(ZIMBABWE GUARDIAN) Tsvangirai clashes with permanent secretaries

Monday, April 26, 2010

(ZIMBABWE GUARDIAN) Tsvangirai clashes with permanent secretaries

Tsvangirai clashes with permanent secretaries
By: TH-TZG
Posted: Monday, April 26, 2010 12:37 am

THE Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Ian Makone, has been accused of trying to clandestinely re-assign Cabinet powers to the Council of Ministers chaired by his boss Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, in a move that would have usurped the powers of President Mugabe.

Mr Makone is said to have tried to summon all permanent secretaries to the Council of Ministers and in the process get them to report to the Prime Minister and not their line ministers as per the constitution.

However, these attempts were blocked by Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who wrote to the Minister of State in the PM’s Office, Gorden Moyo, explaining the constitutional position and the manner in which Government operates.

On March 26 Mr Makone wrote to all permanent secretaries saying: "All heads of ministries are invited to a Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday 1, April, 2010 in the Council of Ministers boardroom."

Among the issues to be discussed at the meeting were the so-called Government Work Programme for 2010 and workflow -- a document it claimed to be a Cabinet-approved Government Work Programme, when it was the PM's office that drafted it and distributed it without Cabinet approval.

The document was a wish list from the PM’s Office.

In his letter to permanent secretaries, Mr Makone claimed the Council of Ministers’ mandate included "considering and endorsing policy and legislative proposals before they are submitted to Cabinet for approval" -- a claim that is untrue.

An outcry from the heads of ministries prompted Minister Chinamasa to write to Minister Moyo on April 1.

He said: "I draw your attention to the attached circular from Mr Ian Makone . . . and wish to protest against misleading statements made in that circular.

"You recall that we had an extensive discussion in the Council of Ministers meeting on the role of the Prime Minister and the role of the Council of Ministers and that of Cabinet.

"I reiterate below the conclusions of that meeting.

"Formulation of policies is the responsibility of line ministers. Ministers are required to brief the Prime Minister during the process of formulation.

"On completion of formulation of policy, the line ministry proceeds direct to Cabinet for approval.

"Council of Ministers has no mandate to consider and endorse policy and legislative proposals before they are submitted for Cabinet approval."

He asked Mr Makone to withdraw the circular, which he subsequently did.

President Mugabe, as per the Global Political Agreement, chairs Cabinet.

Permanent secretaries last Friday said even if Mr Makone had not withdrawn the circular, they would not have attended the meeting because it was "unconstitutionally premised".

"I report to my minister and not the Council of Ministers. This is an attempt to get us to report directly to the PM and it is something they have been trying to do for some time.

"They have tried to force ministers to ignore the President and report to the PM, but the law cannot be changed by whims such as this."

Another said: "It would be a violation of the GPA and we cannot subscribe to that. There are laws, rules and procedures governing all such State interactions. Maybe Makone does not know how Government operates.

"We are tempted to doubt if he is even aware of the provisions of the GPA that created the very post that he occupies today."

The senior Government official said it was not the first time functionaries in the PM’s Office had originated memoranda, circulars and letters seeking to order heads of ministries around.

He, however, would not elaborate on the matter.

Labels: IAN MAKONE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, PERMANENT SECRETARIES