Mugabe castigates Biti on Bulawayo revival funds

President Robert Mugabe has criticised Finance Minister Tendai Biti for being reluctant to support Bulawayo's industry despite a Government position to give firms there loans to revive their businesses.

White settlers, he said, used Bulawayo as their industrial hub and built several areas which the Government now took a deliberate position to revive.

He said Minister Biti had not only been reluctant to take up the US$500 million Special Drawing Rights from the International Monetary Fund, but to disburse it to revive Bulawayo industries.

"If Bulawayo goes down, the whole country goes down. We said put the money there and (Industry and Commerce Minister Professor Welshman) Ncube was keen about that, but Biti said he had just put US$20 million."
MDC youths this week gave Biti a two-week ultimatum to release funds for the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) or face protests.

The youths from Welshman Ncube's MDC threatened to invade Central African Building Society (CABS), which has been mandated with disbursing the money meant to resuscitate Bulawayo's comatose industry.

MDC Bulawayo youth assembly secretary for information and publicity Khumbulani Malinga said Biti had derailed employment opportunities for thousands of youths in the city.

"To Minister Biti we, therefore, are giving you an ultimatum to disburse the money that you are supposed to disburse to CABS by end of this month or else we will mobilise all the unemployed young people who are already agitated by now. We will toyi-toyi to your offices; we will besiege CABS, we will make this city come to a standstill until you sort out this mess."

Malinga said Dimaf had become politicised and Bulawayo had been sidelined yet it was meant to be the major beneficiary of the fund.

MDC director for research and policy implementation Qhubani Moyo said the party supported the position taken by the youths.