Indigenisation law to dominate Council of Ministers meeting Thursday http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
3 March 2010
The dispute between ZANU PF and the MDC over the recently gazetted indigenisation regulations is set to dominate Thursday’s Council of Ministers, which is to be chaired by the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe met on Monday during their weekly meeting and agreed the regulations would not be enforced until they were brought and approved by Cabinet, as per procedure.
Tsvangirai’ spokesman James Maridadi told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the Prime Minister insists the new regulations on indigenisation, as currently proposed, are ‘counter-productive’ and out of line with his
mandate to deliver broad-based empowerment through economic growth.
“The Prime Minister opposes the new regulations because they achieve the exact opposite of what they are meant to bring,” Maridadi said. Analysts have blamed the controversial regulations for scaring away millions of
dollars in investment opportunities, forcing Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube to wade into the row.
Ncube told a meeting of business executives in Harare on Wednesday that the inclusive government will be reviewing rules that force foreign-owned firms to sell a majority stake to locals. He said the regulations, which came into effect on Monday were published prematurely last month.
The Minister reiterated that the rules had not been submitted to a cabinet committee for debate on their legality and whether they were consistent with government policy, adding, “That did not take place, and it’s now taking
place and all the Ministers will be asked to make contributions.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tsvangirai has said restrictive measures by Western countries against Mugabe and officials from ZANU PF can only be lifted once the Global Political Agreement is fully implemented.
Clarifying reports that appeared in the state controlled Herald that quoted Tsvangirai calling for the removal of sanctions; Maridadi said the Prime Minister was quoted out of context.
Maridadi said the Prime Minister told a visiting Danish delegation this week that targeted sanctions should be removed when human rights violations come to an end.
“Never did the Prime Minister refer to them as sanctions, but ‘restrictive measures.’ The media quoted him out of context, but he reiterated that the West should acknowledge the progress of the government by lifting
restrictive measures, once certain prerequisites have been met,” Maridadi said.