Jonathan Moyo warns Minister Mthuli Ncube

Self-exiled former cabinet minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has advised new Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube to join the ruling Zanu-PF party in order to get political clout. He also advised him not to announce his plans until they have been approved by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF.

Writing on Twitter, Moyo said:

"Since @MthuliNcube is finance minister as an outsider, it may please him to note these key tidbits about ZanuPF & its govt:

First, don't announce any major initiative, like phasing out bond notes, before it's been approved by the president, politburo & cabinet, in that order!."

"Just like the sun will rise tomorrow, and given murphy's law, rest assured that your ZanuPF detractors will use Barbican Bank, AfDB & dual citizenship residue against you. The question is not whether they will, but when & how they will do it. You are forewarned; be forearmed!"

"A minister of finance is not a technocrat but a politician. You will need political clout that comes from being a ZanuPF member, an MP and, crucially, a central committee & politburo member. If you are not these things, it's a disaster & if you are, your technocratic CV dies!"

"You must remember that while the late Morgan Tsvangirai, and before him the late VP Joseph Msika, saw you as a prospective RBZ Governor given your banking history, you are minister of finance in charge of fiscal & not monetary policy. Stick to your job & let others do theirs!"

"The Ministry of Finance does not have the high-end skills necessary for an economic ministry in a country with Zimbabwe's intractable socioeconomic problems; compounded by political malaise. There's no craft-competence from the permanent secretary, down to the shop floor!"