Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) Govt rules out return of Mawere companies

Govt rules out return of Mawere companies
by Staff reporter
01/06/2010 00:00:00

AN administrator appointed by the government to run some of exiled businessman Mutumwa Mawere’s companies says the tycoon’s de-specification does not mean he will get his companies back.

In a surprise announcement last week co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa said the government was lifting the specification of Mawere and two other exiled businessmen, James Makamba and John Moxon.

Mawere immediately welcomed the development but said a return to Zimbabwe depended on whether government was prepared to give him back control of his companies.

But Arafas Gwaradzimba, appointed to run the Shabanie and Mashaba Mines (SMM) after its take-over by government six years ago said Mawere’s de-specification had nothing to do with the ongoing reconstruction of the companies.

"Mr Mawere was de-specified and that has nothing to do with the reconstruction process. "It is the State that has de-specified him and that will not affect my work to reconstruct SMM," Gwaradzimba told the state-owned Herald newspaper.

Mawere was accused of externalising foreign currency and was specified under the Prevention of Corruption Act, in 2004.

He moved to South Africa and government efforts to have him extradited to face the externalisation charges failed.

But the state managed to seize control of his businesses claiming they had failed to pay their debts.
Mawere’s vast business empire included Shabanie and Mashaba asbestos mines , Zimre, CFI Holdings, Turnall, Steelnet, General Beltings, Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited, Fidelity Life Asset Management, and NicozDiamond.

The companies were taken over through a presidential decree.
However SMM’s fortunes have declined under Gwaradzimba’s stewardship and the mines are struggling to pay wages and utility bills while production has also gone south over the years.

Mawere accuses Gwaradzimba of destroying his companies and says there was no justification for the action taken against him.
"I am not bitter but sad that the State's powers can be borrowed for personal gains. It is regrettable that six years of someone's life could be suspended and managed by the State to his detriment.

“It is not just specification because specification on the face of it is harmless but when it is associated with plunder, vulture capitalists in the guise of reconstruction and hypocrisy, it undermines the rule of law," he said.

Labels: JAMES MAKAMBA, JOHN MOXON, MUTUMWA MAWERE

posted by MrK @ 1:13 AM