Zanu-PF MP urges govt to invest on youth

Zanu PF MP Terence Mukupe has urged the government to invest much on the youth who are the future of the nation.

Speaking in parliament Mukupe said there was a proposal that there is going to be $170 million in wage bill savings.

"When you closely analyse the wage bill savings you actually notice that most of them are actually focusing on the youth officers, student teacher allowances and it is predominantly wage savings that are really affecting the young people," Mukupe said.

"I would want to believe that as a matter of policy, we would want to basically invest most of our money in the youths as opposed to investing most of our funds into the aged workforce. So, I would actually urge that that is something that needs to be really looked at because what we have is that, we have got a situation that most of the young people that are coming out of tertiary institutions have got nothing much to do."

"If we were going to send the youth officers and the young people back into the streets, I do not think it is a situation that will augur well for our nation," he added.

Mukupe said he would want to believe that there are three revenue drivers for the nation namely; mining, agriculture and the industrial sector.

"When you look at the mining sector, I would want to basically applaud most of the policies that have been put in place. My only contribution in that space is that, we probably need consistency when it comes to some of the policies that we are putting in place and especially, issues to do with the tenure that we have got for most of the mining resources that we have," he said.

"When you look at agriculture, I think there is a big elephant in the room which was not probably touched on. At the moment, it is not really clear in as far as the land compensation is concerned. We embarked on a policy where we acquired a lot of land and I think the policy that we have got is that all the land that we have acquired, we are going to be making payments on improvements to the land to the white owners. We have got a situation where at the present moment, the liability that we have created over the years, is liability that we still have not brought in the books and we do not know and have not made any provisions in terms of what is actually the extent of the liability that we have."

He said some of the Treasury Bills and all the monies that are raised must be considered.

"The other issue that I also want to point out is on the ease of doing business. I would want to applaud our Minister of Finance and Economic Development for setting up the Special Economic Zones but one of the issues that I think could become a hindrance for us is the anti-money laundering laws that we have got in this country. There is really a need for us to go and review the anti-money laundering laws because if we are going to be able to attract FDIs into the country, it is also important that we make sure that the laws are conducive for people to be able to bring money into the country," he said.

"At the present moment, I think if you have got a situation where you want to bring FDIs into the nation; it is almost as if you have committed a crime by wanting to bring money into the country. I think in terms of the Special Economic Zones, it could be something that is important to our nation to also set up a Financial Special Economic Zone. If I am bringing my money to invest in the country, why should I be subjected to all kinds of questions as to where I got my money from? Allow me to be able to build the country and invest money in the nation."

He said one of the issues that are bedeviling almost every company in Zimbabwe is that most companies are functionally bankrupt.

"What we actually need to have is a situation where we basically look at our bankruptcy protection laws. We have to look at situations where we give more tax holidays. I would want to believe that almost all the entities, every day when you go through the papers, you have got situations where accounts are being garnished, be it on the issues of NSSA and PAYE dues. I think it is high time we actually have tax holidays being given to some of the industries so that we give them the breathing space that they need to be able to kick-start the industries," he said.