The politburo of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has endorsed regulations for the implementation of the country's Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act which Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai recently dismissed as null and void because the Cabinet had not passed on them.
Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said the regulations will be implemented as soon as possible, telling VOA Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu that the indigenization initiative intended to give Zimbabweans a majority stake in foreign enterprises is not a ZANU-PF issue but a Zimbabwean national program.
“Following the endorsement, we are now making sure that the act starts being used in the country to give our people the right to develop themselves, grow the economy and fight poverty,” Kasukuwere said.
Tsvangirai spokesman James Maridadi told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that a ministerial panel is reviewing the indigenization regulations.
Maridadi said the committee will consult widely with Zimbabweans to find ways of increasing the indigenous stake in enterprises operating in the country.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Chairman Jabulani Nkomo said Kasukuwere is expected to address the business community and others in Bulawayo Friday on indigenization.
Nkomo said many businesspeople have not yet read the provisions of the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act and consequently “don’t know what these regulations are all about."
Promulgation of the implementation regulations stirred controversy with critics including the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions saying they will discourage investment and cost thousands of jobs.