President Emmerson Mnangagwa is now distancing himself from
his top ally Christopher Mustvangwa amid warnings by the war veterans’ leader
that he won’t be silenced after he spoke out against alleged state capture.
Mutsvangwa, who was instrumental in Mnangagwa’s rise that
culminated in the ouster of former president Robert Mugabe in November last
year, last week claimed Sakunda Holdings owner Kudakwashe Tagwirei was behind
state capture.
However, Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba, in an
exclusive interview with The Standard on Friday, referred to Mutsvangwa as the
president’s ex-advisor.
He said the outspoken former War veterans minister was
resorting to fake politics after failing to penetrate the fuel industry.
Charamba said Mutsvangwa must provide evidence that
Tagwirei was behind “state capture” and that he was running a cartel in the
fuel industry.
“That is where we differ with our colleagues. Go and
provide evidence because culprits are not dealt with by headlines, but they are
dealt with by handcuffs, and if he has got some information please can he help
the system?” he said.
“It’s not that if you are fronting a rival planning to
bring fuel, then you retreat in the political deck because you cannot stand the
heat in the boardroom, no, that is not acceptable.”
Charamba said Mutsvangwa was not a whistleblower, but an
interested party in the fight for control of the fuel industry in Zimbabwe.
“We have made this information available to you that you
draw a line between bona fide whistleblowers and rivals who are trying to fall
back on political clout to get the better of competition,” he said.
“We are saying to you the doors are open, the market is
open so get in the market together with your people and compete with others
just like any other person.
“You get blooded, we say sorry, and you win, we say
hallelujah and not try to use fake politics.”
Mutsvangwa, who is said to have links with a South
African-based fuel giant Mining, Oil and Gas Service (MOGS), last week insisted
he had a three-year contract to be Mnangagwa’s advisor.
He said he still had an office and personal assistant, but
had been away for a while because of health reasons.
“Those who say I am fired thought my appointment was tied
to me being an MP, that is why they sponsored a rival candidate so that I lose
hoping that I would be automatically fired from being an advisor,” he said in a
recent interview. “They are sulking bitterly.”
Charamba said the former minister’s criticism of command
agriculture sounded like former Higher and Tertiary Education minister Jonathan
Moyo’s argument.
Moyo described the programme championed by Mnangagwa as
“ugly culture”, saying it was being used to fleece the government.
“We don’t think the former advisor meant it, we don’t think
so,” Charamba said when asked about CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Mutsvangwa’s criticism of the programme.
“Does he really want to share the same argument with
(former minister) Jonathan Moyo?
“That is Jonathan Moyo’s argument and I don’t think he
wants to because I know he doesn’t want to.”
Meanwhile, Mutsvangwa last night denied that he was a front
for MOGS and charged that he won’t be silenced.
“I do not front for MOGS which came to my attention in 2015
from the Ministry of Defence department of business development.
“The (then) head of the unit, General Sibusiso B Moyo, and
permanent secretary Martin Rushwaya asked me to lobby for the MOGS in Cabinet,”
he said.
“I challenge anyone who has proof of my contractual links
to MOGS to publish it. They should provide something beyond sulky assertions.”
Mutsvangwa said Mugabe’s ouster last year ushered in a new
dispensation where there was freedom of expression and he would continue
speaking his mind.
“I am Zimbabwean and a revolutionary before I am a
politician, functionary or whatever.
“All other attributions are subordinate to my democratic
rights. After all, November 2017 ushered in an open season of free discourse,”
he said.
“The 2013 constitution allows and entrenches free thinking
and unfettered open speech.
“My first obligation is to be a democrat. I fought for that
side by side with many of my generation. There is no earthly price tag to
freedom of speech.”
Mutsvangwa said as things stood, several companies among
them Vitoil of Switzerland, ADNOC of Abu Dhabi, OTI of Oman, IPG of Kuwait and
a “bevy” of other global hydrocarbon global players from Singapore, Beijing,
Moscow and Johannesburg were in Harare to explore market opportunities in the
country.
“My sole interest is to see the nation benefit from the
lowest fuel price possible from these interested market players, a case which
has not been obtained to date,” he said
“For the record, most, if not all, these companies have
been to my office. I handled all the same way as MOGS under the banner Zimbabwe
Is Open for Business. In Shona, kuvhunduka chati kwata hunge uine katuruke [he
who has something to hide panics easily]. Otherwise those who have always hated
me should go beyond banal accusations to adduced evidence.”
He refused to comment on Charamba’s claim that he was no
longer Mnangagwa’s advisor.
“I will not comment on a matter of public office. Just that
it is not an elected office, thus is beyond my purview,” he said. Standard
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