7-day ultimatum for businesses

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has given a seven-day ultimatum to businesses hoarding goods and engaging in malpractices to sabotage the economy, to shape up or risk stiff sanctions from Government.

He sent the warning as he addressed tens of thousands of supporters at the Zanu-PF Mashonaland West province Presidential Star Rally in Magunje yesterday. President Mnangagwa said he will name and shame the captains of industry who are working to undermine Government.

"There are some businesses that are fighting us, especially soon after we proclaimed dates for elections. Prices started going up, and our Zimbabwe dollar was under attack, with the rate going up. This was done by those who wanted the people to turn against Government. We sought to find out who these people are. Last time, I mentioned some of them, I also have a list of others.

"But, I am going to name them next week in Zaka. Today I want to warn them by saying that I sent my people to them about two days ago, to tell them that what they are doing is not right. So, you have seven days to make corrections. On the seventh day, I am going to name and shame those that do not shape up. Those who are hoarding and those who are manipulating," said President Mnangagwa.

The President said some businesses have already been sanctioned over these shenanigans, while Government is also continuing to engage them.

"We strongly warned some of them that we would name and shame them. They then begged us not to expose them by saying that our Zanu-PF people would not buy from them. They chose to pay some fines and agreed to change their ways. On Tuesday, we will hear more about some of these businesses. So, those who are hoarding and manipulating the economy, I say to you, this is Zimbabwe and it is for Zimbabweans. Either you are with us or you are not with us. If you are with us we will support you and give you the leeway to do business. But, if you are not with us, business rako richa wunyana (your business will crumble)."

President Mnangagwa said over the past five years, the Zanu-PF Government has undertaken massive infrastructure development to modernise the country.

"We have been modernising our infrastructure in all provinces and no one and no place will be left behind. Yesterday I was at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport; whose facelift is now complete. I will officially commission it on July 14. I have never seen such a beautiful airport. We have modernised our Beitbridge Border Post. In our region, possibly on the continent, we have the most modern border post. We have been busy building our roads, from Beitbridge Border Post to Harare, and now from Harare to Chirundu."

Zimbabwe's modernisation has led to the empowerment of locals, in line with the "nyika inovakwa nevene vayo" (the country is built by its own people) philosophy, the President said.

"In the past, we used to think roads could only be refurbished through international tenders. We have our own engineers, our own talented boys and girls. We created at least five companies that we sponsored.

"They are constructing modern highways in our country. We shall continue to empower our younger generation, our own people. We will empower them to construct infrastructure; be it building dams, roads, houses or generating electricity. We are now doing it on our own," said President Mnangagwa.

The President, who is also Zanu-PF's First Secretary, said the Second Republic was empowering people at the village level, with all the country's 35 000 villages set to get boreholes that will help communities to embark on horticulture projects.

"We have 35 000 villages in Zimbabwe. In every village we are going to have a fisheries programme. We want every village to have a borehole.

"We have already purchased 80 borehole rigs, state-of-the-art rigs that we are deploying to the provinces for each village to get a solar-powered borehole. Women will set up nutritional gardens and carry out horticulture projects, so that there are no nutritional deficiencies, to curb diseases like kwashiorkor. They will be able to produce throughout the year."

He urged Zanu-PF supporters to vote for the ruling party on August 23, adding that peace should prevail before, during and after the elections. "We in Zanu-PF say no to violence, we shall continue to preach peace, we shall continue to preach unity, we shall preach love and harmony."

The President donated 1 000 computers to schools in Mashonaland West, while 65 000 packets of seed were distributed to people who attended the rally.