via Govt row: Min slams pro-whites Chinamasa – New Zimbabwe 17/09/2015
IN A sign of confusion in the cabinet linked to the bitter fights over President Robert Mugabe’s succession, war veterans minister Chris Mutsvangwa has hit out at finance minister Patrick Chinamasa’s pro-IMF strategy.
The outspoken Mutsvangwa further attacked “some of ministers in the cabinet (who) still think the white man is superior”.
Mutsvangwa is a key ally of vice president and succession aspirant Emmerson Mnangagwa while Chinamasa is close to the Zanu PF faction working to block a Mnangagwa presidency.
And indicating that the succession question is also impacting efforts to right the failing economy Mutsvangwa effectively accused Chinamasa of treachery by claiming the IMF which the Finance Minister is actively wooing wants to topple Mugabe.
“They (IMF) want to remove Mugabe … they want Tsvangirai to be on the helm,” Mutsvangwa told a war veterans meeting in Mutare this week.
Chinamasa has been working hard to get Zimbabwe back into the good graces of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a desperate bid to secure debt relief, new financial support and to improve the country’s battered image in the West.
He has made some progress which is why he reacted with annoyance when Mutsvangwa tried to throw spanners into the works by attacking the IMF at a meeting with a delegation from the institution last week.
Chinamasa, at the time, called his cabinet colleague to order, reminding him that Zimbabwe was not paying its debts.
“We owe countries and international financial institutions huge amounts of money, hence we should not politicize the situation,” said the treasury chief.
But Mutsvangwa hit back while addressing a provincial war veterans meeting in Mutare recently.
“Some ministers in the cabinet still think white man is superior,” he said.
“They have the mentality that whatever comes from America is number one; whatever comes from British is first.
“That’s a wrong mentality but I will stand by you. We are the brave of the brave.”
Mutsvangwa then went for the jugular, effectively accusing Chinamasa of trying to topple Mugabe by working with the IMF.
“We have nothing to do with IMF because their agenda is removing war veterans from influential positions in government,” he said.
“They want security sector reform and they want Tsvangirai to be on the helm of the government.
“They want to remove Mugabe and war veterans from power because they want access to our wealth.”
Zimbabwe’s economic salvation, Mutsvangwa stated, could only be secured through Mnangangwa’s China strategy.
“There are plans to build a new Harare city and VP Mnangagwa has met the Chinese to discuss the project,” he said.
“The matter will be soon taken to cabinet for consideration. It involves links of roads to South Africa as well as links to Beira. This means it’s a multi-billion dollar investment.
“Initially, capital will be around $5 billion which is not coming from the government but we will use our minerals as a guarantee to Chinese which President Mugabe agreed to.
“We will call the Canadians and Australians to evaluate our minerals and we pay back the Chinese using our minerals.
“The new city will generate money to pay back the debt.”
The post Govt row: Min slams pro-whites Chinamasa appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.