Mnangagwa wants Zimbabwe to relax investment laws

Zanu-PF candidate for Chirumanzu-Zibagwe Constituency Auxilia Mnangagwa has called for the relaxation of investment laws to allow more Foreign Direct Investment.

In an interview, Mnangagwa who is wife to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said the relaxation of the investment laws was meant to boost investor confidence.

She said there was also need for Government to clarify some indigenisation laws that have been distorted by the country's detractors.

"Our country is rich in terms of mineral resources and as such we need to ensure that we attract friendly countries to come and invest in the country. They bring machinery and expertise to facilitate beneficiation. Our laws need to be relaxed so that investors understand that our laws don't undermine their investment," said Mnangagwa.

She said despite being adversely affected by the illegal sanctions imposed by the West, she managed to set up a community bank to cater for rural women in Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituency.

Mngangagwa said she was not new in politics as she had worked at grassroots level where she empowered rural communities in Chirumanzu, Gokwe and Silobela.

Born on March 25, 1963 in Mazowe District in Mashonaland Central, Mnangagwa grew up in Chiweshe near Rosa Business Centre where she attained both primary and secondary education.

She later undertook secretarial studies at Silveira House in Chishawasha before joining the Ministry of Manpower and Development then headed by late national hero Edgar Tekere in 1981.

Eleven years later, Mnangagwa joined the then Prime Minister's office before being seconded to the then Sheraton Hotel as a security officer. In 1997, she resigned from the Central Intelligence Organisation with the intention of going into the tourism sector.

She enrolled at the University of Zimbabwe in 1997 after being accepted to undertake studies in environment and tourism studies but left the institution in 1999 due to political instability. She left the country in order to pursue her studies in Hotel and Tourism Administration in Switzerland where she graduated with a degree in 2001.

Upon her return, she went into the tourism sector as a private player and also worked within the structures of Zanu-PF in Kwekwe in the finance department.

"I have always wanted to play an active role in the politics of my country. You may recall that not so long ago, I submitted my name to represent my party in Mazowe Central where I was born, but was denied the chance when my papers were rejected by the Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central Provincial Coordinating Committee on grounds that I did not understand," Mnangagwa said.

She said even after that setback, she did not despair but decided to work with her husband with the people of Kwekwe, Zhombe, Silobela and Chirumanzu.

In 2009, she won her way into the party's Central Committee and again submitted her name last year where she also emerged victorious.

"What has been happening is that I have been working with my husband in Gokwe, Mberengwa and Chirumanzu and we initiated a number of programmes to empower the communities there.

"So my intention is to carry on with these programmes and ensure that I mobilise more votes for Zanu PF."

She said she was instrumental in the setting up of a community bank in Chirumanzu in 2010 called the Cheese Bank.

Mnangagwa said the party needed to undertake a serious mobilisation exercise to ensure that all potential voters are registered.

She expressed gratitude to Zanu-PF supporters for electing her to represent the party in the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe by-election scheduled for March 27 this year.

President Mugabe recently ordered that new elections be held for Mt Darwin West and Chirimanzu-Zibagwe constituencies after they fell vacant.

The Mt Darwin West Constituency fell vacant following the removal from Government of former Vice President Joice Mujuru, while National Assembly Member for Chirumanzu-Zibagwe Emmerson Mnangagwa was elevated to the position of Vice President of Zimbabwe. Lovemore Mataire