Zimbabwe's State Enterprises Minister Gorden Moyo says his ministry will next week launch a manual detailing the restructuring of all government companies and parastatals that have become a drain on the national fiscus.
Moyo told VOA Friday the manual, approved recently by cabinet, clips the powers of ministers who have been selecting investors and partners without consulting relevant government entities like the state procurement board and an inter-ministerial committee.
Moyo said members of the public would now be consulted when parastatals are being commercialized, restructured or privatized.
“It has happened in the past that certain public entities were restructured in ways that are not commensurate with the laws of transparency and accountability,” said Moyo.
He said the process of restructuring “must be a public process and not something done behind closed doors”.
The financially-crippled unity government spends millions of dollars a year to keep loss-making parastatals afloat.
Only one parastatal, the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company – now the New Zimbabwe Steel Limited, has been successfully commercialized though some ministers are believed to be attempting to scuttle the deal allegedly for their own benefit.
