The no-holds-barred indaba is scheduled for April 10 in Gweru. Captains of industry, civic society, students, churches among other stakeholders, are expected to attend.
In an exclusive interview Midlands Show Society’s president Pascal Muringani, told The Zimbabwean that the event would be “a moment of truth and a platform for tough questions of the day that need answers from the government.” He said Mnangagwa and several other ministers had confirmed that they would attend.
“Business is at a record low to an extent where the only surviving trade in all the cities, including Harare, is that of selling pesticides to kill cockroaches and rats on street corners. We want the VP and his ministers to tell us where they are taking us to,” said Muringani.
He explained that the collapsed state of industry, particularly in Midlands, and the failure by the ordinary people in the province to benefit from the vast mineral wealth in the area, had forced the show society to come out of its shell and plan the event.
“It is no secret that some of the government’s policies like the indigenisation law, which requires investors to reap less after investing, has brought us to this sad state. We need to ask the VP and the ministers whether it is not time for us to completely tear up that piece of legislation.
“We have heard that there have been signings of so called mega-deals but we have not heard of any company or person who has benefited. In fact some of the purported deals signed by nations like Russia are doomed to fail if history is to repeat itself. Who has ever benefited from a deal with Russians here? People do not eat ‘mega-deals.’ The ZISCO deal that stalled is a good example. So we want the VP and other ministers to address us on these issues. We are not politicians but we will just have to ask these tough questions,” said Muringani.
Post published in: News