Independent legislator Temba Mliswa says there are more White cartels in Zimbabwe but it is only the Black cartels that are being attacked.
In his contribution to the debate on the Public Accounts Committee report on the 2017-2018 audit report of the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) which exposed corruption within the parastatal as well as the rampant employment of unqualified people, Mliswa said it was high time the government allowed black people to enjoy the gains of the liberation struggle.
“Let us celebrate billionaires who are Black, the Strive Masiyiwas, the Kuda Tagwireis, the Phillip Chiyangwas and so forth. This is what it must be about. May we also see Members of Parliament becoming millionaires by you tendering and getting this and getting partners who have capacity,” he said.
“We often attack our Black businessmen for being cartels which have captured the State, but we forget that while we are the majority in this country, the minority who are the Whites have more wealth than us. So how can they make wealth in a country where the majority are Black and the leaders are Black, yet the majority are poor?
“I want to expose the White cartels of this country who have amassed wealth through the highest level of corruption. In amassing wealth through the highest level of corruption, they have created systems parallel to Government to ensure that they are where they are.”
Mliswa said Blacks were not being empowered because the government was obsessed with working with Whites.
“They think that when they see a White man, they do not have to do any due diligence. Where was the due diligence in this? They are so excited about seeing Whites that they think that because he is a White man he must be given a business deal but how many of our Black companies have engineers born and educated in this country who are working all over the world but still they are not able to get business in this country but due diligence is never done because it is a White face.
“Some of the people realise for you to get a good business deal in Zimbabwe, put a White face and government will give you a deal. The due diligence is not done. We have a situation where these cartels of white people are well connected and control the entire security system. They are able to get sympathy from the Central Intelligence Organisation, Army and the Police. So how do you then zero in on them to be able to account for whatever it is? This is evidence that the roads were not done properly. Should it always wait for Parliament to move in to correct a situation? What are all these institutions doing? Parliament can only do so much.”
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