Dismiss incompetent executives: Mudenda

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter—
THE Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda says respective portfolio committees should recommend “dismissal” of incompetent executives in state enterprises and parastatals to facilitate increased investment and foster economic growth. The August House would, going forward, also summon different line ministries to account for their actions regarding investment promotion.

Addressing a joint sensitisation workshop for Parliamentary portfolio committees on industry and commerce, youth indigenisation and economic empowerment, foreign affairs, and finance and economic development in Bulawayo on Friday, Mudenda said the prevailing negative macro-economic environment coupled with corruption in both private and public sectors, contributes to the country’s poor ranking in terms of ease of doing business.

“I’m yet to receive a report recommending the dismissal of a public officer being fired for incompetence by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committees . . . and this hasn’t happened since independence. So, are we suggesting we’re all competent?” asked Mudenda. A majority of state enterprises are not performing well in what has been attributed to mismanagement and abuse of funds that has seen some executives awarding themselves obscene salaries and allowances.

President Robert Mugabe has also bemoaned the lack of a corporate governance culture in some entities and accused some executives of seeking to line their pockets at the expense of service delivery. Mudenda said creating an enabling investment environment was critical to economic growth in the context of Zim-Asset, the country’s economic blue-print.

Top government officials, business executives and Parliamentarians attended the three-day workshop, which ended on Saturday. Earlier in his prepared speech, Mudenda said the legislature has a duty to spearhead economic reforms. He alluded to the 10-point plan announced by President Mugabe in his recent state of the nation address.

“We need to understand and appreciate what’s exactly meant by the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe. What’s ‘ease’ and what’s the ‘business’ concept. Our business in Zimbabwe has been summarised by President Mugabe when he delivered his state of the nation address on the 25th of August, 2015 wherein he came up with a 10-point plan of the areas of business enterprise, which we should concentrate on as far as economic development is concerned,” said Mudenda.

He said the 10-point plan draws inspiration from the President’s foreword to the Zim-Asset document. Mudenda said all interested parties should enhance ease of doing business through promoting peace, security, weeding out bureaucracy and instituting legal reforms to incentivise investment.

“Above all, Parliament must be the vanguard of the protection of the Constitution in terms of Section 119 which guarantees the observance of human rights, including property rights, so that investors are religiously assured of justice, fair play in business transactions and the rule of law,” he said.