News / National
Mugabe speaks out on MDC-T exclusion from new Cabinet
12 Sep 2013 at 02:58hrs | Views
President Mugabe says he left out MDC-T members from the new Cabinet he announced on Tuesday because the party refused to accept the legitimacy of the 31 July elections that ushered him as the Head of State and Government for the next five years.He said he was hopeful that the new Government would deliver given that there was no longer policy and ideological differences in Cabinet.
Instead of cooperating and accepting its electoral fate, President Mugabe said the MDC-T became negative and started making statements inconsistent with a party willing to work together with others.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was responding to questions from journalists at State House yesterday soon after the swearing in of the Ministers and their Deputies.
Journalists had inquired whether the exclusion of opposition members in the new Government meant that the President does not trust them.
"Are you saying when a party wins, it must necessarily have members of the opposition included in its Cabinet? That is a matter that should be discussed between the parties.
"You must agree. When we had the results of the elections, the MDC-T started saying it does not recognise the elections. It does not recognise even the election of the President and as far as they are concerned the elections were rigged. And once you have the opposition with that attitude what do you do? Tell me what should I have done?
"I would have expected that the opposition would say aah, we have lost, we accept defeat. Fine, but we are prepared to work together. No. They started even making statements 'there are indications that the President would want some of us to be in the Cabinet. We do not want it.
The President had never made an indication like that. Zvino maiti todiiko? Mushandirapamwe tinouda asi unotauriranwaka. Zvino kana vamwe vachibva vava that negative tovaita sei? Tovasungirira?" he said.
President Mugabe said the new Government would seek to revive industry and bring back the employment capacity of Bulawayo which used to be the country's industrial hub.
He said the development of the country should be premised on indigenisation and any foreign investment should be based on the 51/49 percent equity regulation.
"I was talking to President Khama the other day kuMalawi pataive ne Sadc meeting ikoko and he was telling me kuti imi you decided on a 51/49 percent ratio with Zimbabweans whether its Government or citizens having 51 percent and then foreigners 49 percent, isusu we are upward kuma80 percent there and tinoti De Beers can take 17 to 18 percent chete.
We noticed that they have been taking us for a ride and we sat down with them and said enough is enough. They (Batswana) get that huge percentage out of their diamonds. Now when we say the investor can come nemafoshoro ake no matter how sophisticated and how large anongova mafoshoro chete ekucheresa and wachera wowana 49 percent.
"In some cases the old law was that zvaachera ndezvake iye. Kana ari iye akavheneka akaona kuti pane madiamonds the claim was his. What you get is what is paid to your workers and what is charged by the Ministry of Finance through taxes chete.
"Achitakura upfumi hwese ihwohwo and imagine mazikomba anoitwa iwaya? What do you do to replace that part of your earth, of your world which has been taken away?"
President Mugabe said the mineral resource was more valuable than any form of capital investment by the investor.
As such, in any joint venture, the country would use its mineral resources as its equity.
"That fact of digging does not make you owners of the material you take out of our earth. Matumbu enyika yedu. That is ours. To us that is fundamental," he said.
"Your capital to us is not as important as our own wealth. What God gave us which lies beneath is treasurable, is also not just our own we who are there now, it is a possession that should be passed on as a legacy to future generations dakara Armageddon, musi unonzi nyika yaparara.
"We cannot deprive those who will come many, many centuries after us of what they are entitled to by nature imi muchiti tauya necapital, nekamari kenyu ikako.
"The value of this earth, no matter how small that part of the earth which is dug out, is greater than any capital you can ever think of. So your capital is not worth (more) than our wealth and our contribution in any venture is what we have.
"Uko zvainzi hapana zvamuri kuisa imi, kana muchida joint venture munotoisawo capital. Kana musina capital tingakuposhaiwo mugozodzora. Ndozvatakarambaka izvozvo."
He said such arrangements could only work in cases where you do not have any resource at all and you have to fetch for all the resources together with the investor.
"But where you have the raw resources, no. We refuse to accept that capital is much more than our fixed assets," said President Mugabe.
He said President Khama said Zimbabwe was free to send people to Botswana to get ideas on how they were mining.
President Mugabe said it was unfortunate that some people think that they were not complete if they do not have a white man next to them. The Press briefing was also attended by Vice President Joice Mujuru and Senior Minister Simon Khaya Moyo.
Instead of cooperating and accepting its electoral fate, President Mugabe said the MDC-T became negative and started making statements inconsistent with a party willing to work together with others.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was responding to questions from journalists at State House yesterday soon after the swearing in of the Ministers and their Deputies.
Journalists had inquired whether the exclusion of opposition members in the new Government meant that the President does not trust them.
"Are you saying when a party wins, it must necessarily have members of the opposition included in its Cabinet? That is a matter that should be discussed between the parties.
"You must agree. When we had the results of the elections, the MDC-T started saying it does not recognise the elections. It does not recognise even the election of the President and as far as they are concerned the elections were rigged. And once you have the opposition with that attitude what do you do? Tell me what should I have done?
"I would have expected that the opposition would say aah, we have lost, we accept defeat. Fine, but we are prepared to work together. No. They started even making statements 'there are indications that the President would want some of us to be in the Cabinet. We do not want it.
The President had never made an indication like that. Zvino maiti todiiko? Mushandirapamwe tinouda asi unotauriranwaka. Zvino kana vamwe vachibva vava that negative tovaita sei? Tovasungirira?" he said.
President Mugabe said the new Government would seek to revive industry and bring back the employment capacity of Bulawayo which used to be the country's industrial hub.
He said the development of the country should be premised on indigenisation and any foreign investment should be based on the 51/49 percent equity regulation.
"I was talking to President Khama the other day kuMalawi pataive ne Sadc meeting ikoko and he was telling me kuti imi you decided on a 51/49 percent ratio with Zimbabweans whether its Government or citizens having 51 percent and then foreigners 49 percent, isusu we are upward kuma80 percent there and tinoti De Beers can take 17 to 18 percent chete.
We noticed that they have been taking us for a ride and we sat down with them and said enough is enough. They (Batswana) get that huge percentage out of their diamonds. Now when we say the investor can come nemafoshoro ake no matter how sophisticated and how large anongova mafoshoro chete ekucheresa and wachera wowana 49 percent.
"In some cases the old law was that zvaachera ndezvake iye. Kana ari iye akavheneka akaona kuti pane madiamonds the claim was his. What you get is what is paid to your workers and what is charged by the Ministry of Finance through taxes chete.
"Achitakura upfumi hwese ihwohwo and imagine mazikomba anoitwa iwaya? What do you do to replace that part of your earth, of your world which has been taken away?"
President Mugabe said the mineral resource was more valuable than any form of capital investment by the investor.
As such, in any joint venture, the country would use its mineral resources as its equity.
"That fact of digging does not make you owners of the material you take out of our earth. Matumbu enyika yedu. That is ours. To us that is fundamental," he said.
"Your capital to us is not as important as our own wealth. What God gave us which lies beneath is treasurable, is also not just our own we who are there now, it is a possession that should be passed on as a legacy to future generations dakara Armageddon, musi unonzi nyika yaparara.
"We cannot deprive those who will come many, many centuries after us of what they are entitled to by nature imi muchiti tauya necapital, nekamari kenyu ikako.
"The value of this earth, no matter how small that part of the earth which is dug out, is greater than any capital you can ever think of. So your capital is not worth (more) than our wealth and our contribution in any venture is what we have.
"Uko zvainzi hapana zvamuri kuisa imi, kana muchida joint venture munotoisawo capital. Kana musina capital tingakuposhaiwo mugozodzora. Ndozvatakarambaka izvozvo."
He said such arrangements could only work in cases where you do not have any resource at all and you have to fetch for all the resources together with the investor.
"But where you have the raw resources, no. We refuse to accept that capital is much more than our fixed assets," said President Mugabe.
He said President Khama said Zimbabwe was free to send people to Botswana to get ideas on how they were mining.
President Mugabe said it was unfortunate that some people think that they were not complete if they do not have a white man next to them. The Press briefing was also attended by Vice President Joice Mujuru and Senior Minister Simon Khaya Moyo.
Source - Chronicle
