Letter to the Editor of the Independent

Indigenisation spearheaded by the wrong people

Friday, 26 March 2010 08:39

I CAN describe it as a good law lacking timing, as a good law with wrong implementation, as a good law ready to be abused and as a good law spearheaded by the wrong people. So we all know vehicles are good inventions but if driven by wrong people they kill. We all know bars are good entertainment areas but if patronised by wrong people they become havens of all social ills and even murders. Marijuana is a good drug for some ailments but in the wrong hands it becomes a dangerous drug. To indigenise the economy is what we need to do. I wonder if indigenising Barclays Bank for instance will increase employment. I don’t think so! I don’t think everybody is cut out to be a business man. Why should companies be forced to sell their shares to certain people even if it is not in their business interests? We thought companies would be asked to cede the 51% to their workers since we all know that these workers are mostly indigenous black people. Even this law should also say all companies should not be wholly owned by an individual whether black or white but that 51% should be distributed. I heard Paddington Japajapa on Talking Business With Supa on ZTV saying the government should provide the funds to get the 51% stakes in the companies. So he needs the government to use taxpayers’ money to enrich him and his coterie of friends. Why does he not advocate for a fund (this should be a loan and repayable, not free like the tractors) from the government to be availed to every Zimbabwean wishing to go into business so that he/she starts his/her own business and grow it to be like Colgate, Lever Brothers, Olivine, Barclays Bank and the like. Let us face reality here; we had Trust Bank, a bank which even the worker was proud of. We have other banks which are operating well. These created wealth and employment so why should we try to grab Standard Chartered Bank? Next time when Supa Mandiwanzira wants to talk about some issues on business he should avoid these fly-by-night business people whose knowledge of business is about how many crates of beer are in his bottle store. Seriously speaking, these are not business people because anybody can just run a bottle store. When we talk about the country’s economy we need to talk about really business ventures. Bottle stores will sort themselves out because who does not know that most bottle stores are like tuck shops. We also see that most of these people who are trying to enforce empowerment laws have benefited unfairly and are the ones who have formed many indigenous pressure groups which they are using as vehicles of looting. Look how silent they were when Mutumwa Mawere’s empire was being annihilated; they were quiet when Nicholas Vingirai was being hounded out of the country. Did they say anything when Mtuli Ncube was abused? I don’t think so because they had nothing to gain from them. Are these not indigenous people? I am worried that the ministers who are supposed to be making decisions on some of these issues will enforce laws that will put them in a good position to loot from foreign firms. The ordinary man/woman in the street will never benefit anything from these forced takeovers. We will keep being told of sanctions whilst the fat cats are enjoying. Did Strive Masiyiwa not start from scratch to rise to be one of the biggest business people in the country? He battled to be where he is now with no indigenous group helping him. We need such people with business acumen, not those who have hawkish eyes ready to pounce on other people’s chickens. We all know those in indigenous pressure groups have had a brush with the law or escaped the law due to friends in the higher echelons of power, because they are amassing and not creating wealth. They are there because they use hook and crook means and that is why most of their businesses are not growing. Some of them bought companies to strip the assets and then repackaged them into tiny entities to sell to other people ending with engineering firms being turned into tuck shops. This indigenisation law should be revisited so that every Zimbabwean benefits. Taruvinga Mashayamombe, Harare.

Mashie

The man called Mashie is at most misunderstood, not controversial. He is almost conservative, he is not the wild type and will recoil when he feels some deeds or language are embarassing. He is more political than social but has fears of getting involved deeply into politics.

He reads wildly and has read books by some renowned writers and prominent people like Ndabaningi Sithole, Joshua Nkomo's Story of my life, Perhaps Tomorrow by a white farnmer who had been captured by guerillas and taken to Mozambique, Tekere is book, I also read Smith book. Perhaps Tomorrow was my best reading.

I have read on line stories about the history of the struggle for Zimbabwe's independency and also has read what I call historical fraud books mainly by ZanuPf officials. I have ready the book on Gukurahundi by the Catholic bishops conference. I have read so many magazines and newspapers. I enjoy internet postings about Zimbabwe.

He became an MDC member soon after its formation buying his membership card at what is now Zimrights offices. He though did not become too much of an active member taking a back seat most probably having been discouraged by the language of one of the NCA members who talked what Mashie was to tell him it was nonsense. The man was Brian Kagoro. How did this happen?

We went for a match for a new constitution and we gathered at Causeway Post Office building so that we much to African Unity square from there. As people prepared to much riot police descended on us and told us that the much was illegal and we were to disperse. We were given some seconds to disperse and they started beating people.

They picked Mike Auret and Grace Kwinjeh and bundled them into a land rover truck. I was one of the people who was voiceforous to match. Kagoro maybe trying to take leadership of the much felt challenged and he accused some of us of being zanupf cadres sent to disrupt the match and cause mayhem to give police excuse to beat us up. That was crap and nonsense and I told him off. I told him the whole purpose was to match for a new constitution and knowing zanupf and its state security apparatus would not allow us to match anyway so why not bite the bullet. I told him f he thinks i am a zanupf cadre then fine i also need a new constitution and would not mind being in front matching to the venue.

From the way he looked at me i found out that i may be creating some enemies and saw that this is not the type of people to lead us into a new Zimbabwe if his way of looking at others is like that, selfish.As we argued a group came through Julius Nyerere matching and suddenly our group joined in. If he was not embarrassed by this I do not know if he would be embarassed even if he wets himself.

That was the day I met Morgan Tsvangirayi. he was in his faded jeans and very simple. Little did i know he was to be the President of MDC, The President of Zimbabwe if ZanuPf had not played a coup-de -dat on him, Prime Minister in the GNU which is proving difficult to run. Many people gave a lot of speaches the people like Wurayi Zembe, Makombe, Madhuku and Tsvangirayi. I still have the t-shirt I got that day.