ECONOMIST Gift Mugano has resigned as Ziscosteel interim
chairperson after Industry minister Sekai Nzenza reportedly censored him for
making remarks that were deemed in 'conflict' with his role as a board member
of a State enterprise.
In a letter to Nzenza dated June 29, Mugano said he was
reluctant to sacrifice his freedom to comment candidly or give constructive
criticism on policy issues in exchange for a position in a State entity.
"As a follow-up to our conversation over my comments
on public media on government policies which are viewed by some sections of
government as in direct conflict with my role as a board member of a State
enteprise, I took a reflection of the concerns to resign from the Ziscosteel
board," Mugano wrote.
"The decision to resign is built on a firm view that I
believe that my contribution to policy discourse is of primary importance which
cannot be forfeited in favour of maintaining a micro role as interim chairman
and board member of Ziscosteel."
Mugano, who has been standing firm against the government's
decision to sell Ziscosteel coke ovens to ZimCoke, said an attempt to gag him
violated the government's position on freedom of expression.
"In any way, the Second Republic, in line with the
provision of the Constitution of Zimbabwe on freedom of expression, which is
outlined in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme paragraph 1776, has opened
the space for citizens which includes commentators such as economists to freely
express themselves," he said.
Mugano in an interview, confirmed an attempt to muzzle him,
but refused to disclose the comments that irked ministers in President Emmerson
Mnangagwa's government.
"It is not the Minister of Industry and Commerce who
had issues with me, but her colleagues in Cabinet," Mugano said.
"She (Nzenza)
was just a messenger. In short, they wanted me not to give what we call
constructive criticism where there are policy deficits."
Insiders yesterday revealed that Mugano fell out of favour
with some ministers over his firm position against the government's decision to
sell Ziscosteel coke ovens to ZimCoke, a company run by Mnangagwa's top allies.
An investigative story by The Standard in
collaboration with the Information Development Trust published in March
revealed an acrimonious relationship between Mnangagwa's allies angling to take
over the coke ovens in a debt swap deal with Ziscosteel.
The investigation established that Mnangagwa had full
knowledge of the deal and gave it a nod as some of his allies were the intended
beneficiaries. The probe also revealed that the government facilitated a shady
US$225 million deal meant to strip the comatose Ziscosteel of its critical
assets.
Mugano described the deal, where Zimcoke only paid $1
transfer fees and undertook to settle Ziscosteel's US$225 million debt with a
German bank as an asset stripping venture, and in bad spirit with the
integrated nature of the steelworks. He also vowed that the ZimCoke deal would
never materialise as long as he was still the chairman of the giant steelmaker.
Ziscosteel is set to lose many assets, including wagons,
land and houses under the deal carried out without asset evaluation.
Well-placed sources said Mugano's decision not to support
the ZimCoke deal placed him out of favour with ministers from the Midlands
province where the steelworks is based and where most of the ministers have
benefited from the Ziscosteel assets.
Mugano had crossed paths with ZimCoke board member Eddie
Cross for attempting to frustrate the deal after he applied for its review
which his predecessor Nyasha Makuvise seems to have been arm-twisted into
approving. Newsday
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