the communications taskforce, he is yet to operationalise it as he is
dealing with requirements of the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe
and Civil Service Commission,” Information ministry permanent secretary
Ndavaningi Mangwana said. Newsday
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