President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s own business acquaintance, Dr. Nkosana Moyo is best option for Finance Minister, analyst David Coltart has said.
The former Education Minister made these comments speaking of the recent cabinet appointments.
Dr Nkosana Moyo, a technocrat, is the secret brains behind the Econet brand which is now worth billions of dollars. When Strive Masiyiwa approached him in the 90s for funding assistance, he is the one who dictated the brand identity to Masiyiwa and the rest was history – Zimbabwe’s first billionaire black owned company was born.
He told the UK based Violet Gonda, Coltart said:
“Well, I actually take a contrary view because the reality is that whilst Tendai Biti, the former Finance minister, stabilised the economy. Under his tenure, as you know, the economy grew, bank deposits grew.
“Since Patrick Chinamasa took office as Finance minister, there has been a run on bank deposits. He is the person responsible for this massive budget deficit, which has been funded by the issuance of Treasury Bills.
“He is the person responsible for issuing Bond notes. So he, more than anyone else, must take responsibility for the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy.
“I would have thought, if ever there was ever a position that needed a sound technocrat, someone like a Nkosana Moyo or a Simba Makoni, it was the Ministry of Finance.
“So, I disagree with that. I don’t think it does inspire confidence in the public confidence in the Banking sector to have Patrick Chinamasa in that position.” – The full article on this was first published in The Standard.
6 Replies to “Mnangagwa’s Own Mate Is The Best Finance Minister, Not Chinamasa – Analyst”
Comments are closed.
How come I don’t know any business headed and owned by Nkosana in Zimbabwe such as Masiyiwa’s Econet.
I’m really skeptical with the reasoning that says one piece of advise led to the growth of ‘a runaway brand’ called Econet.
There is no need to refer to him as Mbiti. You can pronounce your argument without insult and this is what we all as Zimbabweans must now learn to do. Biti stated time and again during his tenure that he was not having access to diamond revenues. He created enemies by sticking to simple and sound economic principles which we all practice even in our own homes. These basic principles were wantonly trampled upon time and again by the powers that be then. Biti might not have been the best but please give credit where it’s deserved- the man tried to mange the economy as best as he could under very restrictive conditions.
This nonsense of Tendai Biti stabilizing the economy should stop once and for all. Mbiti presided over a budget whereby alluvial diamonds were flowing on the surface and he has nothing to show for that. Besides he also presided over a bunch of thugs who sabotaged the economy through the call for sanctions against the country so that they would come into power. lest we forget.
Well balanced analysis. Coltart is being insincere when he tries to hang Chinamasa for what was done collectively. A fish starts to rot from the head and in this case Mugabe failed to reign in a lot of mischief. The sad reality is that Mugabe even played a larger role in burying our economy by allowing his wife to meddle in the running of government. At some point Chinamasa tried to take measures like pruning the civil service of ghost workers and suspending bonuses but this was shot down by Mugabe.
I don’t think there is truth in thatminister of finance alone is responsible for the economic collapse of the country. I am not saying he is the best or very capable so don’t get me wrong. What I am saying is that there are a platora of things that contribute to the failed economy. Coltart should know better as a lawyer and former government minister. It’s a whole lot of things that contributed to the economic down spiral including externalizations of currency, corruption, government policies, leadership, good governance of state institutions, corruption in the banking sector, holding or hoarding cash in homes by individuals, money changers, abuse of mobile money transactions, unwillingness to do anything by head of state, thefts of funds by head of state and his wife including everyone in government, corrupt police service, I can go on and on; weak parliament or rather useless members of parliament, out of control head of state, using state assets, resources, and institutions as personal and privately owned by head of state. Industries closing down because of government policies etc, so for Coltart to blame one man is not fair. All the properties in the hands of government officials belong to the state and the people should know that. It’s not a secret that ministers don’t earn very much as to own the kind of properties and life styles they live from their salaries. Ministers are richer than the ministries they preside over, head of state is richer than the state he governs. They can not explain the sources of their wealthy and I know they were not as rich before working for the government. So Chinamasa could / can not perform miracles alone.