Mnangagwa locked out by his ministers

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has accused his Cabinet ministers of shielding him away from critical developments happening in the country.

Mnangagwa made the remarks during a tour of Univern Enterprises in Harare's Workington Industrial area on Saturday, where he was exposed to cutting edge technology including live monitoring of toll plazas by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara).

"I did not know we have this kind of technology in the country. I am sure in some instances you are world-class. This is an eye opener. This has not been shown to us and I do not think even people in my Cabinet know about this. If they do then it means they have been keeping this away from me," said Mnangagwa in what seemed as a thinly veiled attack on Transport minister Jorum Gumbo.

Gumbo was conspicuous by his absence during the two-hour tour of the institution that runs the nerve centre of Zinara. Univern entered into a partnership with Zinara, in a bid to plug loopholes and stem the tide of corruption that had driven the parastatal to the top of THE graft ladder in the country. Zinara now boasts some of the best systems in the country and Mnangagwa said he had been pleasantly surprised at the level of technological innovation that the public private partnership has brought.

"In some areas I think we are at the top of the ladder in terms of the modernity of the technology we have. That is the way to go and that is where we are going.

"We cannot remain mediocre; this is why we say Zimbabwe is open for business because we want to catch up, to leapfrog and catch up with other countries. And my mantra now, besides Zimbabwe is open for business, is that by 2030 we must be a middle-income country," said Mnangagwa while calling for unity of purpose.

The President quipped that the level of technology that Univern has established allowed the company to monitor the whole country from Harare.

"I am so happy you have this drive and realise you can monitor the whole country from here except the Office of the President.

"As the old generation we must create the climate, but the young generation can adapt to technology easily. So I wish you more innovation," he said.

Univern chief executive officer Phil Mushosho said his organisation had been energised by Mnangagwa's visit.

"That he took time off his busy schedule and on a weekend to visit us shows the depth of his appreciation of what the private sector can bring to this economy. We have different systems for different departments in government, but the good thing is that these are fully integrated to allow for cross-pollination of ideas and technological transfer as well as skills sharing," Mushosho said.