News / National
Pro-Mnangagwa hawks eye Telecel
09 Apr 2015 at 09:13hrs | Views
Zanu-PF hawks aligned to vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa are reportedly angling for multi-million-dollar shares in Telecel Zimbabwe.
Inside sources said the hawks were using Telecel's failure to pay government the mandatory $137.5 million licence fee to buy into the telecommunications service provider. President Robert Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao's name has featured prominently in the ongoing licence saga.
ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira in February announced that government had decided to cancel the Telecel licence due to its failure to pay the fee as required by the law. Cabinet has already approved the cancellation of the licence, yet the service provider continues to operate.
Telecel, which won the right to operate without going to tender, has functioned without a licence since its inception in 1998, yet government has turned a blind eye. The sources said the Zanu-PF hawks came up with the strategy to wrest shares in Telecel sometime last year.
2,5 million subscribers
The company is the country's second largest telecoms operator with just below 2.5 million subscribers and offers other services such as mobile money and mobile insurance.
"The Telecel saga has taken a factional twist as powerful people aligned to Mnangagwa have seen an opportunity to get into the company. Does it not raise eyebrows that, since 1998, government has never talked of cancelling the Telecel licence despite the company never having possessed one?" said one of the sources, an IT expert.
He said prominent people aligned to former vice president Joice Mujuru had all along ensured that Telecel operated without a licence and members belonging to the Mnangagwa faction had decided to reverse that and take control of the company.
Shamu fired
"Apparently, it started off as a witch hunt for people aligned to Mujuru. Then it dawned on the pro-Mnangagwa politicians that they could go beyond flushing out their rivals and invest in Telecel themselves," he added.
Mujuru, Mugabe's deputy for 10 years, was recently fired from Zanu-PF – joining scores of senior party members who had been linked to her in the fierce battle to succeed Mugabe.
Nicholas Goche, who ran the transport and communications ministry for some time and was linked to Mujuru, reportedly gave the nod for Telecel to continue without a licence during his tenure. He has also been relieved of his post as a cabinet minister in the aftermath of the congress that was dominated by the Mnangagwa faction.
Telecommunications services are now administered by the ICT ministry. Webster Shamu, also linked to Mujuru, ran the ministry for some time before being removed and succeeded by Mandiwanzira following a mini cabinet reshuffle last year.
Mandiwanzira, who deputised Jonathan Moyo in the information ministry for a short period, is considered pro-Mnangagwa. Moyo fought from Mnangagwa's corner ahead of congress to undermine the Mujuru faction and was appointed ICT secretary in the politburo by President Robert Mugabe at congress.
The self-exiled James Makamba, Chairman and one of the founders of Telecel, was a key Mujuru ally when it was formed. Mujuru was strongly opposed to the establishment of Strive Masiiwa's rival company Econet. Unconfirmed reports claim that the Mujuru family used Makamba as a proxy to invest in Telecel.
Locals must benefit
Said another source: "Even though government has purportedly cancelled the Telecel licence, it will not stop the company from operating. The hawks are working on a strategy to get the shares and they cannot afford to close Telecel down."
Mandiwanzira has already indicated that government, now dominated by pro-Mnangagwa cabinet ministers, will decide the new investors in Telecel. He accused the service provider of reneging on an agreement that it would indigenise and benefit local people.
"We are now getting back the business because it has not benefited the people which were supposed to benefit in the first place," he said in February. "Government's position is that all shareholders and/or purported shareholders of the company must now engage government and not anyone else on the future of their assets".
The local shareholders in Telecel were purportedly chosen on the basis that they would be fronts for black empowerment, but the affirmative action policy has been rapped for benefiting a few elite individuals. Efforts to get comments from Mandiwanzira were fruitless.
Inside sources said the hawks were using Telecel's failure to pay government the mandatory $137.5 million licence fee to buy into the telecommunications service provider. President Robert Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao's name has featured prominently in the ongoing licence saga.
ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira in February announced that government had decided to cancel the Telecel licence due to its failure to pay the fee as required by the law. Cabinet has already approved the cancellation of the licence, yet the service provider continues to operate.
Telecel, which won the right to operate without going to tender, has functioned without a licence since its inception in 1998, yet government has turned a blind eye. The sources said the Zanu-PF hawks came up with the strategy to wrest shares in Telecel sometime last year.
2,5 million subscribers
The company is the country's second largest telecoms operator with just below 2.5 million subscribers and offers other services such as mobile money and mobile insurance.
"The Telecel saga has taken a factional twist as powerful people aligned to Mnangagwa have seen an opportunity to get into the company. Does it not raise eyebrows that, since 1998, government has never talked of cancelling the Telecel licence despite the company never having possessed one?" said one of the sources, an IT expert.
He said prominent people aligned to former vice president Joice Mujuru had all along ensured that Telecel operated without a licence and members belonging to the Mnangagwa faction had decided to reverse that and take control of the company.
Shamu fired
"Apparently, it started off as a witch hunt for people aligned to Mujuru. Then it dawned on the pro-Mnangagwa politicians that they could go beyond flushing out their rivals and invest in Telecel themselves," he added.
Nicholas Goche, who ran the transport and communications ministry for some time and was linked to Mujuru, reportedly gave the nod for Telecel to continue without a licence during his tenure. He has also been relieved of his post as a cabinet minister in the aftermath of the congress that was dominated by the Mnangagwa faction.
Telecommunications services are now administered by the ICT ministry. Webster Shamu, also linked to Mujuru, ran the ministry for some time before being removed and succeeded by Mandiwanzira following a mini cabinet reshuffle last year.
Mandiwanzira, who deputised Jonathan Moyo in the information ministry for a short period, is considered pro-Mnangagwa. Moyo fought from Mnangagwa's corner ahead of congress to undermine the Mujuru faction and was appointed ICT secretary in the politburo by President Robert Mugabe at congress.
The self-exiled James Makamba, Chairman and one of the founders of Telecel, was a key Mujuru ally when it was formed. Mujuru was strongly opposed to the establishment of Strive Masiiwa's rival company Econet. Unconfirmed reports claim that the Mujuru family used Makamba as a proxy to invest in Telecel.
Locals must benefit
Said another source: "Even though government has purportedly cancelled the Telecel licence, it will not stop the company from operating. The hawks are working on a strategy to get the shares and they cannot afford to close Telecel down."
Mandiwanzira has already indicated that government, now dominated by pro-Mnangagwa cabinet ministers, will decide the new investors in Telecel. He accused the service provider of reneging on an agreement that it would indigenise and benefit local people.
"We are now getting back the business because it has not benefited the people which were supposed to benefit in the first place," he said in February. "Government's position is that all shareholders and/or purported shareholders of the company must now engage government and not anyone else on the future of their assets".
The local shareholders in Telecel were purportedly chosen on the basis that they would be fronts for black empowerment, but the affirmative action policy has been rapped for benefiting a few elite individuals. Efforts to get comments from Mandiwanzira were fruitless.
Source - zimbabwean
