Tawanda Musarurwa in Victoria Falls
State Enterprises and Parastatals Minister Gorden Moyo has said his ministry has implemented its mandate. He was speaking at the ongoing Institute of Internal Auditors annual conference in Victoria Falls yesterday. “The Ministry of State Enterprises and Parastatals is not a ‘doing ministry’, but a ‘thinking ministry’. Our job was to make sure that policy documents such as the Corporate Governance Code and the restructuring manual are drafted, and in this respect we believe that our job is done.
“It is now up to the line ministries to bring these policy documents to life by implementing them. In terms of our mandate we are done,” he said.
Minister Moyo’s remarks fly in the face of criticism in some circles that the Ministry of State Enterprises and Parastatals was not effectively implementing its mandate. But more critically, they reflect the limited role of the ministry in the restructuring of the SEPs.
“Although we have since drafted a couple of laws, I think there is still scope for a new law that places all the SEPs under a single ministry that can make decisions.
“The South African state enterprises and parastatals system presents a good model,” he said.
Zimbabwe is currently in its second phase of its SEP restructuring process following the successful privatisation of the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (now CBZ), Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited, AICO, Zimbabwe Reinsurance Company, CAPS (Pvt) Ltd and more recently Ziscosteel.
Ten more firms have been identified under the current restructuring phase, namely Agribank, Cold Storage Company, Air Zimbabwe, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, the Grain Marketing Board, NetOne and TelOne.
But the ministry has since admitted that the restructuring process is long drawn out.
Meanwhile, Minister Moyo has also lamented the fact that the inclusive Government is not a party to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Launched in 2003 by the African Union, the APRM is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by member states of the AU as an African self-monitoring mechanism.
“If we were a part of the APRM we would basically be opening our economy and our markets to scrutiny by our peers and this is line with effective corporate governance which regional and international investors consider as critical,” he said.
To date 31 member states of the AU have signed the APRM protocol, and at least 13 have undergone the APRM.
“We hope that the next administration will seriously consider joining the APRM,” said Minister Moyo.