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INDUSTRY and labour yesterday welcomed the appointment of a new Cabinet by President Mugabe saying most of the people thrust in various portfolios were tried and tested and a source of inspiration.Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries immediate past president, Mr Kumbirai Katsande, said the newly appointed Industry and Commerce Minister, Mike Bimha was conversant with the needs of industry.
“We are excited by the new appointment particularly with regard to the Ministry of Industry. Minister Bimha is not new because he has been a deputy minister before and prior to that he has been in the sector. He knows our needs as industry and is also approachable,” said Mr Katsande.
He said the immediate challenge that industry expected the Minister to address were problems facing the manufacturing sector particularly issues to do with power, water and raw materials.
Zimbabwe is facing power shortages and experts say this has a serious bearing on the manufacturing of goods such as fertilizer that drives the agricultural sector.
“We need to attract investment. The manufacturing sector needs urgent attention,” he said.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary general, Mr Japhet Moyo, said while they were happy with the new Cabinet, they were particularly thrilled by the appointment of Cde Nicholas Goche as Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister.
“We have been given a person whom we have been working with as labour before. This means we are not going to start afresh to explain to him our challenges,” he said.
Mr Moyo said Cde Goche had come with a lot of plans for labour but could not implement most of them owing to the coming into being of the now defunct inclusive Government.
“The issues he left were not attended to by the inclusive Government,” he said.
Advisory Services and Research chief executive officer, Mr Gilbert Mponda, said most of the faces in the new-look Cabinet were seized with the challenges faced by the economy hence it would be easy for them to look for solutions.
“These are people who have been there when the economy faced challenges. They will not allow the economy to go where it was before,” said Mr Mponda.
He lauded President Mugabe for ending anxiety by constituting Cabinet. Mr Mponda said it was critical that Zimbabweans supported those who have been thrust into Cabinet to steer the country forward.
President Mugabe unveiled a 26-member new Cabinet where he retained some of his ministers and infused them with new blood.
He also reassigned some of the ministers.
Online Reporter