adminHe branded such people imperialists pawns seeking to promote lawlessness. Mr Tomana said the empowerment legislation was passed by Parliament.
The AG was speaking at a symposium organised by the Affirmative Action Group on the re-alignment of the legal framework with the indigenisation programme to ensure its success.
“The laws are meant for you, the Constitution is meant for you. The Constitution for this country guarantees those aspirations (empowerment).
“It is structured in a manner that takes into account affirmative action to those who were hitherto discriminated against,” he said, citing Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (Number 17) Act that provided for the irreversibility of the land reform programme as an example.
Added AG Tomana: “If there is no movement (getting empowered) in that direction it means the beneficiaries themselves do not respect their laws. It means those that are supposed to be beneficiaries of that law do not respect with all their hearts that is why we have all these debates on the land issue.”
AG Tomana said once laws have been passed by Parliament people have to abide by them.
“When people say a law that has been debated by Parliament and has been gazetted say lets debate it again before implementation then that is a tell-tale sign of lawlessness,” he said.
In his presentation AAG president Mr Keith Guzah said local business people were concerned that despite Government reserving some sectors of the economy for indigenous Zimbabweans, they were still being dominated by foreigners.
“Why is it after the enactment of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act we have not yet removed some people in the reserved areas? There are so many foreign people in those reserved areas,” he said.
Local entrepreneurs have complained that foreigners especially from West Africa and Asia are pushing them out of business by offering higher rentals as compared to what indigenous business people can afford.
Mr Guzah said the AAG needed guidance on how the issue should be addressed. Participants at the symposium echoed similar concerns that the rentals for office space were high and castigated the Rent Board for not doing much to address their concerns.
Online Reporter