Mnangagwa on Friday decreed that over 20 state-owned
companies will no longer be bound by the Public Procurement and Disposal of
Public Assets Act, which forces government entities to go through the
Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe to pay for goods and services.
The companies that include Zesa, TelOne, POSB, Zupco,
Netone, Powertel, Air Zimbabwe, Hwange Colliery Company, Cottco and Air
Zimbabwe have been taken over by the recent renamed Mutapa Sovereign Wealth.
Kasukuwere, who was barred from challenging Mnangagwa in
last month’s presidential elections on account that he had lived out of the
country for more than 18 months, said the regulations meant that the companies
were now vulnerable to abuse.
“Any country that wishes to maximize benefits from its assets and resources in a responsible manner and is also serious about accountability and transparency, therefore, needs to ensure that it has the appropriate laws, policies and regulations in place to safeguard such public assets and resources from fraud and abuse,” his movement said in a statement yesterday.
“The exemption of any state entity from this Act not only
indicates a profound disregard for the interests of citizens at large and the
rule of law, but also shows an abhorrence of any accountability or transparency
by the president.
“The negative implications of such a move are numerous and
mean that those assets clandestinely transferred into the Mutapa Fund are now
subject to gross abuse and looting without public disclosure.”
He said the exemptions meantthere would be no obligation by
the government to follow due processes in the procurement of goods and services
by the fund.
Such assets, Kasukuwere’s movement said, could be disposed
of, not necessarily at fair value, but to individuals with close ties to
Mnangagwa’s administration.
“In short, Zimbabweans have been disposed of effective and
judicious control of assets and Mnangagwa has, in effect, taken full control of
them under the Mutapa Fund without being answerable to anyone on how these
assets operate or are disposed of in the future.”
Last week former Finance minister Tendai Biti said
Mnangagwa did not have powers to make law as this was the preserve of
Parliament after the president renamed the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Biti said the statutory instrument used to change the name
of the fund and to move the shareholding of the state enterprises was illegal
as the president had usurped Parliament’s powers.
Veteran economist Tony Hawkins said the government had
never understood the role of a sovereign wealth fund.
Hawkins said countries such as Norway, Botswana and others
in the Middle East used sovereign wealth funds to utilise domestic savings to
diversify their economies by investing offshore.
Mnangagwa has in the past been criticized for overlying on
statutory instruments to introduce far reaching measures without involving
Parliament. Standard
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