ED ministers in political storms 

Source: ED ministers in political storms – DailyNews Live

Tendai Kamhungira     21 October 2018

HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vow to clean up the image of the
government and its officials is increasingly coming under the spotlight –
as his lieutenants keep getting embroiled in self-inflicted political
storms, the Daily News on Sunday can report.

As a result, analysts say, these escalating political crises are fast
eroding both the credibility of Mnangagwa’s administration and the
significant goodwill that the 76-year-old Zanu PF leader enjoyed from many
Zimbabweans when he assumed power late last year, on the back of a popular
military intervention.

This past week alone, for example – and as Mnangagwa’s government was
commendably circling some Zanu PF bigwigs and unscrupulous businesspeople
who stand accused of fuelling the parallel foreign currency market – two
of his key ministers were engulfed in political strife.

In the first case, deputy Industry and Commerce minister Raj Modi caused a
storm in Bulawayo after one of his businesses was caught selling goods in
United States dollars.

In the second, under pressure Finance minister Mthuli Ncube appointed
controversial Zanu PF activist William Gerald Mutumanje – better known as
Acie Lumumba – the new spokesperson for his ministry.

under pressure – Minister of Finance Dr Mthuli Ncube

Lumumba, will apparently “chair” the ministry’s communications
“taskforce”, with the other members of this murky committee yet to be
revealed.

Apart from selling goods in US dollars – which is against government
policy – Modi has also been linked to the illegal trading in foreign
currency on the parallel
market, a charge that he has vehemently denied.

However, he has confirmed directing his concerned business to price its
goods in US dollars – ostensibly because his suppliers were only accepting
the coveted greenback for payment due to the country’s current economic
turmoil.

The accusations against Modi come as Mnangagwa on Friday warned that the
net was closing in on Zanu PF bigwigs and some businesspeople who stand
accused of sabotaging his government’s efforts to revive the country’s
sickly economy.

“We are now certain and clear of the personalities behind these wicked and
criminal activities and the net is closing in on them.

“We will soon name, shame and bring to book these gluttonous individuals
and companies,” Mnangagwa warned during a graduation ceremony at Bindura
State University.

Modi, the only Zanu PF legislator to win a parliamentary seat in
Zimbabwe’s second biggest city in the July 30 national elections, defended
his actions strongly yesterday – telling the Daily News On Sunday that he
was “like any other business person who is trying to make ends meet in the
current environment”.

He said he needed foreign currency for the products that he was buying out
of the country, adding that he could only get that money through selling
products in foreign currency.

“The problem is that I have to restock my business. I cannot close the
door. I have to … open for more business and when the supplier is
charging me that price I cannot do anything.

“You know suppliers, they say they want US dollars. So, I have to buy in
US dollars and sell… in US dollars as well,” Modi said.

Deputy minister of Industry and Commerce – Raj Modi

“That is what is happening … it’s an unfortunate situation … it’s not
that I want it, but if I don’t do this it means that I have got nothing to
sell in the business and I emply 135 people.

“What are they going to do? Do I close the door and they go home? To keep
the business running I have to follow the market … what everybody else
is doing,” he added.

Modi also suggested that it was not fair to look at him as a politician
and minister who had to obey the government’s orders, without also
recognising that he was a businessman.

“You are looking at me as a government servant but you need to look at me
like any other businessperson. I am not the only one who is charging in US
dollars, everybody is doing that,” he retorted.

“Where do I get supply if everybody else does not want to supply me in
local currency? What do I do? And those products that we are getting in
local currency we are selling in local currency, there is nothing wrong
with that,” he said.

Meanwhile, political analysts say Modi’s conduct is not acceptable, as it
erodes the credibility of Mnangagwa’s administration.

“In countries where honour is upheld, a minister who, in his personal
business, goes against the policy of the government in which he is serving
would do the honourable act of resigning.

“Not in Zimbabwe. How do you enforce a government policy when you are
breaching it?” UK-based academic Alex Magaisa said.

Regarding the allegations of trading illegally in foreign currency, Modi
said while he had been fingered as one of the offenders, his “conscience
was clear” – adding that this was all the work of his “enemies”.

“They can say anything, but I am not doing it. Whatever they are saying is
not true … we do not do foreign currency business,” he said.

Last week, well-placed sources told the Daily News on Sunday’s sister
publication, the Daily News, that the “rogue” Zanu PF hotshots and top
businesspeople – mainly of Asian descent – were funnelling out tens of
millions of dollars from Zimbabwe in hard currency every month through
“well run” syndicates that involved bureaucrats and law enforcement
agents.

The sources said authorities had now also established “beyond doubt” that
the foreign currency black market was controlled by a number of notable
local and foreign people.

These people were running “a well-oiled” machine, siphoning coveted
greenbacks from the country to places such as Dubai, in the United Arab
Emirates, and neighbouring South Africa.

What had shocked authorities was that these cabals included security
agents who were issuing out hundreds of illegal police identity cards –
which enabled the criminals involved safe passage at roadblocks and
security check points.

The stunning revelations came days after Mnangagwa said the country’s
parallel foreign currency trade was militating against the government’s
efforts to rebuild the shattered local economy.

In an ominous warning last weekend, the Zanu PF leader said illegal
foreign currency dealers should now be treated as a threat to national
security.

The revelations also came after Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor
John Mangudya recently alleged that foreign currency dealers were being
funded by “influential” people.